The purpose of this study was to assess critically the significance of communication skills in science curriculum. Unlike previous science curriculums, 2007 revised science curriculum added the communication skills in the science inquiry process skill...
The purpose of this study was to assess critically the significance of communication skills in science curriculum. Unlike previous science curriculums, 2007 revised science curriculum added the communication skills in the science inquiry process skills. 2009 revised science curriculums as well as feature six skills holding. The inquiry process skills are one of the most important goal of science education, work as a learning goal of cognitive domains.
The inquiry process skills mean functions to use when scientists are exploring some natural phenomena and when students learn the scientific knowledge, as well. Original five inquiry process skills that composed of observation, measurement, classification, interpreting, prediction work along with the content(knowledge) and are foundational to the science curriculum. According to the general introduction of science curriculum, communication skills are ‘the process that someone convey own thoughts and information to others and understand other people's thoughts and information.' A recent science curriculum emphasizes the communication skills in so much that sets up ‘8. Communication in science class' in the table of curriculum.
In the actual current textbooks and teacher guidebooks, the communication skills are laid out in a pragmatic point of view ‘How can we use the scientific knowledge in real life?’ As a result, this may cause that the value of science knowledge rests on just practical value, as if communication skills are essentially unrelated to the science inquiry. In addition, the learning goal of cognitive domains relating the communication skills work as the learning goal of affective domains such as taking an interest in science class and having positive attitude in scientific research activities, wrongly. Some classes set up a learning goal of cognitive domains as just the replacement for a learning goal of affective domains.
It is very important that scientists communicate each other using scientific knowledge in science. For example, communication skills as announcing honestly the results of exploration or providing reasonable rationale are the key function related to an inquiry process skills in science. In the process of producing a scientific knowledge or learning, communication skills work comprehensively on the science inquiry process. Communication skills are not the science inquiry process skills but the research ethics or the scientific literacy generally science curriculum. But the current science curriculum make an error which is to set communication skills to one of the science inquiry process skills. When communication skills are operating as a functions worked in the whole process of exploration in science, have a true meaning.
As a result, this study results are implications that communication skills are scientific literacy across the entire science inquiry process, not one of the science inquiry process skills. The communication skills as the characteristics of scientific literacy that corresponds to the primary goal of science need to be addressed by the large the scientific inquiry.