• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.341-353
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of urban forest and school forest experience programs on attitude toward the forest, psychological well-being, and stress of high school students. The subjects of this study were 26 students from a high school located in B-dong in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. They were divided into the experimental groups participating in urban forest experience and the control groups participating in school forests experience. Each group participated in the five weekly two-hour long forest experience program. We conducted a pre- and post-experience questionnaire surveys using the scale of environmental attitude toward the forest, the scale of psychological well-being, and the scale of academic stress to observe mental and psychological changes of the high school students. Data were analyzed by SPSS 23.0 program and a Wilcoxon sign rank test. There was a significant increase in the attitude toward forests of high school students participating in the forest experience programs. The groups participating in the school forest experience showed an increase in the psychological well-being although it was not statistically significant, and the groups participating in the urban forest experience showed a statistically significant increase, indicating that the forest experience affected the psychological well-being of the high school students. The groups participating in the school forest experience showed a decrease in the academic stress although it was not statistically significant, and the groups participating in the urban forest experience showed a statistically significant decrease, indicating that the forest experience affected the academic stress of the high school students.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.182-192
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of school forest activities program on elementary students' science process skill and attitude toward science to make suggestions to help develop and extend the program. The subjects of the study were 49 students of two classes. One class of 24 students, experimental class, took developed 10 periods of school forest activities program. While the other class of 25 students, comparative class, took ordinary teacher driven periods using photo materials and study papers. Before and after the program, pre and post test were done. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: First, the school forest activities program didn't have a meaningful effect on students' science process skill. Second, the school forest activities program had a meaningful effect on the improvement of students' attitude toward science. From the interview with experimental class, we could know that students had a favorable impression and high satisfaction level about the activities program.

• 우리들 숲
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• s.22
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• pp.3-3
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• 2007

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.462-473
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• 2015

The research carried out to analyze the change of recognition of elementary school students after a forest experience to determine the effectiveness of the environmental education in elementary school curriculum. The data is collected through surveys before and after forest experience for 311 people on 2nd and 3rd grades of two elementary school in Jeonju city, then the conclusions analyzed the results of the surveys are as follows. Students who participated in the forest experience show a positive change in all areas after the forest experience, for example, awareness of the forest and behavior recognition in the forest, the need for commentary about the forest. Especially, the area of the behavior recognition has much significant result than the other areas. In the details of the behavior recognition, a behavior recognition and environmental awareness for the life of the forest have been greatly improved. From the results described above, the forest experience can be seen a great help to elementary school students to have a respect and dignity of life and recognize the importance of the natural environment. Thus, the nature experience such as the forest experience is needed to enhance the life respect and environmental consciousness, foster sensitivity to natural cycles. In order that much more elementary school student can participate in evironmetal education through the forest experience, it would suggest to perform the forest experience as creative and experiential activities in the school curriculum.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.185-194
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of short-term foresters on brain waves and pulse waves. For this purpose, 484 foresters who visited the natural recreation forest located in Cheongpyeong city, Gyeonggi province, measured the before and after experiences of EEG and pulse waves, and the following results were obtained. First, foresters have been shown to be effective on concentration, brain activity, and brain stress. Second, foresters had positive effects on cardiac health and autonomic health. In other words, when various substances released from the forest come into the body through the respiratory system, it firstly affects the heart activity positively, and it seems to be able to expect various improvements by acting on the emotional side of the brain. Therefore, based on the scientific basis of the forest experience, it is expected that the experience of forests will be widely used as a guide for healthy life by creating conditions for participation by many people. In addition, the mechanism of respiration, heartbeat, and brain interaction is also possible, and various experimental studies on the forest experience in the future are important.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.595-605
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• 2017

