• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.538-552
• /
• 2022

This study attempted to understand the characteristics of pedagogic activities performed by pre-service elementary school teachers. To this end, it applied Algodoo simulations to analyze the actions of students and obtain educational implications for optical learning. The study's participants comprised 79 first-year students enrolled in a teacher training college. Their activities could be classified as representation reproductions, verification experiments, and inquiry experiments. Students who performed representation reproduction exercises replicated renowned and authoritative exemplars, apprehending and demonstrating their principal features through simulations. Students performing verification experiments attempted to validate previously learned optical concepts by reviewing the relevant theoretical contexts. Such students primarily conducted simple experiments. Students accomplishing inquiry experiments used simulations to explore phenomena they did not know. Some of them even investigated optical phenomena beyond the domain of general physics. The above results confirmed that free optical experiments performed using Algodoo can effectively denote starting points for learners to engage in activities at varying levels. Additionally, students require assistance from instructors in addressing queries about the application of the principles and models related to optics. This study suggests ways in which instructors should help students at each level of activity. Additionally, the paper presents examples of varying levels of inquiry-related activities available on Algodoo. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of performing inquiry-based activities on Algodoo and suggests ways of enhancing the learning achieved through this platform.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.391-400
• /
• 2014

In this study, we reviewed educational trend of Puzzle-Based Learning Contents and case studies at domestic and international, and have developed Puzzle-Based Learning Contents with the contents using fundamental concepts of computer science. Thirty one prospective elementary school teachers were applied to this contents, total thirty two sessions for four months, and Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking(TTCT) verbal and figural tests were performed to evaluate the changes in creativity. The result showed that there were significant improvements in two subscales of verbal creativity, verbal creativity index, and three subscales of figural creativity, figural creativity index. In this paper, on the basis of proven effectiveness, we introduce the Puzzle-Based Learning Contents as the alternative computer science education.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.147-156
• /
• 2013

Computer Science has been developed thru the study of information processing, the study of what can be automated, the study of computation, and the study of information processes both natural and artificial. As developing the computer science, the aspect of informatics education was changed. Recently we focus on computational thinking education. In this paper, I review the progress of informatics education and research the applying of unplugged computing as a method of computational thinking education. I also research the considerations about applying of unplugged computing in aspects of teacher preparation, educational content, and teaching resources. As result I found that teachers change their perceptions about computer education, understand the computer science contents, and understand the promotion of students thinking skills in point of view at teacher preparation, that teachers can set the levels of abstraction and can enrich and integrate of contents, and that teacher can manage class time and educational resources preparation in point of view at educational resources.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.128-142
• /
• 2011

The goal of this study was to investigate how hypotheses were elaborated after their initial appearances in the context of scientific problem solving. Data were collected from a class in which preservice elementary school teachers in groups carried out abductive inquiry of earth science. The analysis revealed two major processes of hypothesis elaboration: theory-driven and evidence-driven. The theory-driven process was in turn distinguished into two kinds of subprocesses: one is in pursuit of internal coherence and the other external coherence. The evidencedriven elaboration also had two subprocesses, which were triggered by direct evidence and indirect or analogical evidence, respectively. In addition, hypotheses were more often than not modified by a wrong theory or evidence whether it was driven by a theory or evidence. Implications for science education and related research were discussed.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.117-130
• /
• 2007

This study investigated the university proffssors', pre-service teachers' and in-service teachers' perceptions of the specialized science education courses in the 11 national universities of education in Korea, analyzed their perception differences, and made suggestions the future directions for the specialized courses. For this study, 46 university professors, 402 in-service teachers, and 336 pre-service teachers were participated nationwide. The results show that there were significant differences in their perceptions between the three groups. For university professors, for example, the acquisition of science content knowledge appeared to be the most important objective of the courses, whereas the other groups preferred the acquisition of more practical knowledge and skills that they could easily use and apply in their classroom teaching later. The university professors tended to think that the science specialized courses would be very useful to the teachers' teaching and contribute to developing their professionality. On the contrary, the in-service and pre-service teachers tended to think that the courses would be not so useful because science theories construct the courses rather than practical knowledge. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the future science teacher education.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.95-112
• /
• 2017

The competence of teachers, comes out through their lesson, is one of the key factors of school education. The purpose of this study is comparing the viewpoints on the science lessons in the elementary classrooms between pre-service teachers and highly experienced teachers in order to draw implications on pre-service teacher educating system. The participants of the study are 14 junior students in a university of education and 9 elementary school teachers who are highly educated and have much career experience. Each student participant observed one video clip with science lesson of their classmate. The total number of the video subject to observation is 4. Meanwhile experienced teachers observed 1 or 2 videos which are the same to those the students watched. The participants made a class criticism according to the General Standards for Class Critique made by KICE. The in-depth analysis of the criticism yielded the following conclusions; First, pre-service teachers had narrow views on the science class mainly limited in the practical part of class, but experienced teachers had wide views covered to class-knowledge, plan, and practice. Second, most experienced teachers thought that learning is the process by which students acquire knowledge or concepts by themselves, and the main purpose of the class is to help students' learning. Meanwhile, there were many pre-service teachers who thought that conveying knowledge or concepts to students was the main purpose of the class. Third, experienced teachers thought that a good science class should maintain consistency around the learning goals from the planning, implementation, and evaluation. However, many pre-service teachers did not take the learning objectives so seriously.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.325-340
• /
• 2022

