• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.1204-1221
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• 2012

The purpose of this research was to identify the components of scaffolding in open inquiry and to explore the functions of teachers' scaffolding, which is necessary to support students' open inquiry. In order to identify scaffolding components, at first, we conducted a survey using a questionnaire on what students think about open inquiry on 110 students who performed open inquiry in two middle schools, and then carried out factor analysis based on the survey results. It was attempted to investigate students' perception through focus group interviews corresponding to scaffolding components that were identified through factor analysis. Also, we examined teachers' empirical view of scaffolding functions in open inquiry through in-depth interviews with four teachers. The results of exploratory factor analysis revealed that there were five scaffolding components of open inquiry: motivation, planning, strategy, environment and participation. The results of focus group interviews showed that students experienced difficulties in planning, strategy, environment and participation components, except for motivation component. In particular, students asked for support to strengthen the participation component, which means recognizing their role, active participation and collaboration with peers. Meanwhile, the results of in-depth interviews with teachers showed that teachers' empirical views of scaffolding function in open inquiry were categorized as cognitive (conceptual, metacognitive), emotional (motivational, arbitrative) and strategic. Interviewed teachers preferred the strategic scaffolding and cognitive scaffolding to the emotional scaffolding. Based on the results, we also discussed the implications for performing open inquiry effectively.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.969-978
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to figure out gifted elementary science students' improvement in performing open inquiry after peer review. In this study, gifted fifth-grade students performed open inquiry and review of each other as peers after the inquiry. Students' inquiries were evaluated and the influences of the feedback from the peer reviews were analyzed in relation to the inquiry performances. As a result of this study, three key points were discovered: First, the evaluation score increased with frequent feedback or long discussions. On the other hand, with less feedback, the evaluation score didn't rise. Second, there were three types of improvement in inquiry related to peer review: No. 1 was improvement after feedback given by themselves. No. 2 was reflection of feedback given to other groups. As a last type, No. 3 was that the students learned from other groups' presentation without any feedback and improved their inquiry. Third, there were five kinds of giving feedback; (1) feedback understanding the inquiry correctly, (2) insufficiency of peer's inquiry without deep thought. (3) on the usefulness of the inquiry, (4) on the scientific and logic validity through critical thinking, and (5) how to develop the inquiry. In these kinds of feedback, the fourth kind of feedback (4) occurred most frequently but the fifth (5) occurred rarely. It means peer review helps students develop their critical thinking ability and teachers should encourage students to give peers feedback of the fifth kind.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.647-667
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• 2009

This study intends to analyze open-ended inquiry activities of elementary science-gifted students in terms of how similar they are to authentic science inquiry and suggest desirable ways to make more effective programs for the gifted. For this study, we selected a small group with five elementary science-gifted students who had participated in the open inquiry program of summer camp held in the Institute for Science Gifted Education and collected data through recording and video-taping their discussion and performance from planning to coordinating inquiry results. The data was analyzed in terms of epistemological features and cognitive process in authentic science inquiry. The results is as follows. In terms of epistemology, students' inquiry methods were theory laden and they constructed knowledge in collaborative groups. For example, the students often discussed about performing the thought experiment and scientific concept related to inquiry task or their opinion. And in terms of cognitive process, their designing inquiry was similar to authentic science inquiry especially selecting variables, planning procedures, controlling variables, planning measures.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.385-393
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• 2006

In this study, we analyzed the effects of science inquiry learning that applies open-ended hypothesis-testing learning model in a high school chemistry class of grade 11 in respect of science process skills, science-related attitude, and appreciation towards science class by cognitive level. Open-ended science inquiry learning activities on Metals and their applications unit in Chemistry I were developed and applied to the treatment groups while the conventional science activities were applied to the control groups. Four classes of 92 students in a high school located in Seoul were assigned into the treatment and control groups, respectively. According to the results in the test of science process skills, the students treated with the alternative experiments emphasizing open-ended hypothesis-testing obtained higher scores in experimental design, data conversion and description, and hypothesis test than those with conventional experiments but not in problem cognition and definition and hypothesis fixing'. There was negative effect on science-related attitude due to increased roles and tasks in the open-ended science inquiry learning activities.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.255-263
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to analyse the eighth grade students' performance of open investigations for two kinds of tasks: the qualitative one which involves the descriptive approach through observation, and the quantitative one which involves the quantitative data processing through control of variables. Researcher's observation, interview data as well as students' investigation reports, self-evaluations were analysed. The difficulties of qualitative open investigation lie in detecting and dealing with unexpected observations, of which the acceptance and interpretation were influenced by preconceptions. On the other hand, managing several variables, making reliable and valid measures, and quantitative data processing constituted main difficulties of quantitative open investigation. Some students could recognize the deficiencies of their methods and findings in qualitative one, but few in quantitative one. These results suggest the teaching point for each task of open investigations.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2009

