• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.599-609
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• 2017

The goal of this research is to analyze the trend of Korean fourth grade students' achievement in TIMSS 2011 and TIMSS 2015 science content domains and to suggest implications for science curriculum and teaching & learning improvement. With four elementary science teachers and three science educators, we analyzed Korean fourth grade students' percentage of correct responses in TIMSS 2015 science content and cognitive domains, and conducted item-curriculum matching analysis for test items. According to the results, Korean students performed relatively better in test topics covered in the science curriculum for 3-4 grades regardless of the science content domain (i.e., Life science, Physical science, or Earth science). Korean students showed low percentage of correct answers for items related to such topics as heat conduction, the action of electricity, the motion of the earth and the moon, etc., which were covered in the 5th-6th grades in the 2009 revised curriculum. For science cognitive domains, Korean students' achievement dropped significantly in reasoning between TIMSS 2011 and TIMSS 2015. Discussed in the conclusion are implications to reconstruct elementary school science curriculum, and ways to improve science teaching and learning.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.34-46
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• 2023

To investigate the trends in science education research related to play and derive implications for elementary science education research, we analyzed 109 research articles on play in science education published both in Korea and abroad. First, the number of research studies conducted abroad has been steadily increasing since 2009, with the highest number targeting middle school students. Conversely, domestic research has the highest number of papers targeting elementary school students. Second, in terms of research methods, quantitative methods were the most commonly used. Third, the use of questionnaires was the most frequently published research method, while the use of observation and products was smaller in number in domestic studies compared to those conducted abroad. Fourth, In the aspects of the contents, more research was conducted in the field of physics than in other areas. In case of researches for elementary school students, domestic research was focused on four areas of science. Fifth, among the studies exploring effectiveness, the 'cognitive domain' was the most studied, followed by the 'science-related attitude domain' and the 'inquiry and practice domain'. Sixth, the use of play was high in the following order: online games, video games, virtual play, and games with rules. For domestic researches, studies on analog play were most frequently reported, and the ratio of digital games in abroad was higher than that of others. Seventh, the highest number of papers used teacher-directed play, and this tendency was more noticeable in domestic studies.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.49
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• pp.425-464
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• 2017

The Knowledge of the Channel (e) is often used as educational materials; it delivers very short but compelling message of strong or interesting timeliness. However, as the media environment changes, expectations and demands for The Knowledge The Knowledge of the Channel (e) is used in school education and what should be improved upon to increase utilization of educational resources. We surveyed 361 elementary, middle and high school teachers and analyzed the frequency of using, approach and learning activities of The Knowledge of the Channel (e) in school education. We also analyzed difficulties in using it in the school and what improvements should be made. Result show that the frequency of using The Knowledge of the Channel (e) in school is highest in elementary schools, followed by middle school, and then high school. Teachers strongly consider curricular relevance when selecting broadcasting contents for education, and among programs of EBS(Educational Broadcasting System), most frequently use The Knowledge of the Channel (e). The The Knowledge of the Channel (e) is mainly used as an incentive for increasing motivation. When examined by elementary school curriculum, this material is highly utilized in subjects with content such as society, morality, and science, or with approaches that require various perspectives. However, it is difficult for teachers to find materials directly related to their classes, and since other media content similar to The Knowledge of the Channel (e) is abundant, the utilization of The Knowledge of the Channel (e) is decreasing. To improve this, The Knowledge of the Channel (e) needs to improve its platform and transformed the type of The Knowledge of the Channel (e) content being provided on social media.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.499-518
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• 2004

