Chinese Journal of Science Education


Vol. 14 No. 4 , Pages 447 - 465 , 2006

A Chronology of the Initiation and Implement of the Secondary Science Education Project under the U.S. Aid in Taiwan (1951–1965) (Article written in Chinese)

Li-Yu FU

Abstract

U.S. Aid to Taiwan began in 1951 and terminated in 1965. It provided more than $1.5 billion in nonmilitary assistance. Aid for educational programs, including assistance to primary, secondary, higher, professional, vocational, science, and overseas Chinese education, plus educational administration development, amounted to more than $40 million (Jacoby, 1966). The science education project under the U.S. Aid began in Taiwan in 1959. The author constructs a chronology by organizing the events according to the sequence of initiation and implementation. The sequence includes two phases. The first reveals that the starting point of secondary science education in Taiwan was formed in the1950s based on the complicated confrontation between different facets, the US science education system, the local education system in Taiwan, the overemphasis on entrance examination, the school cultural settings, the political and economic environment, the social values, and the understanding of the nature of science held by different groups. The other reveals the implementation of the project. During 1970s, more than ten years following the termination of the U.S. Aid to Taiwan, a clear legacy of the U.S. in secondary science education was still evident. It is urgent to identify the core values and mission of secondary science education for the society of Taiwan. The author expects the chronology to help interpret the initiation and implementation of the secondary science education project under U.S. Aid to Taiwan. Also, it could provide other researchers’ with more materials about the history of science education in Taiwan.

Keywords: chronology; US Aid; science education; history of science education

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