• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.618-629
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• 2023

Although society has become increasingly diverse, on a few studies analyzed elementary science textbooks in terms of race or disability. Therefore, this study analyzed character illustrations presented in elementary science textbooks in terms of multiculturalism and disability. It identified 14 approved elementary science textbooks for the 2015 revised curriculum, which are used during the first and second semesters in the third grade. First, analysis of the race of character illustrations in elementary science textbooks indicated that 8.2% of them are multicultural, which is higher than the actual proportion of foreigners living in Korea. In addition, most of them were white illustrations, whereas Asian foreign illustrations made up the least, which suggests a different distribution in the Korean context. The study observed significant differences in distribution according to publishers. Second, the gender distribution of multicultural character illustrations differed by 59.0% and 41.0% for men and women, respectively, and the gender variation between publishers was relatively large in which a few publishers accounted for 80% of male multicultural figures. The third pertained to the function of illustrations, that is, the distribution of illustrations of Koreans and multicultural figures was similar in terms of the order of illustrations with explanatory functions followed by exemplary, decorative, and supplementary functions. Finally, from the perspective of diversity in disability, the proportion of illustrations with disability was 2.0%, which was less than the actual proportion in Korea. The study discussed the need to consider the situation and diversity of Korea in terms of race and d isability.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.224-234
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to analyze STEAM elements and convergence types that appeared in the creative and convergent activities in elementary school science textbooks, which were converted from the national issuance system to the authorized system in 2022. For this study, 6 elementary school science textbooks for 3rd and 4th graders were selected. And STEAM elements in creative and convergent activities were analyzed by publishers, grade-semesters, and science fields, and the convergence type was analyzed for each publisher. The results of this study are as follows. First, the total frequencies of STEAM elements and the ratios of each element in the creative and convergent activities of textbooks were different for each publisher. However, among the four elements except for science (S) element in all publishers, the tendency to have a high proportion of art (A) element and a very low proportion of mathematics (M) element was common. Second, the higher the number of fused STEAM elements, the lower the rate of appearance in the textbooks in overall. Also the ratio of convergence types of STEAM elements varied by each publisher. Third, the ratio deviations of art (A), technology (T), and engineering (E) elements for each grade-semester were not large, but the ratio deviation of the mathematics (M) element was large. Fourth, technology (T) and engineering (E) elements appeared a lot in the fields of 'movement and energy' and 'material', while art (A) element appeared a lot in the fields of 'earth and universe', 'life', and 'integration'.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.122-135
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to analyze the examples presented in the "Separation of Mixtures" section of the 2015 revised science authorized textbook introduced in elementary schools in 2022 and to see how the teachers and students understand the concept. To do that, 96 keywords were extracted through three cleansing processes to separate the elements of the mixture presented in the textbook. In order to analyze the teachers' perceptions, 32 teachers at elementary schools in Gyeonggi-do received responses to a survey, and a survey of 92 fourth graders who learned the separation of the mixture with an authorized textbook in 2022 was used for the analysis. As a result, as for the solids, 54 out of 96 separations (56.3%) showed the highest ratio, and the largest number of cases were presented according to the characteristics of the development stage of students. It was followed by living things, liquids, other objects and substances, and gasses. By analyzing the mixture, the structure and the interrelationships between the 96 extracted keywords were systematized through the network analysis, and the connection between the keywords, which were a part of the mixture was analyzed. The teachers partially responded to the separation of the complex mixture presented in the textbook, but most of the students did not recognize it. Because the analysis of the teachers' and students' perceptions of the seven separate categories presented in the survey was not based on a clear conceptual perception of the separation of the mixture, but rather they tended to respond differently for each characteristic of each individual category, it was decided that it was necessary to present clearer examples of the separation of the mixture, so that the students could better understand the concept of separation of mixtures that could be somewhat abstract.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.300-317
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to suggest improvements in the science concepts and inquiry activities presented in the earth science section in the 2015 revised curriculum elementary science textbooks. For this study, two science educator and three elementary school teachers developed a survey questionnaire to investigate science concepts, inquiry activities, and suggest improvements. The survey was conducted two times, and 30 elementary school teachers and three earth science professors (geology, meteorology, astronomy) participated in the survey. As a result, it was investigated that eight concepts in the solid section, three concepts in the fluid section, and one concept in universe and integration section contained misconceptions. It was investigated that the content of inquiry activity needs to be supplemented, with seven elements in solid section, three elements in fluid section, and one in the universe and integration section. According to the research results, if the textbook is revised, it is necessary to accurately confirm the science concepts or content of inquiry activities. Also in the case of science concepts presented in textbooks, it will be necessary to consider not only the scope and sequence of contents but also the process of learning progression.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.47-63
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• 2023

