• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.37-52
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• 2015

In this study, assessment items to examine geocognition on plate tectonics were developed and applied to middle and high school students and college students. Conceptual constructs on plate tectonics are Earth interior structure, specific geomorphology, and geologic phenomena at each plate boundary. Construct for geocognition included temporal reasoning, spatial reasoning, retrospective reasoning, and system thinking. Pictorial data in each item were all obtained from GeoMapApp. Students' responses to the items were analyzed and measured cross-sectionally by Rasch model, which distinguishes persons' ability levels based on their scores for all items and compared them with item difficulty. By Rasch model analysis, Wright maps for middle and high school students and college students were obtained and compared with each other. Differential Item Functioning analysis was also implemented to compare students' item responses across school grades. The results showed: 1) Geocognition on plate tectonics was an assessable construct for middle and high school students in current science curriculum, 2) The most distinguished geocognition factor was spatial reasoning based on cross sectional analysis across school grades, 3) Geocognition on plate tectonics could be developed towards more sophisticated level through scaffolding of relevant instruction and earth science content knowledge, and 4) Geocognition was not a general reasoning separated from a task content but a content-specific reasoning related to the content of an assessment item. We proposed several suggestions for learning progressions for plate tectonics and national curriculum development based on the results of the study.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.484-497
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• 2014

This study aimed to investigate high school students' conceptions of plate tectonics. Seventy students (N=70) in their 2 year of high schools in the province of Chungcheong-do participated in this study, and they took a conception test of visual representation. We conducted a semi-structured interview with 10 volunteering participants out of seventy. After learning about the concept of plate tectonics, this study found that participants ended up having alternative conceptions relating to terminology, meaning of colors, plates' movement, plates' boundaries, position and cause of melting, mantle's physical conditions, and driving forces of plate motion. The conceptions that the participants held after class were organically related, which included the meaning of colors, mantle's physical characteristic, and driving forces of plate movement. In addition, the visual representation used for teaching plate tectonics influenced the students' understanding about terminologies, plates' boundaries, position of melting, and the physical characteristic of mantle. The study found that there were the factors of visual representation that caused the learners to create alternative conceptions in learning about plate tectonics.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.55-71
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• 2017

This paper points out the semantic unclearness of the jargon "cluster" and suggests the substitution of "industrial cluster" for "cluster". Industrial cluster is the intersection of industrial agglomeration and cluster phenomenon while the actual concept of cluster includes not only industry cluster but also political administration cluster, science research cluster, art cluster, religion cluster, education cluster, etc. Partially reconstructing the concept and significance of industry cluster, industrial cluster is a geographic agglomeration of interconnected productional businesses in a particular industry, forming close industrial networks. The advantage of the agglomeration includes reducing the transaction cost between the businesses, promoting technological innovation and dispersion, facilitating the utilization of the professional workforce, sharing and connecting the external customer. Moreover, this paper discusses the range of the industrial cluster and its distinctness from the other similar concepts. There is a need to discriminate it from the other related jargons and to clarify their relationship. In particular, there is a task to eradicate the mixed usage of industrial cluster with the jargons related to space for learning and innovation.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.271-288
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• 2014

This study aimed to investigate the perception of earth system thinking of science gifted students in future problem solving (FPS) in relation to climate changes. In order to this study, the research problem associated with climate changes was developed through a literature review. The thirty seven science gifted students participated in lessons. The ideas in problem solving process of science gifted students were analyzed using the semantic network analysis method. The results are as follows. In the problem solving processes, science gifted students are 'changes of the sunlight by water layer', 'changes of the Earth's temperature', 'changes of the air pressure', ' change of the wind and weather' were represented in order. On other hand, regard to earth system thinking for climate changes, while science gifted students were used sub components related to atmospheres frequently, they were used sub components related to biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere a little. But, the analytical results of the structural relationship between the sub components related to earth system, they were recognised that biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere used very important in network structures. In conclusion, science gifted students were understood well that components of the earth system are influencing each other.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.289-299
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• 2020