This study focused on research that illustrates the important interplay between learners' epistemological beliefs about science knowledge, physics textbook knowledge and knowing physics in the classroom. Also this study investigated learners' conceptual changes on the value of mechanical energy. To explore these topics, six sophomores were chosen as participants. Three categories were introduced to classify how participants' understanding of the nature of science knowledge, physics textbook knowledge has been linked with epistemological beliefs of knowing physics. The three categories were (1)receiving physics knowledge as authority, (2)receiving physics knowledge as the perception of teacher's role and (3)understanding physics knowledge as the perception that science knowledge is a product of a variety of human ideas. These categories were also concerned with construction of individual conceptions of mechanical energy. The participants who understood physics knowledge as the perception that science knowledge is a product of a variety of human ideas naturally used metacognitive strategy in classroom compared to other participants. And they had scientific conceptions about the value of mechanical energy. Others who were passive in classroom had unscientific conceptions about the value of mechanical energy due to definition of energy and epistemological beliefs about the nature of science knowledge. In the process of their conceptual changes on the value of mechanical energy, it was important to understand an instrumental aspect of scientific knowledge and to think about the relation between formulae and physical phenomena.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.759-770
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to examine the Earth science content relevance of the 7th national science curriculum. For this purpose, we (1) analyzed science curriculum or content standards of Korea, California, England and Japan, (2) compared science textbooks of Korea and Japan, (3) conducted a nationwide survey to gather opinions from students, teachers, professors and textbook authors about the relevance of the science curriculum and textbooks. According to the results, the Earth science contents of the 7th national science curriculum were not appropriate in terms of the objectives of science curriculum and the needs of students and society. The main reasons include the equal division among physics, chemistry, biology and earth science, iack of connection due to fractionation of units, overly strict application of spiral curriculum, and redundant amount of activities and concepts to cover in the textbook. Major suggestions fir securing the relevance of Earth science contents are as follows: First, the science contents and the size of units at each grade level should be determined according to the students' characteristics, not by equal portion rule. Second, the excessive overlapping and repetition of contents due to the spiral curriculum should be avoided. In addition, the number of activities should be reduced and the quality of required science activities should be improved. Third, to raise students' interest in Earth science, real-life applications and real-world Earth science contents should be emphasized including natural disasters, safety, universe and space exploration, and natural resources. Lastly, considering one of the relevance criteria is feasibility, supports for schools and science teachers are needed to realize the goal of the intended science curriculum.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.509-517
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• 2016

Previous studies have investigated the similarity between the development of evolutionary explanations and students' conceptual developments on evolution. However, the validity and reliability of the assessment method reflecting the similarity have not been quantitatively examined yet. In addition, no study has examined the conceptual progressions of evolution concept based on contexts although literature has addressed the contextual difference of evolutionary explanation in the history of science. This study examined the validity and reliability of history-of-science-based evolution concept assessment using ordered multiple choice (OMC) methods and Rasch analysis and explored conceptual progression by three contexts (e.g., human, animal, and plant). The evolution concept assessment developed by Ha (2007) was used to examine 1711 elementary, middle, and high school students, and pre- and in-service science teachers' (biology majors and non-majors) evolution concepts. Internal consistency reliability and item response fitness of the OMC method that provide 0- to 4-point scores to creationism, teleology, intentionality, use/disuse, and natural selection respectively met the benchmark based on the Cronbach alpha and MNSQ indices of Rasch analysis. The level of elementary and middle school students' evolution concepts were located between intentionality and use/disuse while the level of high school and non-biology science teachers' evolution concepts were located between use/disuse and natural selection. The conceptual progressions of evolution concepts were differentiated according to three contexts. This study provided the quantitative evidence for the similarity between the development of evolutionary explanations and students' conceptual developments on evolution and suggest new analysis methods (i.e., OMC) of evolution concept assessment.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.358-375
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• 2015

The purposes of this study were to investigate the value, necessity and legitimacy of STEAM Education and to propose practical approaching methods for STEAM Education to be applicable in Korea through a variety of literature review, case studies and collecting suggestions from domestic and international educational experts. The research questions are as follows: (1) To investigate the perception, understanding and recognitions of domestic and foreign professionals in STEAM education. (2) To analyze policy implications for an improvement in STEAM. The following aspects of STEAM were found to be challenges in our current STEAM policy after analyzing multiple questionnaires with the professionals and case studies including their experiences, understanding, supports and directions of the policy from the governments. The results indicate that (1) there was a lack of precise and conceptual understanding of STEAM in respect to experience. Training sessions for teachers in this field to help transform their perception is necessary. Development of practical programs with an easy access is also required. It is important to get the aims of related educational activities recognized by the professionals and established standards for an evaluation. The experts perceived that a theme-based learning is the most preferred and effective approaching method and the programs that develop creative thinking and learning applicable to practice are required to promote. (2) The results indicate that there was a lack of programs and inducements for supporting outstanding STEAM educators. It is shown that making an appropriate environment for STEAM education takes the first priority before training numbers of teachers unilaterally, thus securing enough budget seems critical. The professionals also emphasize on developing specialized teaching materials that include diverse inter-related subjects such as science technology, engineering, arts and humanities and social science with diverse viewpoints and advanced technology. This work requires a STEAM network for teachers to link up and share their materials, documents and experiences. It is necessary to get corporations, universities, and research centers participated in the network. (3) With respect to direction, it is necessary to propose policy that makes STEAM education ordinary and more practical in the present education system. The professionals have recommended training sessions that help develop creative thinking and amalgamative problem-solving techniques. They require reducing the workload of teachers and changing teachers' perspectives towards STEAM. They further urge a tight cooperation between departments of the government related with STEAM.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.58-79
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• 2015