In this study, we analyzed the PCK components in the materials units of the third and fourth grades of the Korean government-authorized teacher's guides for elementary school, developed in the 2015 revised national curriculum. The results showed that the PCK components were presented in a relatively balanced manner compared to the teacher's guides for middle school. Knowledge of the subject matter accounted for the highest proportion, and knowledge of instructional strategies in science accounted for a higher proportion than knowledge of the science curriculum. The knowledge of assessment in science showed the greatest deviation among publishers, and knowledge of students tended to show the lowest. By subcomponents, experiments and inquiries had a higher proportion than concepts and theories. The ratio of horizontal articulation was lower than that of vertical articulation or lesson objectives, and lesson objectives were presented in various ways, such as in core competencies and achievement standards for science. As questioning was emphasized, teaching strategies and questioning appeared at a similar rate. Motivation and interest, misconceptions were linked to teaching strategies and questioning. In some cases, assessment items and assessment criteria were presented at each level, and various PCK components were linked to these two components. Components with relatively large differences among publishers were supplementary or in-depth concepts, inquiry in textbooks, instruction sequence and method, subject-specific strategies, and assessment items. From the results, the implications for the development of teacher's guides were discussed.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.273-285
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• 2023

Measurement in elementary school mathematics is one of the mathematical concepts that is directly used in real life. This study is based on the fact that mathematics textbooks for 3-4 and 5-6 graders were developed as the government designed and authorized textbooks and the general measurement instruction process is condensed and presented considering the limitation of the textbook's space for the capacity and weight. Its contents were analyzed. The results are as follows. The contents of authorized textbooks and government designed textbook are different in detail but similar overall in comparative activities, recognition, and situation of the need for the introduction of standard unit and estimation activities. Through this, it is proposed that efforts are needed to reform national textbook policies and develop textbooks that can highlight the meaning of each measurement activity and focus on students' activities.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.411-431
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• 2022

In this paper, implications for future curriculum compilation were sought by analyzing the process and results of compiling books for elementary school mathematics textbooks government published according to the 2015 revised curriculum. The 2015 revised elementary mathematics textbooks government published was operated with a systematic compilation system so that academia and school field experts across the country could demonstrate their expertise. As improvements in content, the unit and time to strengthen basic computational skills were increased, and the mathematical concept and principle introduction method and algorithm presentation method were improved, and the internal connection between contents was strengthened. The learning period was adjusted, such as moving and arranging contents that are difficult for students to understand to the upper semester or the upper grade. In the 1st and 2nd graders, the amount of reading was drastically reduced to suit the students' level of Korean, and sentences and vocabulary were improved, and instructions were briefly revised. As for editing and design improvements, illustrations of each unit's introduction and contextual pictures were presented in detail, and the characters in the textbook were consistently presented across all grades, giving children characters a role to actively participate in learning in the textbook. In the process of compiling, the media, the National Assembly, and civic groups raised opinions that sentences and vocabulary in first-year textbooks are more difficult than students' level of Hangeul education, that reducing textbooks makes it difficult for students to understand. Accordingly, efforts to improve textbook compilation and the results were viewed. Through the overall analysis as above, for future compilation of state-authored textbooks and certified textbooks, a plan to improve textbook compilation for students and teachers and a plan to operate compilation was proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.291-301
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• 2023