This study attempts to analyze the causes of low affective achievement of elementary, middle, and high school students in Korea in science. To this end, a total of 27 students, three to four students per grade, were interviewed by grade from the fourth grade of elementary school to the first grade of high school, and a total of nine teachers were interviewed by school level. In the interview, related questions were asked in five sub-areas of the 'Indicators of Positive Experiences about Science': 'Science Academic Emotion', 'Science-Related Self-Concept', 'Science Learning Motivation', 'Science-Related Career Aspiration', and 'Science-Related Attitude'. Interview contents were recorded, transcribed, and categorized. As a result of examining the causes of low science academic emotion, it was found that students experienced negative emotions when experiments are not carried out properly, scientific theories and terms are difficult, and recording the inquiry results is burdensome. In addition, students responded that science-related self-concept changed negatively due to poor science grades, difficult scientific terms, and a large amount of learning. The reasons for the decline in science learning motivation were the lack of awareness of relationship between science class content and daily life, difficulty in science class content, poor science grades, and lack of relevance to one's interest or career path. The main reason for the decline in science-related career aspirations was that they feel their career path was not related to science, and due to poor science performance. Science-related attitudes changed negatively due to difficulties in science classes or negative feelings about science classes, and high school students recognized the ambivalence of science on society. Based on the results of the interview, support for experiments and basic science education, improvement of elementary school supplementary textbook 'experiment & observation', development of teaching and learning materials, and provision of science-related career information were proposed.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.9-22
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate the type of classification criterion and the characteristic of classification strategy that appear in pre-service elementary teachers' classification activity. The 4 tasks were developed for classification activity; button as a real things that attribute is prominent, shell as a real things that attribute is less prominent, snow flake as a picture cards that attribute is prominent, and galaxy as a picture cards that attribute is less prominent. The 5 college students who major in elementary education were selected. Data were collected by interview with participants, participants' classification recording paper, investigator's observation of participants' action observation, and videotaped that record participants' subject classification process. Result proved in this study is as following. First, pre-service elementary teachers used 4 qualitative classification criterion of feature, random field, image and secondary property, and used 2 dimension classification criterion of space and quantity. They used single quality classification criterion or combining dimension classification criterion in classification activity. Second, pre-service elementary teachers have classification strategy that apply each various classification criterion, and also classification strategy are different according to subject, but discussed that "anchor" and "priming effect" are important for effective classification. Result of this study is expected to contribute classification research and classification teaching program development.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.216-228
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this study was to analyze pre-school teachers' observation experience and their pre and post degrees of preferences in observing underground and water living things, fungus, insects, flowerless plants and sea lives. Based on the analysis, their pre-observation experience in living things were insects, ocean creatures, underground living things, flowerless plants, fungus and water living things in order. The degree of preferences in flowerless plans based on their gender, the female pre-service teachers showed higher scores than the average in both pre and post test. The male, however, responded higher scores in underground living things in both tests. Their background such as liberal arts or science or arts and physical major affected their preferences scores in water living things, insects and flowerless plans in the post test, and the science major pre-service teachers showed the highest degree of preferences in insects among the liberal arts, science or arts and physical major pre-teachers in the post test. In conclusion, there were different degree of their preferences affected by the pre observation experience, gender difference, their present majors such as the liberal arts, science or arts and physical major, the categories of living things but not in their high school background such as liberal arts or science.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.219-231
• /
• 2018

This study surveyed the elementary school teachers' use of visual representations and their perceptions of the functions of visual representations in the teaching of electricity unit. A total of 110 elementary teachers who have experiences in teaching electricity unit responded to online survey. The result showed firstly that most of the teachers use visual representations in their teaching and it is mostly limited to those presented in textbooks or images that they can get easily from internet search. Secondly, elementary teachers thought that they have high ability in using visual representations and low ability in understanding students' visual presentation ability. Thirdly, visual representations are more often preferred to be used as teacher-centered ways than student-centered ways for motivating students and conceptual understanding. However, in case of scientific inquiry, both teacher-centered and student-centered ways were equally preferred. Lastly, the teachers' perceptions of the functions of visual representations were categorized into 'teaching-instrumental function', 'learning-instrumental function', 'communicative-instrumental function' and 8 subcategories were found. The most frequent function was the 'information delivery function' in the 'teaching-instrumental function' category. Implications for teacher education and further studies were discussed.