Middle School Students' Understanding about Earth Systems to Implement the 2009 Revised National Science Curriculum Effectively

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore middle school students' perceptions about earth systems in order to implement the 2009 revised national science curriculum effectively. A total of 1219 students participated in the survey and asked to determine their basic understandings about earth systems, self-reported knowledge level, and perceived significance level of the 23 earth systems concepts (contents). In relation to students' basic understandings about earth system, approximately 67% students reported that they didn't know about the term of the earth system. Atmosphere and hydrosphere were highly perceived as major component of earth system. However, cryoshere was perceived to be least familiar by the subjects. The findings also showed that students' self-reported knowledge level and significance level about major ESU#4, #5, #6 related concepts (contents) were significantly different by gender. Most of male students were more knowledgeable and perceived more significant than female students. Regarding the difference of the perceived significance level by grade, 10 out of 23 concepts were significantly different. Some implications for implementing the revised curriculum and school fields were discussed.