In this study, the STEAM elements and convergence types which appeared in the creative and convergent activities in authorized elementary school science textbooks for 5^th and 6^th graders were analyzed. For this study, creative and convergence activities presented in 9 different science textbooks for 5^th and 6^th graders were selected and the STEAM elements and convergence types were analyzed by each publisher, grade-semester, and science field. The results of this study are as follows. First, there was a large variation by publisher in the total frequency of STEAM elements and the frequency of each element in creative and convergence activities. Second, the ratio of convergence type consisting of two elements was very high, and the higher the number of fused elements, the lower the ratio appeared in overall. Third, the art (A) element had the highest frequency in all grade-semesters, and the technology (T), engineering (E), mathematics (M) elements differed in the distribution of frequency by grade-semesters. Fourth, the engineering (E) element in the 'integration' field, and the art (A) element in the fields of 'movement and energy', 'material', 'earth and universe', and 'life' had the highest frequency.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.192-212
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to analyze scientific attitude and its components in the general remarks and in the particulars of one government-designated and seven authorized elementary school science teacher's guides for the 3rd~4th grades which were developed according to the 2015 national science curriculum, and to derive implications for future development of teacher's guide. The results of the study are as follows: First, in their general remarks, five of eight teacher's guides (62.5%) give a very brief explanation on the components of scientific attitude, and the remaining three teacher's guides give a relatively detailed explanation on the components but they lack practical information on teaching and assessing of the components; Second, in the case of unit objective in the four units of the area of 'Earth and Universe', five of eight teacher's guides (62.5%) contain 3~4 components among 'curiosity', 'cooperation', 'objectivity', 'critical mindedness', or 'respect for evidence', and one of the remaining three teacher's guides contains only the component of 'curiosity', another guide doesn't have any component, and the other guide doesn't have unit objective itself; Third, in the case of unit assessment, only one of eight teacher's guide (12.5%) has independent unit assessment, includes several components of scientific attitude in the unit assessment, and is broadly consistent between the components of scientific attitude in unit objective and in unit assessment; Fourth, in case of lesson objective, three teacher's guide (37.5%) contain 3~4 components among 'curiosity', 'cooperation', 'objectivity' and 'critical mindedness', and the remaining five teacher's guide (62.5%) include only 'curiosity'; Fifth, in the case of lesson assessment, among eight teacher's guides, five (62.5%) evaluate 3~4 components of scientific attitudes, two (25.0%) evaluate only 'curiosity' and 'cooperation', and one (12.5%) does not evaluate anything.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.417-428
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• 2022

This study analyzed the frequency and level of scientific practices presented in secondary science textbooks. A total of 1,378 student activities presented in 14 middle school science textbooks and 5 high school integrated science textbooks were analyzed, using the definition and level of scientific practice suggested in the NGSS. Findings show that most student activities focus on three practices. Compared to the textbooks for the previous science curriculum, the practice of 'obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information' was more emphasized, reflecting societal changes due to ICT development. However, the practice of 'asking a question', which can be an important element of student-led science learning, was still rarely found in textbooks, and 'developing and using models', 'using math and computational thinking' and 'arguing based on evidence' were not addressed much. The practices were mostly elementary school level except for the practice of 'constructing explanations'. Such repeated exposures to a few and low level of practices mean that many future citizens would be led to a naïve understanding of science. The findings imply that it is necessary to emphasize various practices tailored to the level of students. In the upcoming revision of the science curriculum, it is necessary to provide the definition of practices that are not currently specified and the expected level of each practice so that the curriculum can provide sufficient guidance for textbook writing. These efforts should be supported by benchmarking of overseas science curriculum and research that explore students' ability and teachers' understanding of scientific practices.