Comparison of Scientific Inquiry in Junior Middle School in Science

This book is a comparison of the junior middle school course in science textbooks of Zamabia and the US. This is the paper I submitted to Zhejiang Normal University for the award of masters degree in comparative education. The purpose of this study was to examine and identify the presence of the eight essential features of SI (VASI) in the current Grade 8 Integrated Science Curriculum Textbooks and Syllabus in Zambia in comparison with the US Middle School Grade 8 Course. This was in an attempt to find out whether or not the Zambian Integrated Science Course had adequate potential to contribute to the preparation of scientifically literate citizens in comparison to the most pronounced US science course. Results show that the Zambian syllabus has more content in biology than physics and chemistry while the US syllabus has more content in physics and it is well balanced in biology and chemistry. Both the courses indicated that scientific investigations all begin with a question and do not necessarily test hypothesis. Despite the differences in the VASI representations in both courses, the seventh view about scientific inquiry was less emphasized in both courses.