This study was intended to investigate the effects of after-school forest healing programs on the pro-social behavior and self-efficacy of young children using the attributes of forest and the forest healing factors. The children attending a kindergarten located in ${\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}$ - dong, Cheongju city were divided into a test group which participated in the forest healing program activities and a control group which participated in the regular programs of the kindergarten but not in the forest healing program. Each group consisted of 20 boys and girls aged 3 to 5 years. The forest healing program was conducted once a week from 10 April to 10 July in 2017 for a total of 12 sessions, and each session lasted one hour (60 minutes). The pro-sociality behavior and self-efficacy test of the children was conducted before and after the forest healing program, and the data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 program. The result showed that the pro-social behaviors that indicated the ability to execute the positive action and the self-efficacy that indicated the self-confidence were statistically significant (p<0.05). The young children who participated in the forest healing program improved their self-esteem through positive thoughts from being with their peer in nature. Moreover, they increased not only ecological knowledge but also consideration for others and cooperative spirit. They also greatly improved the ability to control personal emotion and the ability to form the personal relationship which are the sub-factors of pro-sociality, the ability to adapt to the early childhood education institution, and the physical efficacy which is the sub-factor of self-efficacy. It was concluded that the after-school forest healing program had a positive impact on pro-social behavior and self-efficacy.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.333-340
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• 2019

As the number of students in the multicultural background grows, the interest in their education is also increasing. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of forest healing factors on the improvement of language ability and ego-resilience of students from multicultural families. We conducted an after-school forest healing program of ten male and ten female middle school students of a multicultural preparatory school located in ${\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}$-dong in Cheongju, Chungnam Province. The experiment consisted of a total of 12 weekly one-hour (60 minutes) programs from April 12, 2018 to June 26, 2018. The forest healing program is an activity that uses the various environmental factors that exist in the forest to increase the immunity of the human body and restore physical and mental health. To determine the difference in ego-resilience before and after the program, we conducted a paired t-test and analyzed with the SPSS 18.0 program. The results showed that the ego-resilience significantly improved in all sub-factors including the positive thinking ability, problem-solving ability, intimacy ability, emotional adjustment ability, and autonomic behavior ability (p<.001). The descriptive statistics of the language ability showed the improvement in writing errors, pronunciation errors, sentence errors, tense errors, and errors in research and connection. We expect the results of this study can be used as the basic data to improve ego-resilience and language acquisition ability of middle-entry children and students from multicultural families.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.748-757
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• 2019

This study was intended to investigate the effects of forest therapy programs using school forest on the emotional stability and positive thinking of university students. The subjects were divided into an experimental group and a controlled group, and the number of subjects in each group was 35 and 25, respectively. The forest therapy program was conducted once a week from 4 September to 12 December in 2018 for a total of 8 sessions, and each session lasted two hours (120 minutes). The subjects were examined in the emotional state and positive thinking before and after the forest therapy program. To determine the difference in emotional stability and positive thinking before and after the program, I conducted a paired t-test and analyzed the data with the SPSS 21.0 program. The results indicated that students who participated in the program showed a significant increase in the stabilize emotional state and positive thinking. This study shows that forest therapy programs using school forests have an effect on students' emotions and positive thinking. Thus, it is necessary to promote the forest therapy program as an alternative activity for the treatment and prevention of mental health of university students.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Environmental Edudation Conference
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• 2004.12a
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• pp.43-58
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• 2004

