• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.258-272
• /
• 2003

This study explored the effectiveness of science teaching practice and science teaching efficacy beliefs by development of elementary school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. Three research questions are formulated: 1) Is there any relationship between the development of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and the science teaching efficacy beliefs? 2) How does the development of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge affect the science teaching practice? 3) How do the science teaching efficacy beliefs affect the science teaching practice? 120 subjects were chosen in 53 public elementary schools. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed to triangulate the results. Results indicate that the development of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and science teaching efficacy beliefs are more developed in accordance with teachers' teaching career and academic career are increased. There are significant relationships between teachers' science pedagogical content knowledge and science teaching efficacy beliefs. The more the teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, the more confident in science teaching practice. The more the science teaching efficacy beliefs, the more confident in science teaching practice. Also these teachers tried to present teaching objectives and learning problems in the beginning stages of science lessons, and they tried to review each learning stage.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.235-249
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate the nature, role and development of pedagogical content knowledge in science teaching. Two research questions were considered: 1) What are the nature and the components of the pedagogical content knowledge in science teaching? 2) What is the value of pedagogical content knowledge and are there any routes and paths to developing pedagogical content knowledge for science teachers? In order to answer these questions instead of analyzing empirical data, former research literatures are reviewed. The results indicate that science pedagogical content knowledge is a special amalgam of science content knowledge and science method knowledge in a special context of science teaching that is uniquely the province of teacher based on their own special form of professional understanding. As a part of one's own distinctive bodies of knowledge, science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge is an important basis for professional development and competent teachers. It is knowledge of how to teach specific content in specific contexts, also it depends on each teachers' distinctive knowledge structure. Pedagogical content knowledge for science teaching is composed of five components: orientations toward science teaching, knowledge and beliefs about science curriculum, knowledge and beliefs about students' understanding of specific topics, knowledge and beliefs about assessment for teaching science, knowledge and beliefs about instructional strategies for teaching science. The development of science pedagogical content knowledge does not start until teachers have acquired a deeply principled conceptual knowledge of content, also it is promoted by the constant use of subject matter knowledge in teaching situations.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.449-475
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study is to critically examine science content and science education from the 'essential-holistic' perspective, in particular, among the core disciplines constituting the teacher education curriculum. In this study, we first, analyzed the definition of the 'essential-holistic' perspective, the philosophical background, and the relationship with the practices in-depth, and then, from the 'essential-holistic' perspective, conducted an inquiry into the essence of science content and science education. The results of this study are as follows: first, according to the 'essential-holistic' perspective, science content is a study that explores the science practices and systematizes the results of that inquiry. Major activities of science content include the establishment and implementation of 'science for teachers' and participation in the development of science curriculum (textbook). Second, science education according to the 'essential-holistic' perspective is a study about in-depth exploration of essential problems in science education phenomena rooted in the science practices and the practice of good teaching. More specifically, science education is a field that carries out work related to inviting, participating, and guiding students to grow into science practices (i.e. initiating into practices). The main activities of science education related to this include activities ranging from the development of the science curriculum (textbook) to teaching and evaluation (recording). In this study, we discussed important tasks to be carried out in the future based on the results of the study.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.493-511
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the characteristic methods of Mathematics Education. However, it is not simple to find the proper research method of Mathematics Education since Mathematics Education deals with the practice of teaching and learning mathematics, as well as the topics of scholarly research on the practice. Issues on Mathematics Education might vary with the epidemical aspects, which are basic attitudes toward the knowledge and understanding about Mathematics. Thus, this thesis will discuss two questions: First, What are the distinguishing characteristics of Mathematics Education as a field of study, when compared with ones of mathematics? Second, What are the characteristic methods of Mathematics Education, when compared with ones of other academic fields? For solving those questions, this thesis starts from meanings of science and education. And it also classifies Mathematics as formal science whereas Mathematics Education as social science by showing differences between Mathematics and Mathematics Education: research subject of Mathematics targets on mathematics itself and it uses the deductive method. On the other hand, Mathematics Education research handles the practice of mathematics of students and uses plausible reasoning. Also, it will also show why Mathematics Education shares lots of aspects with social science, not with natural science, which has many different characteristics from those of social science. Many researchers have agreed that Education should be categorized into the social science but misplaced Mathematics Education and Science Education into the natural science. It is true that physics and chemistry are natural science. And also it should be said that pure science is formal science. But it should be considered that just like Education, Mathematics Education and Science Education are in the category of social science.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.690-700
• /
• 2022

