Science and engineering practices in science curricula: A comparative analysis of Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Scottish curricula

Science and engineering practices (SEPs) are one of the key learning goals of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. There are few studies that compare similar SEPs in the science curricula of different countries. This study aims to compare SEPs in the science curricula of four countries (Indonesia, Scotland, Thailand, and Vietnam) in order to ascertain common knowledge and skills. Content analysis was used to analyse learning outcomes for grades seven to nine. The results showed that 1) desired learning outcomes in all four countries were consistent with science practices rather than with engineering practices and that they did not cover a number of SEPs. "Constructing scientific explanations" was found to have the highest frequency of the SEPs addressed in the curricula of the four countries, while "asking questions and defining problems" had the lowest overall average frequency. "Developing a model" was found more frequently in the Thai curriculum than in the Indonesian, Scottish, or Vietnamese curricula. The results of this study suggest that curriculum developers interested in broadening practices associated with science might revisit learning outcomes for the science curriculum in the areas of modelling and asking questions. Further research into the science curriculum could compare science or mathematics learning outcomes with the core disciplinary ideas, crosscutting concepts and the nature of each discipline, that are foundational in STEM education. Moreover, it would be worthwhile to investigate curriculum implementation of these practices by assessing teachers' instruction and students' STEM literacy.