환경운동 10년의 결과 '생태적 감수성'이라는 '감성영역'이 새롭게 개발되고 보편화 되었으며, 녹색소비의 정신이 확산되고, '환경'은 늘 관심을 기울어야 하는 '문제영역'으로 설정될 수 있었다. 이는 환경교육에도 확산되어, 녹색소비 운동과 관리주의적 실천은 이제 보편화되었다. 지방정부에서 '의제21'을 채택하여 개발연대에 직강화된 '도시하천'의 생태적 복원이 활발하게 진행중이고, 초중고교의 '녹색화' 사업이 생태숲이나 생태연못 등등의 명칭하에 진행중이다. 한편 '환경교육진흥법'은 아직 계류중이긴 하나, 경기도와 같이 지방정부 수준에서 체험적 생태교육 시설을 정책적으로 확장해 나가고자 하는 흐름도 있다. 또한 1999년의 동강댐 반대투쟁, 2003년과 2004년의 새만금 저지투쟁과 부안항쟁을 거치면서 생명의 소중함에 대한 인식은 이제 '생명권' 개념의 확산을 앞두고 있을 정도로 보편화되고 있다. 그리고 이는 생태적 감수성을 함양하는 '체험 환경교육'의 보편화로 나타나고 있다. 하지만 교과교육으로서의 환경교육과 체험학습 영역의 환경교육은 '접점'을 찾지 못하고 있다. 한편으로 온 나라를 떠들썩하게 만드는 '환경갈등'에 대하여 그것의 '뿌리'를 완전히 뽑아내는 방식의 '재발 방지' 정치적 성과는 제대로 축적되고 있지 못하며, 환경교육은 '환경갈등'의 정치경제적 속성을 정면으로 응시하고 있지 못하다. 2004년의 환생교사업방향중 하나가 '사회적 실천'을 강조하는 흐름이었던 것은 바로 이와 같은 사정을 반영한다. '생태적 감수성'은 실천이라기 보다 안주와 '누림'의 영역으로 되기 십상이었기에 그러하며 실제로 상품화된 '생태기행'의 등장은 그런 맥락에서 이해된다. 그럼에도 이는 10년전 '군사문화'가 우리안에 살아있던 것에 비하면 분명 큰 진전이다. 군사훈련식의 수련활동이 생명과 생태에 대한 감수성을 일깨우는 '생태적 감수성' 함양으로 전환된 것이 단적인 경우이다. 이제 이러한 성과를 토대로 이후 학교환경교육 10년을 전망할 수 있어야 하겠다. 필자는 그 화두를 '환경정의'와 '생태적 합리성'에서 찾고자 한다. 생태적 감수성 키우기가 상업화 단계에 이를 정도로 보편화되었다면, 이를 바탕으로 '생태적 합리성'이라는 체계적인 지식교육을 거쳐서, '환경정의' 의식의 제고로 이어가고, 굵직한 '환경갈등'의 상황에서 뚜렷한 정치적 태도와 실천을 할 수 있는 '생태적 인간상'의 육성으로 나아갈 수 있어야 한다는 것이 필자의 생각이다. 이를 위해서는 어찌되었건 체험학습 영역에서는 환경현안에 대한 사회적 실천을 '교육 소재'로 삼을 수 있어야 하며, 교과학습 영역에서는 한국사회의 환경현안에 대한 정치경제적 접근을 외면하지 말고 교과서 저작의 소재로 삼을 수 있어야 하며, 이는 '환경관리주의'와 '녹색소비'에 머물러 있는 '환경 지식교육'과 실천을 한단계 진전시키는 작업으로 이어질 것이다. 이후 10년의 환경교육은 바로 '생태적 합리성'과 '환경정의'라는 두 '화두'에 터하여 세워져야 한다.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.1
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• pp.82-90
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• 2021

In this study, the validity of the forest therapy process, in which forest activities using forest therapy factors lead to immunity promotion and health promotion, was analyzed theoretically and qualitatively to refine and systemize the forest therapy concept. Research and analysis data were collected from the websites of institutions related to forest therapy; 33 theses and 33 original research articles from 2000 to March 2020 were searched for forest therapy key words, as well as the prize winning work of the 2016 forest therapy experience essay. A word cloud was generated by frequency of nouns and adjectives and from the key words in the web pages, theses, articles, and the forest therapy experience essay. Through interpretation of word frequency, the systemic flow of forest therapy was defined. The results suggest that the source of forest therapy's power was a positive experience of the forest and an improved attitude toward nature as well as forest therapeutic factors. The therapeutic effect is maximized through the forest healing program, leading to physical and mental resilience and resistance; consequently, health and immunity are promoted. From this study, forest therapy is proposed as "a health promotion activity for the psychological, physical, and spiritual resilience of the subjects through various environmental factors of the forest, positive experiences, and attitudes toward the forest."