LAUSR

In this comparative analysis, the cases of Taiwan and Colombia display two paths for designing a natural sciences curriculum related to quality education goals. Their differences are based on their central concepts, definitions of learning stages, delimitations of cross-subjects and cores of scientific knowledge, and alignment with international assessments. The core practices in Taiwanese curriculum guidelines are to develop inquiries, research, and experimentations to promote scientific literacy and citizenship. In contrast, the core Colombian practices construct explanations based on scientific ideas, gathering information, and using evidence. Between both countries, there is also a concordance over practices related to obtaining and communicating information. These results show the importance of curriculum policy factors such as epistemological definitions, diagnostics and representations of social expectations, alignment instruments, curriculum definitions, and design criteria of teaching processes. The differences between national curriculum policies are identified in a comparative strategy of contexts, medium-term processes to reform the national education systems or schooling features. Curriculum guidelines respond to their intellectual traditions, theoretical and pedagogical influences, and current requirements of policies. These criteria allow for the identification of cooperative issues in specific areas of science education between both countries, such as teacher education, technological and pedagogical knowledge, and curriculum alignment.