In this study, the definition, the level of difficulty, and the certainty of the understanding of 113 astronomy terminologies from 2009 revised middle school geoscience textbooks were examined. And through further interviews, the types of students' misconceptions about astronomy terminologies and their representative terms - examples of misconceptions were analyzed. The definitions of the terms presented by the students were largely classified as correct, low-level, and incorrect understanding. And low-level understanding was subdivided into high-level definition descriptions, undifferentiated concepts, and incorrect answers were subdivided into interference by scientific misconception and lack of prior knowledge. Given that the misconceptions due to terminologies can be distinguished from the prior misconception, the misconceptions due to terminologies can be effectively prevented by changing the term itself. In addition, students were aware of the advantages and disadvantages of metaphorical terms, and the recognition of their level of understanding is expected to be a good starting point considering that recognizing their own misconceptions is the first step in correcting them. Terminologies in science education is always an important subject of discussions, striving to select the right term according to the times, and scientific terms may change. It is expected that the results of this study will be the basis for discussions on the modification of terms.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.214-221
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to inquire into the effects of teaching methods in the class on the conceptual change of atmospheric pressure for middle school students. After analyzing the concept of atmospheric pressure in the middle school science textbooks on the present 7th Curriculum, classes were performed adopting classified Method A and Method 3. For Method A, the textbook is used to explain the concept in the view of weight. For Method B, the textbook is used to approach the concept in the views of molecular movement as well as of weight. This study consists of four classes in the third grade students of middle school in Busan, where they were divided into the Method A group and the Method B group. These study was carried out with pre-post on each of these classes on the learning achievement and on the conceptual change of atmospheric pressure. The results of this study were as follows: First, the effect on the learning achievement was displayed the average score of the Method B was showing a meaningful difference comparing to the Method A. Second, the effect on the conceptual change measured by verifying the score for the difference among the averages for each sub-scale three out of four conceptual factors,'the direction of atmospheric influence and the reason','the principle of atmospheric action' and 'the atmospheric changes by the temperature rise on the surface of the earth and the reason', showed meaningful improvement. But, the one left factor,'the distribution of atmospheric pressure by altitudes and the reason', displayed no meaningful difference. Third, The concept of atmospheric pressure is better defined as the pressure created by the movement of air particles, in the view of kinetic theory of gas, rather than explained by the notion of the weight of air.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.43-53
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to analyze the conceptual simulation observed when students are thinking about the causes of the seasonal change, identifying how students come up with the explanation. For this study, a framework for conceptual simulation process and strategy based on literary research was developed and its validity was proved by four experts in the field of science education. The results were as in the following: First, through the process of explaining the causes for seasonal change, students usually base their explanation on perceptual experience learned from model experiments from a science class. Besides, construct of thought experiment using the familiar object or analogize of the familiar perceptual experience. These all contributed to on explanation firmly. Second, errors from mental simulation were found in the statement of initial representation and running imagistic simulation. It happened when statement of initial representation is not in a complete and secure state or when participants think of an inappropriate situation during running imagistic simulation. Third, the study identified that the use of strategies like 'removal' and 'replace' was shown to enhance the effects of conceptual simulation particularly in regard with solar attitude at meridian passage.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2020

In this study, we analyzed the written and drawn explanations of thirty elementary school pre-service teachers in order to examine their perception on the seasonal length of day and night. The main findings are as follows: First, pre-service teachers used the most common term in the description of the texts, such as meridian altitude, axis of rotation, and revolution, and there were more misconceptions in the drawn explanation than in the written explanation. Second, by analyzing the pre-service teachers' perceptions by combining written and drawn explanations, it is possible to detect scientific errors that the distance between the Earth and the Sun is closer when the axis of rotation is tilted in relation to the revolution and seasonal changes due to changes in the orbital radius of the Earth. In addition, there have been types of explanations such as seasonally changing meridian altitudes related to the rotation of the Earth but no change in the location of the Sun. Based on the results of the analysis, we discussed the lack of experience in constructing an explanatory system of specific phenomena using scientific knowledge, lack of observational experiences about natural phenomena, and lack of exposure to other explanatory systems that cause cognitive conflicts. We hope that it will be concrete and practical help to improve the understanding of pre-service teachers in the science domain of primary teacher training program.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.20-31
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• 2006

This study analysed student teachers' notable questions about the earth science contents in the elementary science textbooks. The contents of notable questions were defined as ‘notable question contents 1' and 'notable question contents 2'. Both the question contorts are contents about which the number of questions is above three times and from two times to three times as much as the mean number of questions per page of each unit respectively. The results are as follows. First, question contents 1 are found as 'clouds observation', 'geological strata formation' and so on. Question contents 2, 'rainfall measurement', 'moon's movement during one night' and so on are found. Second, the number of interrelationships of main terms in questions increased in each question of question contents 1, but 4 term-patterns are found more in question contents 2 than question contents 1. Third, high interrelationship patterns of terms in question contents 1 are 'coal and petroleum-generation', 'metamorphosis-heat and pressure', 'metamorphosis-heat and pressure-metamorphic rocks', 'planet-sun-comet-revolution' and in question contents 2. 'constellation plate-use', 'dryness and wetness hygrometer-principle', 'seismograph-principle-earthquake', 'earth rotation axis-tilting-occurrence', 'dryness and wetness hygrometer-principle-humidity' and so on. The sources of questions analysed in this study are estimated as the content construction system of textbooks, or students' general questions about the earth science contents. If this is the former, the problems in texts and illustrations in textbooks should be articulated and resolved. And if the latter, the elementary science curriculum has to be reconsidered in view of scientific literacy in earth science.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.173-186
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• 2013

The purpose of the study was to investigate the change of students' conceptual structures about sedimentary rocks through the field trip. A semantic network analysis method was utilized to assess the change. An open-ended questionnaire was developed to assess high school students' knowledge of sedimentary rock including its definition, classification, formation process, and characteristics. Fifteen high school students participated in the field trip of this study. The text data were analyzed using the semantic network analysis method. Results are as follows. First, high school students' conceptual structures about sedimentary rocks were more expanded after the field trip. Second, students' conceptual structures formed a 'small world network' by combining the sub-clusters. Third, the size of students' conceptual structures was decreased after a few month of field trip. Nonetheless, the connection among the clusters remained the same.