This study aimed to compare academic passion for science pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) between pre-service and in-service elementary teachers. In addition, a comparison between passion for science subject matter knowledge and passion for science pedagogical knowledge was made for each group of teachers. Participants comprised 182 students from colleges of education and 161 in-service teachers. We analyzed between- and within-subject comparisons for each component of academic passion for science PCK. The results of this study are as follows: First, between-subject comparison demonstrated that, in academic passion for science subject matter knowledge, in-service teachers had a higher passion for "liking" and "importance" than pre-service teachers, whereas pre-service teachers had a higher passion for "time/energy investment" than in-service teachers. In academic passion for science pedagogical knowledge, pre-service teachers had a higher passion for "time/energy investment" than in-service teachers. Second, the within-subject comparison showed that only "harmonious passion" was higher for science pedagogical knowledge than science subject matter knowledge in pre-service teachers. However, "liking", "importance", "time/energy investment", and "obsessive passion" were higher for science subject matter knowledge than science pedagogical knowledge in in-service teachers. The educational implications are discussed.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.553-568
• /
• 2022

This study investigated the level of academic passion for elementary school teachers' science pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and examined the factors that influence the passion. To this end, 161 elementary school teachers in Seoul were selected, and academic passion tests were then administered to evaluate their academic passion for science subject matter knowledge and science pedagogical knowledge. Individual in-depth interviews were also conducted with some of the participating teachers. The results revealed that 'importance' and 'harmonious passion' for learning science subject matter knowledge and science pedagogical knowledge were found at a high level. However, 'time/energy investment' and 'obsessive passion' for learning the knowledge were slightly higher or lower than normal. The 'like' for learning science subject matter knowledge was relatively high, but the 'like' for learning science pedagogical knowledge was slightly higher than normal. The differences in academic passion for science subject matter knowledge and science pedagogical knowledge were greater according to advanced major at undergraduate than teaching career. The teachers evenly selected some factors that influenced their academic passion for science subject matter knowledge and science pedagogical knowledge. These identified characteristics included 'individual interest', 'high school track', 'experience in advanced major at undergraduate', 'experience in science-related graduate school', 'experience teaching science in elementary school', 'experience teaching science at the gifted education institute', 'experience in charge of science subject teacher', 'experience in science-related teacher training', 'experience in developing science-related teaching and learning materials', 'experience in charge of science or science-gifted related work', and 'experience in a science-related teacher community'. However, a slight difference was noted in the selection ratio depending on advanced major at undergraduate. Based on these results, the practical implications for improving their academic passion for science PCK are suggested.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.430-453
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study was to explore how an elementary school teacher developed PCK by utilizing her knowledge domains in teaching practice, regarding the specific science topic of 'animals:' A case study approach was adopted with the participation of a 1st grade teacher, in a poor urban neighborhood elementary school in NYC. Data was collected through interview and the participant observation method in order to investigate: a) the teacher's existing knowledge base in terms of subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and contextual knowledge; b) how she develops PCK during classroom practice, centering on the relationship between knowledge domains. The findings illustrate the ways in which the three knowledge domains are closely related and developed as PCK through the whole teaching process. In particular, the findings indicate that the teacher's contextual knowledge plays a critical role in shaping and developing PCK. Before instruction, her contextual knowledge regarding the administrative policies and the school test system in the district enabled her to make decisions and plans about teaching science. During classroom teaching, her knowledge of students' sociocultural backgrounds and living conditions in the urban setting helped her to identify specific teaching strategies and resources suitable to the students' needs and interests. The study results imply that science instruction can be more feasible in meeting the demands of particular groups of students if teachers make an effort to become knowledgeable about their own teaching context and utilize it in developing their PCK.

