The development of the Korean Teaching Observation Protocol (KTOP) for improving science teaching and learning

An observational instrument called the KTOP (Korean Teaching Observation Protocol) was developed to analyze science teaching and to identify the components of teaching that need improvement. To diminish the gap between theory and practice in science teaching, the method for developing the KTOP was structured as consisting of three steps: the first version of the KTOP was developed through direct observation of science classes at the first step, revised through literature review with consideration of the Korean national curriculum and comparison with other observational instruments in the second step, and finalized after application to actual teaching context. As a result, the KTOP was determined to consist of 30 items of 10 sub-categories in 4 main categories. The content was validated through 48 teachers' responses to the questions asking if each indicator of the KTOP is worthwhile to be considered in their teaching. Reliability was obtained by agreement (72~90%) and correlation (r=0.90) among observers' KTOP scores. Finally, the cases of applying the KTOP to improve science classes and to develop teachers' expertise through an in-service program were described.