• Journal of Science Education
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.317-325
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the readability of the 2015 revised elementary science textbooks at the vocabulary and sentence levels, and to provide an opportunity to use vocabulary and sentences with an appropriate level of readability for writing textbooks in the future. To do this, the readability of the 2015 revised elementary science textbook was analyzed and the vocabulary and sentence level the readability of sentences defining scientific terminology were analyzed. The results were then compared to the readability of previous curriculum textbooks. The results are as follows: first, the grade average of vocabulary remained at 1.5-2.1, with vocabulary appropriate to the elementary school level being used on average. However, grades 4 to 5 vocabulary are distributed at a relatively high rate. Second, the sentence-level analysis shows that the sentence lengths for the third and fifth grades were relatively long and the percentage of simple sentences was low. Third, compared to other curriculum textbooks, it was confirmed that the proper level of readability was maintained at the vocabulary level, but that the sentence lengths and the percentage of simple sentences could adversely affect the readability of third-grade science textbooks.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.553-568
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• 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 The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.22-42
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• 2009

The purpose of the case study is to understand changes in the teaching practices of two secondary science teachers during the span of their careers. To investigate changes in teaching practices, this study focuses on changes in the science teachers' practical principles based on Elbaz's practical knowledge. The biographical approach was adopted because teachers' voices are a valuable source to understand their professional development. In-depth interviews and classroom observations were conducted for two science teachers with seven years' and ten years' teaching experience. The major findings are as follows: First, participants' teaching practices changed through interaction with three factors, critical experiences that have stirred changes in teaching practice, teacher's reflection on teaching, and various experiences to make specific teaching practice changes. Second, three different change aspects of practical principles were revealed; reinforcement of existing practical principles, replacing old practical principles with new one, and generation of new practical principles.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.187-195
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to diagnose the operation status of high school integrated science newly introduced in the 2015 revised national curriculum and first applied in 2018, to examine teachers' perception on the new educational policy, and then based on this, extract implications for settling down the policy. A survey was administered to science teachers who participated in the in-service teacher training on integrated science, and the responses of 384 high school science teachers were analyzed. According to the results of the survey, integrated science was allotted six units to each school, and two or more teachers divided achievement standards and were responsible for them in many cases. Science teachers pointed to the increase of student-oriented activities as the biggest change due to the application of integrated science and also showed a positive attitude towards increasing the proportion of performance-based assessment, diversifying evaluation methods, increasing teacher consultations, and enhancing the holistic understanding of natural phenomenon, etc. In particular, teachers with 15 years or more of teaching experience were significantly positive about the increase of student-oriented activities, diverse assessment methods, and opportunities of teacher consultations. For teachers with a sub-major in science, teaching about non-majored contents was the most difficult and it was also difficult to determine the appropriate level of contents to teach. Teachers who majored common science, however, rarely complained about teaching non-majored content. In the case of two teachers in charge of integrated science, there was a statistically significant demand for subject matter knowledge as training content, and for mixed education incorporating theory and practice and customized training as a training method. In the case of one teacher responsible for the subject, there was a relatively lower demand. From these results, some implications for the successful implementation of integrated science were discussed.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.173-191
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• 2021

This study noted that a survey of teachers in a leading study conducted in Korea during the Pandemics period pointed out that the "real-time interactive" classes account for a significantly small portion of the remote class format. Contentually, the study reported cases of developing and applying "real-time interactive" class materials based on "planar decision requirements" of high school mathematics subject geometry. The teacher who participated in the development was a math teacher who worked at a Seoul-based high school with 28 years of high school teaching experience, and a teacher who was in charge of geometry in the math department in 2020. The development teacher decided to develop real-time interactive classes. In particular, the materials were developed by organizing the class guidance plan in four stages: 'Meeting and Class Guidance', 'Giving motivation', 'Suggesting tasks', 'Individual Investigative Activities and Teacher Feedback' and 'Reflection and Evaluation' which were selected through the process of selecting the class contents and selecting online class tools. At this time, the development teacher produced and presented about five minutes of video material using the videooscribe, a whiteboard animation program. And in case of task number 8, it consisted of recording the students' free thoughts after class, which served as a role of assessment by students themselves and providing feedback to their teachers. This study is a case study that introduces a series of courses in which field teachers develop class materials, and in addition to presenting class materials that can be applied directly to classes, is a result of a study that focuses on the role of presenting samples for future class data development. The materials developed were verified as class materials based on the opinions of the students who participated in the class and the results of the evaluation commissioned by the three math teachers.