• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.541-551
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• 2009

This study aimed to investigate the effect of pre-service science teachers' experiences in nuclear physics research on their understanding of scientific inquiry process and career planning. The thirty-week URP (Undergraduate Research Participation) program was designed with the participation of six pre-service science teachers. Data sources included in-depth interviews with the individual teachers, group discussions, participant observations with field notes over the weeks, journals and lab logs, etc. Results indicated that the teachers perceived the complex and repetitive nature of the science research process, the importance of scientists' creativity and collaboration, etc. Their typical impressions of scientists has also more or less changed. In addition, the teachers had opportunities to confirm their aptitude in physics and to explore their career options in physics-related fields.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to analyze the student's modeling patterns of modeling experiments. The 1st year students who were taking the general chemistry laboratory course performed three modeling inquiry experiments and submitted laboratory reports. Students expressed the model in a formula form and/or a written form. Student's modeling patterns could be classified by five types; 'Refining tentative modeling', 'Accepting alternative modeling', 'Discarding tentative modeling', 'Failing to find causes', 'Disbelieving results'. This modeling experiment provides for students the opportunity for understanding how a scientific model is created and what the nature of scientific modeling is.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.239-252
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to examine metamodeling knowledge and its components, which means knowledge about model and modeling required for students and teachers for successful application of modeling in the field of science education based on research literature. For this, we analyzed and categorized major previous studies on modeling and modeling through research literature methods. Metamodeling knowledge aims to recognize models and modeling and is the most crucial element to create a scientific model in scientific modeling practice. The point of view of metamodeling knowledge proposed in this study is categorize nature of model, multiplicity of model, purpose of model, modeling process, and evaluation and revision of model. Students should be able to achieve more in-depth understanding through the awareness of the nature of the model. The development of metamodeling knowledge can facilitate students' science learning.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.371-387
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• 2016

Learning at the elbow of scientist is a well-known educational approach to improve students' understanding of science and scientific practice. This study, in the perspective of legitimate peripheral participation in a community of practice, explores how students' scientific practice and perception could be shifted through R&E program with the development of participation. Data from participant observation for 18 months and in-depth interviews were analyzed based on constant comparative method to extract common characteristics of students' participation and major shifts in their scientific practices and perceptions. Students' development of participation was categorized into three stages: legitimate, peripheral, and full participation. In the stage of peripheral participation, students perceived themselves as mere students and showed passive engagement. They just followed the directions of researchers and didn't know what they should be doing. But through continuous participation, students showed enhanced engagement like voluntary article reading, role assignments, and establishing norms in a community of practice with the reference of scientists'. In this stage of transitional participation, students also showed a deepened perception on everyday life of scientist and the community of scientist. And finally in the stage of full participation, students showed responsibility and ownership on research and continuous efforts to refine their research. They recognized themselves as beginning scientists. With these findings, this paper highlighted the dynamic processes of students' development of scientific practices and identity through R&E participation. It also suggests implications for research programs for education, especially for students who have already articulated a science-related career but still have only foggy notions about science.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.743-752
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of scientifically gifted students' views on the nature of science. A multiple-choice format questionnaire was administered to 237 Korean 10th, 11th and 12th graders at the Korea Science Academy. The differences and similarities by gender and experience of R&E program on the students' views of the nature of science were investigated. The questionnaire developed by Lim(2004) was implemented for this investigation. We found that the majority of scientifically gifted students had highly possessed the tentativeness of scientific knowledge. The students who experienced R&E program have relatively high apprehension of scientists' motivation for researches and activities in social context compared to the students who did not experience an R&E program. Scientifically gifted students had relatively high apprehension that government should not control researches of scientists and relatively low apprehension of social responsibilities of scientists comparing to general high school students. The experience on R&E program was identified as a factor to effect changes in the students' views on the nature of science. The study has implications for the development of gifted program and curriculum such as running and assessing R&E program, and also the pre-service preparation of science teacher, teacher education reformat in both the practical and the policy levels.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.715-729
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception on science and scientists of the teachers who are engaged in the special education for the scientifically gifted, science-gifted students and their parents. For this study, 34 teachers, 222 students and 107 parents answered the questionnaire of the perception on science and Draw-A-Science-Test (DAST). The result showed that the three groups generally had a sound recognition but the score of recognition about a 'nature of science' was lower than other domains. The science-gifted students had less cognition about 'science and society' than their teachers and parents, but they had more positive perception about 'science learning' than their parents significantly. All of the three groups had the stereotyped image of scientist. About the internal images of scientists, three groups had a similar perception, and they showed higher scores in the cognitive aspect than emotional or ethical aspects. And the science-gifted students showed the significantly higher scores than their teachers and parents in diligence, imaginative power, concern about other people, respect for other's opinion, humor, artistic sense, respect for human, desire for peace. Three groups turned out to be influenced by movie, science journal, and biography as a source of scientist's image, but their contribution was different among groups.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.629-648
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• 2015

