• Journal of Science Education
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.538-549
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• 2013

This study investigated the preservice and inservice elementary teachers' perceptions on professionalism of teaching profession, professionalism of science teaching, and their self-efficacy on science teaching. For this study, 64 sophomore, 53 senior preservice teachers and 23 elementary teachers who were also graduate students were participated. The questionnaires consisted of 5 Likert scaled and descriptive items about the professionalism of teaching profession, professionalism of science teaching, and self-efficacy on science teaching. The results showed that some areas of the professionalism of teaching profession had significant differences between the grades in preservice teachers and/or inservice teachers. Most preservice teachers and teachers thought that they need to have professional ability, but not a few teachers thought it was not necessary to have professionalism of science teaching as a elementary teacher, even though their major was science education. The teachers who had higher perceptions on the needs of the professionalism of science teaching showed high self-efficacy on science teaching.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2022

This study was to investigate what pre-service teachers pay attention to when designing science lessons. As a result of analyzing the responses of pre-service teachers, it is analyzed that pre-service teachers are designing science lessons with emphasis on science inquiry, considering students' interest, level, and treatment of misconceptions, and closely related to daily life. In particular, it was found that elementary school pre-service teachers made a lot of comments on science class design that emphasizes experimentation and inquiry, so it was found that emphasizing inquiry was recognized as an important point in science lesson design. It is very positive that pre-service teachers recognize important aspects of science education, such as emphasizing inquiry. In addition, it is suggested that the opportunities for class design and demonstration through collaboration with teachers and colleagues should be increased for pre-service teachers' professional development of teachers.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.585-598
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the activity in the elementary school science teachers' study group help teachers improve their professionalism and what the motivation was for the continuous participation by analyzing the operation system of study group and the teachers' perception. For this study, the N Elementary Science Teachers' Study Group in Gyeong-gi province was chosen, which has been maintained for a long time. Data such as observation journals, contents of activities, and some documents from this study group were collected through the participant observation methodology, and the perceptions about the participating motivation, the personal satisfaction and the impact on the professionalism were investigated by interviewing 5 teachers who participating in this study group. The results of this study were as follows: First, voluntary participation activated the teachers' study group, so teachers who belong to the study group, had a great satisfaction in the activities of the study group. Second, the more teachers participated in study group, they thought their professionalism has been improved. Based on the result of this study, implications to improve the professionalism of teachers were suggested.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.464-470
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• 2008

In this study, we investigated the characteristics of elementary school teachers' self-images of science teaching by using Draw-A-Science-Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT-C). A survey was administered to 178 elementary school teachers in Seoul, Gyeonggi province, and Gangwon Province. It was found that elementary school teachers' self-images of science teaching for four science subjects (physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science) were more 'teacher-centered' than 'student-centered'. The results may imply that elementary school teachers' beliefs of science teaching tend to be more traditional than constructive. Therefore, there is a need to develop an effective education system for pre- and in-service elementary school teachers based on constructivism.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.460-479
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• 2021

The crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes in education systems worldwide, including in Korea. Due to COVID-19's social distancing policies, the education system was suddenly switched to distance learning, resulting in many problems in primary schools without preparation. The purpose of this study was to investigate a teacher's awareness of science education techniques, responses to issues in science classes, including inquiry activities, advantages and disadvantages, and roles after experiencing distance learning. Survey and focus interviews were conducted for primary school teachers who had previously participated in distance learning, such as online content classes and real-time interactive classes. The study findings showed three conclusions: 1) Primary school teachers conducted one-way and interactive lectures in online classes. It is vital to improve a teacher's digital literacy to improve other teaching methods such as investigation and discussion in online classes. 2) Primary school teachers acknowledged the challenges of field feedback, inquiry item preparations, and safety in inquiry activities of science classes, by providing individual experimental packages and videos and using online discussion and feedback among teacher - student and student - student interactions. 3) Primary school teachers recognized that various types of classes using IT devices and individualized learning were possible as advantages of distance learning. As for disadvantages, it was acknowledged that inquiry activities, cooperative learning, immediate feedback, and interaction among students were challenging. Furthermore, learning gaps were wider in distance learning.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.480-500
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• 2022

In this study, the perception and demands on the use of realistic content were analyzed through in-depth interviews with elementary school teachers experienced in using realistic content in science classes. Specifically, the following questions were investigated: (1) What kind of realistic content and how do elementary school teachers use it in science classes? (2) What are the perceptions and difficulties of elementary school teachers regarding the use of realistic content in science classes? (3) What are the needs of elementary school teachers related to the professional development program for the use of realistic content in science classes? The study revealed the following results. First, elementary school teachers mainly used digital textbooks and realistic content provided by the "Science Level Up" site, and the content types could be classified into "exploration type," "visit type," and "production type," according to the purpose of use. Second, elementary school teachers mentioned the educational advantages of using realistic content to help students understand scientific content, induce interest and curiosity, and become immersed in a sense of reality. Several difficulties related to the use of realistic content were mentioned. Among them, the lack of high-quality educational content suitable for science classes and a lack of examples of specific class cases that use realistic content stood out. Thirdly, regarding the development of teacher expertise to use realistic content, elementary school teachers emphasized the need for information on quality realistic content; teacher training centered on specific class cases; instructional models that can be applied by realistic content type; and information on the purchase, use, management, and operation of necessary devices. Reflecting on these research results, implications for more effective use of realistic content in elementary science classes were discussed.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.63-74
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• 2023

