• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2018

Various forms of visual representations enable scientific discovery and scientific reasoning when scientists conduct research. Similarly, in science education, visual representations are important as a means to promote students' understanding of science concepts and scientific thinking skills. To provide a framework that could facilitate the effective use of visual representations in science classroom and systemic science education research, a visual representation competence taxonomy (VRC-T) was developed in this study. VRC-T includes two dimensions: the type of visual representation, and the cognitive process of visual representation. The initial categories for each dimension were developed based on literature review. Then validation and revision was made by conducting teachers' workshop and survey to experts. The types of visual representations were grouped into 3 categories (descriptive, procedural, and explanative representations) and the cognitive processes were grouped into 3 categories (interpretation, integration, and construction). The sub categories of each dimension and the validation process would be explained in detail.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.253-262
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• 2017

This study aims at investigating the perceptions of science teachers about the role of visual representations in the teaching of electromagnetism, and finding out how science teachers use visual representations in their teaching of electromagnetism and the difficulties they experience in dealing with those representations. A total of 121 science teachers responded to the online survey. The results showed that most of the teachers agreed to the significance of using visual representations in the classroom but regarded their role as means of simply delivering science knowledge rather than constructing or generating knowledge. For the three visual representations widely used in teaching of electromagnetism in secondary schools (electrostatic induction on electroscope, magnetic field around current carrying wire, structure and principle of electric motor), the teachers preferred teacher-centered use of visual representations rather than student-centered and teacher's construction of representations were the most frequent among four types of use; interpretation, construction, application, and evaluation. The difficulties of teaching with these three visual representations were categorized into several factors; teachers, students, the characteristics of the representations, and lack of resources and classroom environment. Teachers' limited perceptions about the role of visual representations were associated with the ways of using visual representations in their teaching. Implications for the effective use of visual representations for science learning and teaching were discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.295-305
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• 2019

In previous study, visual representation competence taxonomy (VRC-T), which is composed of two dimensions, was developed for the purpose of promoting effective visual representation use and research in science education. In this study, elementary school students' visual representation competence for shadow phenomenon was investigated using VRC-T. In terms of visual representation competence, 'interpretation' was the highest score, followed by 'construction' and 'integration'. It also showed that students' visual representation competence was not high even after learning shadow-related units in the regular curriculum. On the other hand, text-based scientific knowledge was not correlated with all categories of visual representation competence. This indicates that there is a need to emphasize visual representation more in science class. Finally, hierarchical relationship among cognitive processes of VRC-T was explored according to ordering theory. If the tolerance level is somewhat loosened, a linear hierarchical relationship was found between the six cognitive processes. This suggests that VRC-T is an analytical framework that can be useful when designing assessment tools, tasks, and science class activities to enhance visual representation competence.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.152-165
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• 2017

The magnetic field due to a current is one of the core concepts in electromagnetism which has been taught in secondary science education. In addition, it is a representative example of using visual representations to explain the relation between invisible physical quantities; current and magnetic field. In this study we investigated middle school students' representational competence into three components; interpretation, construction, and application of visual representations. According to the analysis, more than 75 % of the respondents interpreted the meaning of the arrows for current and magnetic field correctly. However, half of them confused the movement of electric charges with the direction of magnetic field. Over 60 % of the students constructed the magnetic field representation as circular closed curves, but many of them could not express the density of field lines properly. In application of visual representations, more than half failed to draw the direction of compass needle correctly. The scores were in order of interpretation, construction and application. There were also significant correlations among three components of representational competence. More attention and research on students' representational competence and effective use of visual representations is needed to better support science learning and teaching.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.418-431
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• 2022

In this study, we analyzed the form, presentation, and interactivity of external representations presented in the matter units of elementary school science digital textbooks developed under the 2015 Revised National Curriculum. The analytic framework of the previous study was modified and supplemented. The matter units in the 3rd-6th grade science digital textbooks were analyzed by dividing them into "body texts" and "inquiries" area. The results revealed that visual-verbal and visual-nonverbal representations were presented the most. Conversely, audial-nonverbal representations were presented at a high frequency only in the body texts, and audial-verbal representations were presented at a low frequency in both the body texts and the inquiries. Regarding the presentation, when verbal and visual-nonverbal representations appeared together, visual-verbal and visual-nonverbal representations were primarily presented together. In some cases where visual-verbal, audial-verbal, and visual-nonverbal representations were presented together, information on visual-verbal and audial-verbal representations was presented redundantly. Audial-nonverbal representations unrelated to contents were presented along with other external representations, and the frequency was particularly high in the body texts. Regarding the contiguity, no visual-verbal and visual-nonverbal representations were presented on different pages, and no audial-verbal representations were presented asynchronously with visual-nonverbal representations. Regarding the interactivity, explanatory feedback and low-level manipulations were mainly presented. Based on the results, implications to improve digital textbooks are discussed from the perspective of multiple representation-based learning.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.75-88
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• 2008

