Development of assessments for scientific literacy based on curriculum guidelines for 12-year basic education in science domains

The purpose of this research is to analyse the curriculum guidelines in science domains within the 12-year basic education and to explore and develop a reliable and valid assessment model for scientific literacy. This study is conducted in three parts: First, the definitions of scientific literacy that are established in the literature are classified and examined. Second, a coding list is established by decoding the implications of the curriculum guidelines in the science domains, and this decoded result is supported by examining the definitions of scientific literacy from the literature. A unified assessment framework is established for drafting scientific literacy-oriented exam questions. Third, the coding list and assessment framework are used to develop scientific literacy-oriented exam questions, and based on this framework, a meta-analysis of unqualified exam questions is conducted to revise these exam questions. The aforementioned coding list and assessment framework are used to develop and test the scientific literacy-oriented exam questions. The results indicates that most of the scientific literacy-oriented exam questions developed in this study have good quality and follow the curriculum guidelines of the 12-year basic education in science domains. Regarding the unqualified exam questions, the assessment framework for scientific literacy developed in this study provides recommendations for revision, which can help draft and correct exam questions. In sum, the proposed assessment framework for scientific literacy can be used to further develop, modify, and classify various assessment tools and as a reference for future teachers and researchers.