• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.4 no.1 s.7
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• pp.1-30
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• 2004

In this paper, I have attempted to show how the environmental controversy surrounding the Saemangeurn Reclamation Project in Korea has been framed as narrow scientific debates. First of all, science, or specifically the Expert Review Pane, has played dual roles in the controversy. On the one hand, it has contributed to illuminating the future environmental impacts of reclamation, by so doing, to providing a momentum to reconsider the project. This has significant meaning that environmental concerns successfully checked the symbolic national project of developmental era through adopting a joint-investigation scheme that guaranteed participation of environmental groups on an equal footing with the government. On the other hand, by limiting the scope and participants of discussion, it fundamentally blocked the possibilities of public debates and deliberative decision-making with full considerations of the political, social, and cultural aspects of the controversy. I have shown that this is due to the realist belief shared by both the developers and the environmentalists in Korea that 'proper' science would disclose the truth. Environmental groups, in particular, were naive in evaluating the role of scientific expertise in the controversy and neglected the political role of the Expert Review Pane as a ritual. In opposition to the realist argument, I have shown through the analysis of the water quality debates concerning the future fresh water lakes that scientific 'facts' were not discovered but constructed through complex negotiations, conflicts, and compromises among related actors. The framing of the controversy as an experts' debate has resulted in the exclusion of an important actor from the discussion. Little attention has been paid throughout the controversy to the very people who have lived in the Saemangeum area for generations and will lose their livelihood all together soon. About 20,000 fishermen are living on the Saemangeum tidal flats.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.2 no.2 s.4
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• pp.55-89
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• 2002

The purpose of this article is to examine and assess the main issues in social constructivism with reference to the history of technology. Social constructivism, as an alternative explanation to technological change, has developed its points actively responding to various criticisms. Historians of technology have joined in dialogues with social constructivists through controversies about narrative vs theory, reliability vs performance, and evolution of bicycle. Social constructivists tend to use new jargons excessively, don't deal historical materials rigorously, and don't consider content-dependency sufficiently. To apply social constructivism to Korean cases many problems should be identified including the deficiency of historical materials, the importance of technological learning, and the peculiarity of relevant social group.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.933-952
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• 2010

This study aims to characterize debate on a socio-scientific issue in the Internet and to provide implications from a postmodernist perspective. This study concentrates on disentanglement of the complex relationship among society, economy, politics and science in an issue and characterization of the given text centering on its originality, the relationship between writer and reader, and the purpose of utterance. Sixty-six most read articles on a web message board were chosen and analyzed as a typical case of a socio-scientific issue in the internet. In them, five scientific disputes were identified: the cause of mad cow disease (MCD), specified risk material and the incubation period, the cause of new variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (vCJD), vulnerability of vCJD and the relation of Alzheimer and vCJD in American patients. Each argument is intertwined with social, economic and political problems such as its impact on the domestic beef market, feeding environment of imported cattle and the retaliation against denial of importation. With regard to originality, it is found that the originality of an author is weakened but communal through repetitive quotation of 'Peom', cutting and pasting, and engagement of readers with their comments. Furthermore, in order to close the gap between writer and reader, identity and personal narrative of the writers are often introduced into their writing. In terms of purpose of utterance, these are intended to deliver one's feelings or facilitate human behavior rather than inform through verification of a principle.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.513-530
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• 2009

Many kinds of teaching methods have been used to instruct ethical issues that arise in the field of science and technology. However, few teaching methods of bioethics have been validated by ethical theories, or justified based on practical utility in bioethics teaching. The aim of this article is to suggest teaching methods of bioethics that are appropriate for ethical theories and socio-scientific issues related to biological sciences in secondary schools. In the article, the teaching methods are classified into three types of ethical theories and into three types of socio-scientific issues in biological sciences. The characteristics of nine teaching/learning methods are then described in terms of appropriate bioethical issues or contexts, and ethical theories or principles.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.501-517
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• 2021

In the present age, when the development of science and technology is leading the changes, this study supports the view that students should possess the literacy to participate democratically and critically in socio-scientific issues, and should be positioned as agentic and participatory citizens. Accordingly, we implemented a club activity that emphasize climate social action for elementary students, and explored how students were positioned in relation to climate change. In this study, position is defined as a complex cluster of rights and duties that students have in relation to climate change. The club activity was implemented throughout 46 sessions from March to July, 2019 for 11 sixth graders of 'H elementary School' in Seoul, and transcripts of video and interviews were analyzed by means of a constant comparison method. In the course of the activity consisting of three steps, the students exhibited different positioning and they are as follows: In the global warming modeling activity for Step 1, students were positioned as 'active learners', but at the same time, they showed a contradiction in being positioned as 'apprentice'. In the student-led research activities inherent to Step 2, they were positioned as 'scientists who design and conduct research' and 'bystanders' due to the controversial nature of SSI knowledge. As students participate in the social actions involved in Step 3, the position changed from 'elementary school students facing difficulty in making a change' to 'participatory citizens creating changes.' This study is significant because it shows students' potential to promote participatory and democratic citizenship through action-oriented SSI activities. In addition, pedagogical approaches were discussed dealing with the contradictions and limitations of positioning.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.203-217
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• 2018