Visual scene contains lots of redundant information. To process this redundant information without increasing brain's volume, human visual system may summarize incoming information. If similar but different information are given to visual system, visual system extracts statistical properties of the information. One example of the statistical representation is representation of mean size. The mean representation is accurate and durable. The process of mean representation is suggested to be parallel. However, previous studies on the mean representation mostly used behavioral methods. The purpose of this study was to investigate which neural regions extracted the mean size of a set of circles using fMRI method. According to previous studies, BOLD signal of certain areas that were in charge of cousin stimuli decreased when the same stimuli presented repetitively. We used this paradigm and found that BOLD signal of right occipital area was decreased when same mean site was presented repeatedly. This results suggest that right occipital area is the locus of mean representation of visual stimuli.

• School Mathematics
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.605-617
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• 2010

This study explores the characteristics and roles of non-textual elements in secondary mathematics textbooks in the United States and South Korea, using a conceptual framework that I have developed: variety, contextuality, and connectivity. Analyzing five U.S. standards-based textbooks and 13 Korean textbooks, this study shows that although non-textual elements in mathematics textbooks are free of literal language, they exhibit different emphases and reflect assumptions about what is important in learning mathematics and how it can be taught and learned in a particular societal context (Mishra, 1999; Zazkis & Gadowsky, 2001). While there are similar patterns in the use of different types of non-textual elements in textbooks from both countries, different opportunities are provided for students to learn mathematics between the two countries.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.189-206
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• 2015

There has been a recurring call for using visual representations in textbooks to improve the teaching and learning of proportional reasoning. However, the quantity as well as quality of visual representations used in textbooks is still very limited. In this article, we analyzed visual representations presented in a Grade 6 textbook from two perspectives of proportional reasoning, multiple-batches perspective and variable-parts perspective, and discussed the potential of the double number line and the double tape diagram to help develop the idea 'things covary while something stays the same', which is critical to reason proportionally. We also classified situations that require proportional reasoning into five categories and provided ways of using the double number line and the double tape diagram for each category.

• School Mathematics
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.447-468
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• 2011

For the instruction of units dealing with the conic section, the most important factor that we need to consider is the connections. In other words, the algebraic approach and the geometric approach should be instructed in parallel at the same time. In particular, for the students of low proficiency who are not good at algebraic operation, the geometric approach that employs visual representation, expressing the conic section's characteristic in a dynamic manner, is an important and effective method. For this, during this research, to suggest the importance of dynamic visual representation based on GeoGebra in teaching Quadratic Curve, we taught an experimental class that suggests the instruction method which maximizes the visual representation and analyzed changes in the representation of students by analyzing the part related to the unit of a parabola from units dealing with a conic section in the "Geometry and Vector" textbook and activity book.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.416-428
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• 2020

This study analyzed the uses of external representations presented in the matter units of the 7th-grade science digital textbooks developed under the 2015 revised national curriculum. The level, form, presentation, and interactivity of external representations presented in 5 types of digital textbooks were analyzed. As for the level, the macroscopic level of representations was mainly presented. The macroscopic level and microscopic level of representations were presented together in the particle description. As for the form, visual-verbal and visual-nonverbal representations were usually presented across the board. Very few audial-verbal and audial-nonverbal representations were presented. Visual-verbal and audial-verbal representations were mostly presented in formal form, and visual-nonverbal representations were mostly presented in illustration without movement. The presentation of representations was analyzed in three aspects. First, visual-verbal and visual-nonverbal representations were mainly presented together and none of audial-verbal and visual-nonverbal representations were presented together. When the representations of the audial-verbal, visual-nonverbal, and visual-verbal were presented together, some of the information presented in audial-verbal representations was repeatedly presented in the visual-verbal representations. Second, audial-nonverbal representations not related to learning content were presented along with other representations. Third, there were few cases of arranging visual-verbal and visual-nonverbal representations on the next pages. Audialverbal and visual-nonverbal representations were always presented synchronized. As for the interactivity, the manipulation level was mainly presented in the main area, and the feedback level was mainly presented in the activity area. The adaptation level and the communication level of interactivity were presented very few. Based on the results, the implications for the direction of constructing digital textbooks were discussed.