This study aims to investigate the effects of pre-service elementary teachers' scientific self-efficacy by science motivation according to the academic track in high school. The subjects of this study were 525 pre-service elementary teachers of which 350 pre-service elementary teachers were selected from the humanities and social sciences track in high school and 175 pre-service elementary teachers were selected from the science-engineering track in high school. In order to investigate the difference between scientific self-efficacy and science motivation among pre-service elementary teachers, Independent sample t-test and Cohen's d were done. In order to find out about the Influencing of scientific self-efficacy on science motivation, multiple regression analysis was used. The results of this study were as follows: First, there were statistically significant differences in scientific self-efficacy and science motivation, and the average of pre-service elementary teachers who selected science-engineering were significantly higher. Second, explanation power of scientific self-efficacy on science motivation appeared as 66.7~68.3%. The explanatory power of pre-service elementary teachers' who selected humanities and social sciences were higher. The relative importance was high in task difficulty preference factor to humanities and social sciences, was high in self-regulation efficacy to science-engineering. In conclusion, in order for pre-service elementary teachers to achieve high achievement and motivation in science subjects, and to teach science well to students in the school field, teacher education that can improve scientific self-efficacy should be conducted.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.1139-1153
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• 2013

Misconceptions are one of the most important and long-lasting studied themes on science education. It is because their nature is obstinate and settled as well as they corrupt students' understanding of science concepts. This study examines whether preservice elementary school teachers enrolled in biology teaching material research course changed positively on science teaching efficacy and correcting life science misconceptions when they used the handbook developed for this study. The handbook comprises 203 life science concepts surveyed among preservice teachers holding from advanced researches and arranged by 2007 Revised Science Curriculum. 107 preservice elementary school teachers participated in the study. Forty-six (46) of them were assigned to the experimental group and the other 61 to the control group. ANOVA was conducted for analyzing data. Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI) and the life science misconception test which was developed for this study, were administrated as assessing instruments for pretest and posttest. The experimental group, using the handbook, acquired higher scores in both tests on statistical significance level than the control group who were not using the handbook. The results indicate the handbook developed for correcting life science misconceptions for this study is effective in enhancing science teaching efficacy and correcting life science misconceptions.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.271-294
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to explore the meanings of science classes to elementary school teachers from a phenomenological perspective. Participants were twenty-eight elementary teachers who majored in elementary science education in a graduate school of education. The study revealed that meanings of science classes were not consistent but rather varied with what the teachers experienced. In their early career years, when the teachers were filled with enthusiasm, they devoted themselves to doing science-related school works as well as science lessons. But, the teachers were gradually concerned about good science teaching, and this concern became more severe as they realized the characteristics of science experiments and elementary school students. The teachers' concern did not actually develop into good science teaching practices because of such constraints as lots of school works, accidents in science labs, and household affairs. Despite these difficulties, the teachers revitalized their interest in science and resumed their effort for good science teaching. However, for "unfillable cups" to the elementary school teachers.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.77.2-77.2
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• 2011

이 연구의 목적은 7차 교육과정에서 소개된 과학적 자유탐구 활동 모형을 개발하고 이러한 자유탐구 활동모형에 대한 효과를 알아보기 전에 예비 초등교사들의 인식조사를 하는 것이다. 개발 목적은 학생들의 과학탐구 활동능력신장에 있으며, 본 연구는 천문학사에 근거한 예를 사용하였다. 연구방법으로 Lawson(2010)의 과학적 탐구추론모형을 택하였다. 천문학사에서 예를 택해 자유탐구 모형과 설문지를 개발하여 예비초등교사들의 인식조사를 실시하였다. 연구결과는, (1)대부분 예비 초등교사들은 이러한 자유탐구전략의 사용에 대한 아이디어를 좋아했으며, (2)이러한 과학적 자유탐구활동의 사용의 효과 또한 대부분의 응답자들이 잘 인식하고 있었다. (3)그럼에도 불구하고 많은 예비 초등교사들은 이러한 자유탐구 전략의 구성이 쉽지 않은 과정임을 인식하였고, 학생들에게 적합한 자유탐구활동모형의 개발을 위해서는 학생을 지도하는 교사들이 서로가 협력해야 한다고 응답하였다.