This study is to analyze the 2289 students questionnaires from 3rd to 9th grade students in order to analyze the students' perceptions change aspect by their grade about the frequency and type of students' question during various science class context. After the class contexts proposed in the questionnaire subcategorize into 19 subitems about 4 areas of class content, class pattern, class material and class process, this study examined the frequency and type of students' question during a science class by each item. The results of this study were as follows. First, the type of students' question was that the most frequent was understanding question and the second was memory question and these both types were half frequency. There was no special tendency related the change of students' question type by school year. Second, the frequency of 4th grade students' question was the highest among other school year students and the frequency of students' question was lowered by the higher school year. The change of students' question by school year was the biggest between 3rd and 4th grade. The class strategies for improving the class effect reflect that the various and active students' question by class context and school year stimulates students' thinking and also builds up the active class environment.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.61 no.5
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• pp.251-262
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics of interaction in mentoring conversations and to examine how the interaction features change as mentor teachers have more mentoring experiences. Participants of this study were three mentor who have over 17 years' teaching experience and six beginning science teachers. For this study, one-to-one mentoring dialogue recordings and transcripts were collected and the dialogues were analyzed by utilizing an analytical framework of interaction. the result of analyzing characteristics of mentors' interaction shows that mentors used simple questions and support the most when they started mentoring conversation. the change of characteristics of mentor's interactions indicates three mentors tended to use more thought-provoking questions in the $2^{nd}$ year mentoring than in the $1^{st}$ year and as a result of it mentee's reflection and reflective practices were increased. Through mentors' interview, the mentors could have the opportunity to reflect their own mentoring and this means mentors' self reflection was provoked by means of the mentoring program.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.50.3-50.3
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• 2018

2018년부터 한국천문학회 특별 사업단으로 교육, 홍보위원회에 해외교육지원단이 만들어졌다. 해외교육지원단은 지난 2년 동안 한국천문학회가 지원해오던 캄보디아 천문교육지원 활동을 확장하고 체계적인 운영을 목표로 만들어졌다. 먼저, 그동안의 활동에 대해 보고하고 좀 더 내실 있는 계획을 세우기 위해 천문학회 회원들의 의견과 조언을 듣고자 한다. 첫 번째 캄보디아 천문학 교육은 2016년 6월 13-24일(2주) 동안 수도 프롬펜에서 북서쪽, 차편으로 4시간 거리에 있는 뿌삿시 끄로압에서 이루어졌다. 초. 중등학생 50여명이 참여하여 망원경 조작 방법을 배우고, 종이 망원경과 카메라 만들기, 태양과 행성 관측, 축구공, 야구공, 풍선과 찰흙을 이용한 태양계 행성들 크기 비교, 별자리판 만들기와 천문학 여러 현상들에 대한 비디오 영상 보기와 같은 다양한 프로그램을 수행하였다. 두 번째 교육은 국립청소년우주센터와 캄보디아의 Xavier Jesuit School이 연계하여 2017년 4월 3-7일(5일) 동안 지역 중등과학교사 18명을 대상으로 천문교육을 진행하였다. 시간과 좌표, 간이 망원경 제작, 결상의 원리, 분광, 망원경의 조립과 분해 및 천체관측 등 천체관측과 관련된 내용을 위주로 교육을 진행하였다.