The research objective of this study is to analyze the aspects of small group decision-making process based on reading news reports in the context of the socio-scientific issues (SSI) activity related to climate change. Twenty-two high school students from Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, were asked to read two news reports on the UN climate change conferences and take a stance on joining the Paris Agreement both as an individual and as a small group. The news reports were analyzed in terms of genre, discourse, and style adapting the critical discourse analysis (CDA) and the decision-making processes of the small groups were examined on recognizing a problem and evaluating alternatives and decisions. The results from analyzing the news reports denoted that the Paris agreement is not only related to finding ideal solutions to climate change, but rather, connected to political or economic interests and power relationship. In the stage of recognizing a problem, meanwhile, different frames which students recognize the Paris agreement and discourses in the foreground of the news reports were the critical causes in terms of identifying the problem. In the stage of evaluating alternatives and decisions, the equity and fairness were the criteria for the small group discussions. This study implies the necessity of the scientific literacy instruction to develop the ability to critical reading in the context of the SSI.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.173-206
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• 2013

Launched by Samsung in 2003, nano-silver washing machines were a representative application of nanotechnology in commercial products until the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) decided to regulate companies that produce nano-silver products in 2006. A year later, however, the EPA reclassified the washing machines not as an application of nanotechnology but as an ion-generating machine. As shown by the EPA's equivocation on this issue, establishing a category for nano-silver material should be considered in the procedure of risk assessment and regulation. This paper analyzes the controversy over Samsung's nano-silver washing machines more in detail to study how the demarcation between silver ion and nano-silver can vary according to the risk perception of nanotechnology. In Korea and the US, the boundary between silver ion and nano-silver was malleable and mobilzed depending on the contexts. Based on an analysis of the recent history of nano-silver washing machines, this paper explores the influence of risk perception over the ontological perspectives on a certain material.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.137-147
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to analysis total number of 123 SSI programs by SSI criteria. The criteria was consisted of subject, school level, starting point, scientific evidence, social content, use of scientific knowledge, level of conflict of interest, and evaluation and reflection. The results of the analysis are as follows. First, elementary school programs were the most and middle school programs were relatively few. Second, starting point was mainly in the actual situation, the fiction and nonfiction situation, and the situation including the controversy and conflict was less than 10%. Third, it was based on scientific evidence but mainly influenced by individual values and perceptions. Fourth, social contents were developed mainly in ethics/morality/value, political/social life/economy, environment contents. Fifth, the use of scientific knowledge mainly consisted of scientific decision making, scientific critical thinking, and information search. However, science inquiry, risk assessment, and cost effectiveness were less than 10%. Scientific inquiry is the essential factor of science education, and one of core competencies of national science curriculum. SSI program should be able to experience various kinds of conflicts, and to evaluate and reflect through reflection.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.3 no.2 s.6
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• pp.83-104
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• 2003

The use of DNA in identification is growing. The criminal DNA databases are in operation in some countries including the UK, Austria, Germany, and US. The militaries and law enforcement agencies in these countries have used the DNA profile. In Korea, DNA identification has been used in determining paternity and in criminal cases since the middle 1990's, and in recent years law enforcement agencies are promoting a national DNA database for identification. The DNA database threatens our civil liberties because of its potential to be used as an instrument of surveillance. Expanding the database puts increasing numbers of people on a 'list of suspects'. Nevertheless, there is little social concern about using DNA database for identification. This paper reviews social issues related to the establishment of DNA database and investigates the features of DNA profile and DNA Database establishment project promoted law enforcement agencies.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.333-346
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• 2021

In this study, we developed education materials using history of science related to the experiment of 'Boyle's air pump' and the Boyle and Hobbs' debate of vacuum to find out the perceptions of NOS by pre-service chemistry teachers. For the study, 29 pre-service chemistry teachers at a college of education in Chungcheongbuk-do were selected. As RFN items that were related to the contextual situation developed in this study, items in the categories of 'Aims and Values', 'Scientific practices', 'Scientific Methods among Educational Applications' and 'Social-Institutional Aspects among Educational Applications' were selected. Through the items of RFN, the perceptions of pre-service teachers in non-contextual situations were investigated. Then we presented the pre-service teachers with the situation related to Boyle's experiment on air pump and Boyle and Hobbes' debate over vacuum. In addition, their perception of NOS was examined in contextual situations related to RFN items. Responses to the items, experimental results related to Boyle's Law, group discussion, and interview data were collected as data. As a result of the study, it was found that pre-service teachers had informed perceptions in most of the items, but cases with naive views or mixed views were found in context experimental situations. This study can contribute to the NOS education for pre-service chemistry teachers by development of context situation education materials related to NOS and by finding out their perceptions in the non-contextual and contextual situation.