• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to look into self-concept and teaching anxiety of elementary school teachers about inquiry instruction in science class, and investigate correlations among them. For this study, the survey was carried out on 338 elementary school teachers, and the interview was conducted with 5 of them. The results of this study are as follows; Self-concept of elementary school teachers about inquiry instruction in science class was more positive than usual. And the teachers who were male, older and majored in science education showed more affirmative self-concept about inquiry instruction in science class. Teaching anxiety of elementary school teachers about inquiry instruction in science class was less than usual. And the teachers who were male, older and majored in science education showed less teaching anxiety about inquiry instruction in science class. The correlation of self-concept and teaching anxiety of elementary school teachers about inquiry instruction in science class was an negative interrelation. This presents that the teachers, who have more positive self-concept about inquiry instruction in science class, have less teaching anxiety than those who have more negative one. Consequently, teacher training and retraining programs should be developed and conducted by grasping teachers' self-concept and their anxiety, to reduce anxiety about inquiry instruction in science class.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.453-464
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• 2019

In this study, the types of inquiry activities in the $5^{th}$ & $6^{th}$ grade science textbooks according to the 2015 revised science national curriculum were analyzed and compared according to grade level and science area. Science textbooks for elementary school $5^{th}$ & $6^{th}$ graders contain quite diverse types of inquiry activities, which are student-centered inquiry activities. There were comparatively higher proportions of inquiry types such as experiment & observation and simulation, but relatively lower of inquiry types of investigation-discourse & presentation, discussion, expression. Elementary science textbooks are expected to cultivate science key competencies for elementary school students. Considering the science area, the motion & energy, substances, earth & space, and integration areas had the most experiment & observation among activity types, while the life area had the most simulation activities. Even in some area of the 6th grade science textbook, there was little or no data interpretation, discussion, and simulation activities. In order to achieve the goal of elementary science education, science textbooks should be developed considering the revision of future elementary science curriculum.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.275-286
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the features of inquiry activities using technology in the 2015 revised elementary science digital textbooks. For this, we analyzed the features of inquiry context and inquiry method presented in inquiry activities using three kinds of technology: Virtual experiment, virtual reality and augmented reality. As a result, firstly, the most common types of 77 inquiry activities were realistic type which shows the phenomenon actually and vividly as possible and realistic-abstract type which shows the phenomena with the abstract concepts. Second, the ways of using three technologies were different depending on the processes of inquiry and the sub-domains of science. For example, virtual experiment technologies were mostly used in the contents of physics and chemistry with the inquiry context of realistic-abstract type for investigating the relationship between variables of experiments and describing the phenomena mechanically. On the other hand, virtual reality and augmented reality techniques tended to be used more frequently in biology and earth science contents with the inquiry context of realistic type for observing and describing the phenomena. Finally, we discussed educational implications in terms of developing and applying technology-based inquiry activities.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.544-560
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• 2003

The purposes of this study were (1) to investigate the characteristics of the exhibits at three representative science centers or museums in Seoul, and (2) to analyse students' perceptions about the most and the least favorite exhibits selected by students as visitors. Three science centers investigated were Seoul National Science Museum, Seoul Education & Science Research Institute, LG Science Hall. The subjects for students' perception survey were 290 middle school students who visited the three science centers. The investigation of the exhibits showed that the goals, the contents, the visitors' viewing and manipulating activity types, and the explanation types of the exhibits depended on the purposes and the target visitors of each science center. Students' responses indicated that they most favored hands-on exhibit. And students preferred the exhibits that had new and comprehensible contents and the were related to what they had learned in school. Students said that they felt that science was exciting and that they came to experience what they did not do in school. Students said that reading or hearing given explanations was helpful to understand the exhibits, but about 20% of the students responded that they did not read explanation on panels at all. Students also said that guide's oral explanations were more understandable than written explanations on panels. Some of the students commented that having to wait for access because of crowds or because of the resetting time required for hands-on activities was inconvenience.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.488-497
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• 2016

Given the potential of mobile applications to create new learning opportunities beyond the prevalent use of digital textbooks and Internet lectures, this study aims to derive types and themes of mobile application content that can be effectively integrated with the school curricula. Twenty primary school teachers participated in this study that examines teachers' perceptions about the advantages and disadvantages of printed and digital textbooks' modality, the advantages and disadvantages of mobile learning, and the themes relevant to develop mobile applications. Findings indicate that it is necessary to develop activity-centered applications for vertical use rather than theme-centered applications for horizontal use. In addition, while most ideas derived from teachers center on multimedia access, there was lack of ideas that leverage the affordances of mobile devices for collaborative interaction and location-awareness. Lastly, to promote the diffusion of mobile learning in school environments, this study suggests the need to overcome teachers' epistemology that perceives mobilization against inquiry activities.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.434-445
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• 2015