• Journal of Science Education
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.90-104
• /
• 2021

This study conducted an online survey to understand what elementary school teachers think about the learning contents of elementary science education subjects needed to train elementary science teachers suitable for the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The results are as follows: First, there were many elementary school teachers who thought that the current learning content of elementary science education was not suitable for the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution and that it needed to modify the learning content. Many of the teachers said that the learning content of the subject did not include the characteristics of the 4th Industrial Revolution, but also did not reflect the changes of the times and remained in the past. Second, the content that elementary school teachers thought was important in training elementary school teachers suitable for the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution was mainly related to the interests and curiosity of students, and scientific experiments or inquiry. On the contrary, the items that they thought should be deleted or reduced included science learning theory, science teaching/learning model, nature of science, and guidance for gifted children. Third, the contents that elementary school teachers thought needed to be added as learning content of elementary science education subjects were SSI education, science education-related social change and future prediction, advanced science technology, STEAM guidance, and integrated education within the science field. Fourth, in order to train elementary school teachers suitable for the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the contents that they thought should be introduced first as learning content of elementary science education subjects were SSI education, integrated education within the science field, STEAM guidance, and core competencies. Other contents that need to be introduced were software education, safety education, and project learning methods.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.30 no.8
• /
• pp.1002-1016
• /
• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate beginner and experienced Korean science teachers' perceptions about the science teacher preparation courses from which they graduated, and to compare them. The study was conducted as a qualitative study using in-depth interviews. For the study, interview questions were developed by the authors based on the questionnaire of 'The IMPPACT project' that was being conducted in America. The interview tool includes questions about their experience of science subject matter content knowledge, science pedagogical content knowledge, and general pedagogical content knowledge in their preparation courses. For the interview, seven beginning science teachers, less than five years of teaching experience, and five experienced science teachers, more than five years of teaching experience, were sampled from secondary schools in Korea. The research results are as follows: First, most of the beginner and experienced science teachers perceived that the teaching methods in the classes of science subject matter were not good model for teaching science in their secondary school, because they were not diverse enough and entailed mostly knowledge transfer just through lecture without teacher-student interaction. Second, most of the beginner science teachers perceived that they were affected positively by the teaching strategies and evaluation methods in the classes for science pedagogical subject matter and they could apply those strategies and methods in their current science teaching. Lastly, most of the beginner and experienced science teachers perceived that general pedagogical subject matter is important and prerequisite for science teaching in their schools, but the courses that they experienced at their university were not appropriate for their current teaching.

• Journal of Science Education
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.122-132
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this study is to examine the teacher expertise to be evaluated in the secondary science teacher employment test (TET, hereafter) in order to respond to changes in educational environments including the transition to competency-based curriculum, and ways to improve the first exam in major areas in the current TET. For this purpose, Delphi surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 professors of science education who have experience in the TET. According to the research results, teacher expertise such as subject teaching, student understanding, intelligence information utilization, community competencies, and so on were suggested. Ways to improve science content exam in the TET include securing fairness and validity by increasing the number of questions, strengthening the connection with the secondary school curriculum, updating assessment areas for certificate subjects periodically, etc. Ways to improve science education exam in the TET include research and development on the types of science education questions, introducing essay test to science education exam, development of a standardized curriculum on science education, etc. Based on the research results, the necessity of revising the curriculum for teacher training colleges, differentiating curriculum between teachers' colleges and natural science colleges, and reforming the teacher training system by introducing graduate school of education were suggested.