A Study of Inquiry Tendency of Earth Science Contents presented in North Korean Textbooks

The purpose of this study was to investigate the tendency of inquiry of earth science content presented in North Korean textbooks of the 2013 National curriculum using Romey's method, and to help use as basic data for better understanding earth science education in North Korea. The content of earth science in the text, figure, question, and activity index of textbooks of Natural Science 1 and 2, Chosun Geography 2 of elementary junior high school, and of Geography 1 of advanced junior high school were all analyzed using Romey's method. The results of this study were as follows: First, the atmospheric science question and the astronomy text showed the tendency of inquiry type. Second, the proportion of oceanography was relatively small. Third, there were many non-inquiry questions or excessive inquiry questions, and both types of questions needed to be balanced. Fourth, there were a tendency that did not emphasize inquiry learning. Finally, the quantitative and qualitative level of inquiry tendency should be improved. In this paper, we propose to use a qualitative method when analyzing earth science content in North Korean textbooks, and suggested that we should further study the comparative analysis of inquiry tendency of earth science content using South and North Korean textbooks.