In this study, science recommended books for elementary school students were analyzed. For the study, the screening tool with a number of criteria was produced. In order to develope a screening tool, we examined several previous studies and references. After that, through discussion and exchange of opinions, the preliminary screening tool was made. In order to ensure the reliability and validity, the pilot test was conducted. Then, detailing questions and modifications have been made by exchange of ideas. And nine science recommended books were analyzed. The results are as follows. First, as a result of examining recommended books, exploration and the nature of science were received a low rating. Second, description of the scientific knowledge was not sufficient. This discussion can be obtained through the following. First, when selecting recommended books, care should be taken in exploration and the nature of science. Second, a wide range of science trade books needs to study more.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.299-309
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to categorize specific factors and characteristics of positive science experience by qualitatively analyzing the positive science experience cases in the memories of pre-service elementary school teachers. For this purpose, 101 essays written by pre-service teachers on the theme of 'my enjoyable science class experience' were analyzed. The collected data were analyzed using an inductive analysis method, and as a result, the characteristics of positive science experience cases in the memories of pre-service teachers were categorized into 4 categories and 12 topic groups. Specifically, 'experience of exploratory activities using special materials', such as long-term raising and observation of animals and plants, experiments using edible materials, and using special experimental tools had a positive effect on scientific experience. In addition, 'experience of activities emphasizing scientific inquiry' such as emphasizing observation activities, experiments accompanied by clear experimental results, making activities, and using various materials also had a positive effect on science experience. In addition, 'student-centered activity experience' such as strengthening student autonomy, emphasizing collaboration between students, and performing science activities outside of the curriculum also had a positive influence on the science experience. Lastly, 'positive influence of teachers', such as teachers' encouragement and enthusiasm, helped to positively recognize science.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.365-387
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• 2016

This study examined the effects of students'perceptions of classroom on self-regulatory strategy use, persistent intention, and achievement in an online Science gifted program. The sample included 434 middle and high school students who participated in the 3-months online gifted program. Participants volunteerly surveyed on their perceptions of classroom (appeal, challenge, choice, meaningfulness, academic self-efficacy), self-regulatory strategy use, and persistent intention. Student achievement data was collected from online learning system. Multiple Regression was conducted to analyze the effect of students'perceptions of classroom on various dependent variables. The results of this study showed that (1) students use of rehearsal strategy was positively related to academic self-efficacy among the sub-variables of students'perceptions of classroom and the use of rehearsal strategy was negatively related to challenge; (2) the use of elaboration strategy was positively related to challenge and meaningfulness; (3) the use of time management strategy was positively related to academic self-efficacy and the use of resource management strategy was positively related to challenge; and (4) students' persistent intention was related to appeal, challenge and meaningfulness, achievement was related to challenge.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.841-854
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate the teaching methods of prediction, inference, and hypothesis. The major data source was gathered by in-depth interview of science teachers (about 50-80 minutes for each interview). The interviews were conducted using semi-structured interview protocol, which consisted of three major parts: (1) Teacher's definition of prediction, inferences, hypothesis, (2) Teaching methods of prediction, inferences, and hypothesis and (3)Reasons of teacher's inaccurate perceptions of prediction, inference, and hypothesis. All the interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. Topics in the questions were categorized. The results were as follows: Teachers recognized the importance of prediction, inferences, and hypothesis. But they didn't have an accurate conception and they have great difficulty in classifying and explaining the prediction, inferences, and hypothesis. To find out the teaching methods, researcher investigated the inquiry activities, teaching times, usage of terms, teachers' questions, and teaching difficulties. Reasons for having difficulty were lack of teaching competency, difficulties from the students, and problems in the present curriculum. Finally, we discovered that the reasons for teacher's inaccurate perceptions of prediction, inference, and hypothesis were two factors. One is internal factors, which include the lack of scientific inquiry process skills, burdens of science subject and lack of science education knowledge. The other is external factors, which include education system for evaluations and lack of teacher education. In conclusion, this study suggested establishing more elementary teacher education programs that include strengthened concepts of inquiry process skills and teaching methods.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.375-382
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• 2015

Textbooks corresponding to curriculum goals are necessary because they are specific products of curriculum and are the most important materials for teaching, learning, and evaluation. In particular, learning objectives written in textbooks should be clearly described because they play a role in promoting learning by showing learning goals to learners clearly. This study analyzed the characteristics of verbs used as predicate of learning objectives written in high school physics I and II textbooks of Korea and compared them with physics textbooks of Singapore and the United States. Results show that Korean textbooks have less kinds of verbs compared to those of Singapore and the United States, and the verbs with abstract and comprehensive meaning such as 'understand' and 'know' were mainly used. In American textbooks, it was noticeable that no verbs have been used by more than 10%. When classifying the learning objectives in the two Korean textbooks, cognitive domain accounted for 98 to 99%, and inquiry domain accounted for only 1% to 2%. With regard to physics textbooks of the United States, inquiry domain accounted for a large proportion of domains in learning objectives compared with physics textbooks of Korea and Singapore. Physics textbooks of Singapore were similar to those of Korea in that learning objectives were biased toward cognitive domain, but differed from those of Korea in that learning objectives were specifically described using action verbs.