Journal of the Korean earth science society (한국지구과학회지)

The Korean Earth Science Society (한국지구과학회)
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Pre-service Elementary Teachers' Conceptions on the Relative Sizes of Celestial Bodies

천체의 상대적 크기에 대한 초등 예비교사들의 인식

  • Jang, Myoung-Duk (Department of Elementary Science Education, Gongju National University of Education) ;
  • Nam, Younkyeong (Department of Education and Human Development, The College at Blackport-State University of New York)
  • 장명덕 (공주교육대학교 초등과학교육과) ;
  • 남윤경 (뉴욕주립대학교 브락포트 캠퍼스 과학교육과)
  • Received : 2012.10.04
  • Accepted : 2012.10.31
  • Published : 2012.12.31
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate pre-service elementary teachers' conceptions about the relative sizes of celestial bodies including the universe, galaxy, star, planet, satellite, asteroid, and comet, which were presented in elementary school science textbook. This study also examined the causes of their misconceptions as shown in the study. Sixty three pre-service elementary teachers participated in this study. The survey was developed for this study that asked to make an order of relative sizes of the given celestial bodies and to write scientific facts about each of the celestial bodies. The survey items were analyzed by simple descriptive statistics, and the written responses were analyzed using qualitative and inductive methods. The results showed that only five (7.9%) of the participants correctly answered about the relative size of the given celestial bodies. There were three common misconceptions identified in relation to the relative sizes of the celestial bodies; more than 20% of the participants had: (1) a planet is bigger than a star (46.0% of the participants), (2) an asteroid is bigger than satellite (58.7%), 3) a comet is bigger than a star (22.2%).

이 연구의 목적은 초등교사가 될 교대 신입생들의 우주와 은하 그리고 현행 초등 과학과 교과서에 등장하는 주요 천체들(별, 행성, 위성, 소행성, 혜성)의 상대적 크기에 대한 인식을 조사하고, 이들이 가지고 있는 천체의 상대적 크기에 대한 오개념의 원인을 밝히는 것이다. 이를 위해 63명의 예비교사가 이 연구에 참여하였으며, 이들은 연구자들이 개발한 설문지에 제시된 문항, 즉 제시된 천체들을 그 상대적 크기 순서로 나열하고 각 천체들의 대한 설명의 글을 작성하도록 하는 문항에 응답을 하였다. 이들의 응답은 양적 분석과 응답자의 기술에 근거한 질적 분석을 통해 분석되었으며, 이에 대한 구체적인 연구 결과는 다음과 같다: 첫째, '우주>은하>별>행성>위성>소행성>혜성'이라고 제시된 천체들에 대해 바르게 나열한 교사는 총 63명 중 5명(7.9%), '우주>은하>별>행성'까지 바르게 나열한 예비교사도 28명(44.4%)에 불과하였다. 둘째, 천체들의 상대적 크기에 대한 예비교사들의 두드러진 주요 오개념은, '행성이 별보다 크다(행성>별, 29명, 46.0%)', '소행성이 위성보다 크다'(소행성>위성, 37명, 58.7%) '혜성이 별보다 크다(혜성>별, 14명, 22.2%)'는 것이다.

Keywords

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