Science field trip is a comprehensive learning activity in which students can solve problems by themselves, whose importance is emphasized in learning for the gifted. But because not much study has been done yet on this, and convergent activities such as solving too many problems or requesting given answers have generally been done, it has been criticized for not being enough to develop the abilities of gifted Students. Therefore, this study attempted to analyze the activity process of the gifted through field trip to which open inquiry is adapted so that the demands of the gifted can be met, and the abilities of the gifted can be brought out. The study focused on 18 gifted elementary science students at Institute of Science Gifted Education, Cheongju National University of Education, and in the field trip process of the students, analyzed the types of establishment of inquiry problems and inquiry process, and the behavioral characteristics of gifted science students shown during field trip activity through field trip proceedings, transcript contents, poster materials, questionnaires, etc. As a result, more inquiry problems were established after than before inquiry, and the level of inquiry problems was also higher after inquiry. The solution process for inquiry problems of the gifted science students were done in the following order: planning, inquiring, follow-up inquiring and consolidating. But it proceeded to open inquiry process, the next stage being decided according to circumstances. Also, in the inquiry that the students did, diverse factors were revealed such as basic and integrative inquiries, and especially, the students were competent in analyzing the results after transforming and interpreting them. And the analysis of the interaction among the students showed many behavioral traits of talented science students.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.848-860
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• 2009

This study examined the characteristics of scientists' writing on the laboratory reports written in the authentic open inquiry, and explored the possibility that the class discussion after the inquiries could influence the laboratory report writing. The samples were 131 10th graders in a science high school in Seoul. The control group (n=45) practiced traditional school science inquiries, the experimental group 1 (n=43) practiced the authentic open inquiries, and the experimental group 2 (n=43) practiced the authentic open inquiries and the class discussion after the laboratory activities. Their laboratory reports were analyzed into three parts - prediction (prediction with background and apposite description), data analysis (data transformation and critical analysis), and conclusion (objective description based on evidence). The frequency of the characteristics of scientist's writing in the experimental group was higher than the control group. Particularly, the differences of the prediction with background (p<.01) and the critical analysis of data (p<.05) were statistically significant. However, the frequency of writing the conclusion based on evidence was very low in all of the three groups. The result from comparing descriptions of reports showed that the writing prediction in experimental groups were more elaborate, and the data transformation in experimental groups were more correct, and the evaluation to data in experimental groups were more critical than the control group. And the descriptions of the critical evaluation to data and the finding flaw in methods were found in experimental groups 2, indicating that the class discussion can stimulate students' scientific thinking.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.319-329
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• 2018

Research Projects allow students to experience of scientific research by conducting experiments on specific scientific subjects and writing reports. The process of research begins as students find and propose research questions and its importance has been consistently emphasized. In this study, we developed various strategies to support students to draw research questions and applied to each phase. We analyzed how students' research questions were developed at different phases. The program consists of five phases, such as (1) Exploration, (2) Literature Review and Data Collection, (3) Modification and Extension, (4) Sharing and Evaluation, (5) Final Selection and Research Plan. The program was applied to high school Research Project for 12 hours. A total of 13 students were divided into four groups of 3-4 students and conducted researches. The results of each student's research process and final research plans were then collected and analyzed. The overall quality of research questions produced by the students showed improvement in each phase. Each strategy improved in various aspects of the research questions at each level. Students were able to find their own area of interest in the 'Exploration' phase and then they began to suggest verifiable plans in the 'Literature and Data Collection' phase. They were able to find a variety of variables under the 'Modification and Extension' phase, whereas the precision of research questions improved in the 'Sharing and Evaluation' and the 'Final Selection and Research Plan' phase.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.930-943
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate if students may actually experience scientific reasoning based on an epistemology of authentic science during authentic open inquiry. The samples were 86 10th graders in a science-high school in Seoul. The experimental group practiced authentic open inquiry and the control group practiced traditional school science inquiry in five weeks. Then, the questions students asked while performing inquiry tasks were analyzed. The frequency of the questions asked by students was almost same between two groups, however, the types of questions were different. The frequency of thinking questions in experimental group was higher than the control, and the difference was statistically significant (P<.01). Particularly, the frequency of expansive thinking questions and anomaly detection questions was much higher in experimental than the control group. Judging from the result, with the students from the experimental group asking questions reflecting on the epistemology of authentic science such as scientific methods, anomalous data, and uncertainty about reasoning, students may understand authentic science features during the activities of open authentic inquiry. The result from comparing questions according to the inquiry subject showed that more openness caused the higher frequency of anomaly detection questions and strategy questions, but that inductive thinking questions and analogical thinking questions were connected to inquiry subject rather than the openness of the inquiry.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2001

The extended science investigations, comprehensive investigations contrasted with exercises of process skill components and cookbook style experiments, should be pursued for giving opportunity of more authentic science activity. The characteristics of the extended investigation tasks were emerged from critical argument on school practical work. And one of important educational objectives in students' investigations is to achieve motivation for investigation. The purpose of this study is to explore how the characteristics of the extended investigation tasks, that is practical context, openness and continuity, affect middle school students' motivation for investigation. On the basis of questionnaire results and students' school science achievement, ten students were interviewed to see the change of motivation for investigation and its causes while they perform two textbook investigations and four extended investigation tasks. Among the interviewees, the students who showed positive motivation for the extended investigations were critical about textbook experiments as they are just confirmations of theories and perceived practical context and openness as the main causes of their positive motivation. The students who showed negative motivation for extended investigations preferred textbook experiments as there was enough guidance from teacher and textbook-centered learning. They recognized the openness of the tasks as a main reason of their negative motivation for investigation. Some students showed negative responses about continuity of the extended investigation tasks but continuity was not recognized as a main cause for their motivation for investigation.