This study is a case study examining how research-based 'authentic' science education program contextually facilitates students' learning on NOS as a process. We developed 'Becoming a Scientist' mentor-mentee program and applied it to six Korean 7th graders for 8 months. A mentor, who is also a researcher, provided scaffolding and coaching, and her mentees were to perform the whole process of science research, including selecting the research subject and questions, planning research design, doing experiments, collecting and analysing data, writing research paper, and experiencing poster presentation at an academic conference. The research questions are 1) What would the students experience at every step of their research process?, and 2) Which perceptions would they construct NOS as a process? Data include classroom observations, interview, mentor's journal, and students' learning products. The results show that the mentees have experienced their views of NOS as a process in various ways such as role of research question and purpose, validity of measured value, researcher's subjectivity in interpreting data, experience of making public and peer review, and significance of academic conference. This study has shown that students' actual experience in scientific research enhanced their views about NOS as process without explicit and reflective approaches. We defined 'authenticity' associated with not only with its similarity to what scientists do but to learner's identity as scientific researcher. Based on the situated learning theory, this study sheds light on the necessity of reconsideration about the meaning of authenticity and embodying authentic context in science education for better NOS learning.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.685-695
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• 2008

An analysis on the Inquiry unit of Science 10 textbooks was conducted in terms of nature of science (NOS). The subject of the analysis was instructional objectives, activities and sentences in the unit of ten Science 10 textbooks. Contents of the instructional objectives could be grouped into nature of science, nature of scientists, scientific methods, and Science-Technology-Society. The concrete nature of scientific knowledge (SK) and constructing scientific theory or model, however, were not found in the objectives. The total number of activities in the Inquiry unit was 38. Seventeen out of them were presented without any supplemental or introductory materials, and 21 activities were provided with information followed by questions, discussions or investigations. For the most activities, any clear statements about NOS elements and desired/informed views of NOS were not made. The sentences of the Inquiry units were mixed up with constructivist and inductive views on NOS. The definition of science tended to be described based on the inductive view. And the generation of SK tended to be described as discovering regularities in natural phenomena rather than constructing theories. For science teachers who want to teach NOS effectively, stating clear learning objectives and elements of NOS and presenting reading materials with relevant views on nature of science were necessary.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.856-869
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• 2006

J. J. Schwab is usually considered as the founder of the concept of scientific enquiry, perhaps the most important key word of science education of the 20th century. Mainly through the method of literature review, this study reappraises Schwab's life as a science educator as well as a curriculum scholar, and his ideas concerning several important issues about science and science education. Like other eminent science educators, before the 1950s, who were originally talented scientists but later became engaged in educational activities, Schwab were trained and known as a genetic scientist, but later he concentrated on university reform, curriculum studies and science education. His academic interest was very diverse across different disciplines, from biology and science in general to history, philosophy and education. The essence of his theory of scientific enquiry was 'to teach science as science', and the best way to do it was 'to teach science as enquiry'. With enquiry, however, he tried to deliver some important but differentiated meanings, for example by distinguishing 'science as enquiry' and 'teaching as enquiry', and 'static enquiry' and 'fluid enquiry'. Scientific enquiry was the core concept upon which many of his ideas concerning science education and education in general were based, such as the diversity of science, textbooks, curriculum and roles of teachers. In summary, Schwab can be characterized as a rational reformist of science education, who tried to identify the very nature and goals of the discipline and to bring its substantial changes with concrete and practical guidelines. Nevertheless, some of his ideas, like the diversity of science and conceptual invention, have been handed down by his followers frequently with considerable distortion.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.29-46
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• 2004

This study investigated a 7-week summer science research apprenticeship program for gifted high school students in U.S. The purpose of the study was to examine the reasons why the high school student participated in the program, the students' perceptions on the benefits of the apprenticeship program, and to investigate mentors' perceptions on assessment and mentorship of the students' projects. For this study, laboratory works and group meetings were observed, students' journal and research products were analyzed, and interviews were administrated with student apprentices and some mentors. The result revealed that the main reasons of students' participation were to perform research with university professionals, to understand the scientific research, and to explore their college/career decisions. Students' participation was strongly associated with their internal motivation and interests. The students perceived the benefits of the apprenticeship program as providing them with the experience of the nature of real scientific research, of learning of scientific knowledge on the focus area, and wiser college/career decisions. Students' projects were assessed and guided through on-going interactions and cognitive apprenticeship between mentors and student apprentices.