The relationship analysis of the korean science curriculum with the chemistry domains of the 8th grade TIMSS 2019

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the eight topics in TIMSS 2019 8th grade chemistry domains and the Korea 2009 Revised Science Curriculum and the 2015 Revised Science Curriculum. For this purpose, four elementary and four secondary teachers participated in physics, chemistry, biology and earth science majors, and two science education experts participated in analyzing in which grades the content elements of the TIMSS 2019 science framework are covered in the Korean science curriculum. The study also analyzed whether the content of the Korean science curriculum matches the 246 items of 8th grade in the TIMSS 2019 assessment and reflects in which grades the eight topics are covered. The results of this study are as follows. First, among the TIMSS 2019 evaluation topics, topics not covered at all in the Korean middle school curriculum were periodic table, matter and energy in chemical reactions, the role of electrons in chemical bonds. Second, the topic of "the periodic table as an organizing principle for the known elements" needs to be introduced in the Korean middle school curriculum, and topics such as "familiar exothermic and endothermic reactions" and "factors affecting the reaction rates" need to be discussed in consideration of the flow of international curricula. Third, the next science curriculum should be structured so that the sequence of chemistry contents and scope, especially core concepts to be included in the elementary, secondary, and higher education curriculum is linked to continuity.