• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.273-290
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• 2020

This study aims to investigate tenth graders' understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI). A total of 100 public school students participated. A questionnaire of Views about Scientific Inquiry was used to assess their understanding of the NOSI, and data were collected using qualitative research methods such as open-ended questionnaires and, when necessary, semi-structured interviews. By employing a constant comparison method to analyze their responses, five students were consistently categorized as the group with informed views regarding all the eight aspects of the NOSI. The rest of the students showed different levels of understanding regarding each aspect. A large portion of the students represented a group with mixed views about four aspects and informed views about three aspects, whereas naive views about one aspect prevailed among them. The results showed that many students comparatively lacked understanding of the aspect related to the scientists' process of constructing explanations and formulating theories. This study discusses the relationship between its results and the current science curriculum and presents implications for the overall enhancement of students' understanding of the NOSI. Finally, it encourages the acquisition of scientific inquiry ability and makes suggestions to promote further studies.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.259-265
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• 2015

This study examined high school students' acceptance of evolutionary theory, evolutionary knowledge, and epistemological belief. The Christian and non-Christian students' acceptance of evolutionary theory and evolution content knowledge were compared in relation to their 'scientific epistemological views' (domain-specific) and 'evolution in relation to nature of science' (context-specific). The Christian students' evolutionary knowledge was most predicted by the theory-laden exploration of science, while the non-Christian students' scores on evolutionary knowledge were most predicted by the scientific epistemological views. In addition, the Christian students' scores on scientific epistemological views and evolution in relation to evolution were not significantly related to each other, while the non-Christian students' scores on both variables were significantly related. Furthermore, 'evolution in relation to nature of science' is the strongest predictor of both Christian and non-Christian students' acceptance of evolution.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.751-758
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to develop an inquiry analysis framework based on the features of earth science inquiry methodology and to analyze inquiry activities in the 8th grade 'Earth History and Diastrophism' unit by using this framework. The framework classified earth science methods as logical inference, hermeneutic, and historical methods, each of which was subdivided in consideration of its subordinate methods and characteristics. The analysis revealed that the logical inference method reflected in the unit as the 'abductive method' (70%) was used more frequently than the 'inductive' (23%) and 'deductive' (22%) methods. The hermeneutic method was found in terms of the 'forestructures of understanding' (92%), 'circular reasoning' (9%). and 'historical nature of human understanding' (17%). The historical method also used as the 'constructing proper taxonomy' (53%), 'adhering to the modem principle of uniformitarianism' (47%), and 'relic interpretation' (41%) were identified with ratios more fester than those for the 'place substituting for time in stage theorizing' (3%) and 'evaluating independent lines of inquiry for convergence' (3%).

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.155-169
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• 2021

This study aims at exploring the features of science teaching orientation (STO) and its relationships with other PCK (pedagogical content knowledge) components. To do this, based on the definition of STO by Friedrichsen, Driel, & Abell(2011) and PCK model by Magnusson, Krajcik, & Borko(1999), we observed one experienced elementary teacher's science lessons for 21 lesson hours (10 hours of 'Motion of Objects' and 11 hours of 'Light and Lens') and carried out qualitative analyses of the data obtained from lessons observation, teacher interviews, and CoRe (content representation) responses. We analyzed the teacher's three aspects of STO (i.e. beliefs about the goals and purpose of science teaching, beliefs about the nature of science, and beliefs about science teaching and learning) which can converge into an overall STO of 'inquiry'. And these aspects of STO appear to interact differently with four PCK components (i.e. curriculum knowledge, learner knowledge, instructional knowledge, and assessment knowledge) depending on the topic of the lesson. It is hoped that this in-depth understanding of the features of STO and its relationship with other PCK components would provide useful information on how to monitor and improve STO and PCK of elementary teachers.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.719-730
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• 2004

The International Astronomy Olympiad (IAO) was established and its foundation were published by the Euro-Asian Astronomical Society (EAAS), in order to spread astronomical knowledge, promote international cooperation in astronomical education area, and recognize the importance of astronomy in far-reaching field of science and human culture. In 1996, the first IAO was held at the Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) of the Russian Academy of sciences (RAS) located in the north Caucasus of Russia. Since then, it has been held every year. Here, we will describe the present status of the International Astronomy Olympiad, its major results by year, related institutions, organizations, and the main regulations regarding its operation. In order to measure the levels of scientific knowledge and thinking abilities, we develop a rubric to analyze the characteristics of problems in the IAO with regards to cognitive aspects of scientific inquiry. These problems require high levels of content knowledge and scientific method knowledge. Also high order thinking abilities and high levels of convergent thinking skills, instead of divergent, are needed to solve these problems. Thus, the problems presented are set a high difficulty. Through this analysis, we can understand main purpose of the International Astronomy Olympiad and explore the future direction of the Korea Astronomy Olympiad.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.47-57
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• 2021

This study aims to explore the epistemic goals that pre-service elementary teachers can construct in their biology-related knowledge construction activities, how these goals are constructed, and how the shaping of the knowledge construction activities around the goals was afforded or constrained. The research participants were 26 pre-service teachers, divided into 11 groups of two or three to engage in the activity. Their discussions and products were collected and used as data for this study. The analysis revealed that the teachers constructed three types of epistemic goals: making sense of natural phenomena, proposing the most effective course of action, and proposing solutions to problems based on their causes. Construction of different types of goals depended on the conclusions the pre-service teachers expected to draw based on the explored natural phenomena. It was found that the elicitation of the pre-service teachers' epistemic goals could facilitate their shaping of the knowledge construction activity as an evidence-based justification. The participants planned the construction of mechanistic explanations of natural phenomena with the epistemic goals of 'making sense of natural phenomena' or 'proposing solutions to problems based on their causes.' However, enacting their knowledge construction plans with sophisticated epistemic features was constrained due to the limited resources available. This study can contribute to developing instructional strategies that facilitate learners' epistemic agency and addressing epistemic agency in the development of pre-service teacher education methods.