• Educational Technology International
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.183-200
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• 2015

This study investigated the effect of learning achievements and cognitive load according to different types of presenting learning materials and epistemological beliefs (EB). Learning achievements in this study were composed by retention and transfer of ill-structured problem. A total of 80 college students participated in the study. Prior to the learning, students were guided to fill out a questionnaire regarding epistemological beliefs and a prior knowledge test. The students of each group studied with a different type of reading material: full text (FT), full text including key questions (KeyFT) and full text including a concept map (CmFT). After a session of study was finished, they were asked to complete the posttest: retention and transfer. The results showed that there was a significant difference in transfer achievements. CmFT outperformed higher scores than the other types. There was no significant difference in retention among the groups. It is strongly believed that the types of presenting learning materials may have affected the understanding of ill-structured problem solving skills. Students with sophisticated EB showed higher achievements on retention and transfer than naive-EB and mixed-EB. Even though the data showed decrease of the cognitive load on the type of materials and EB, there were no significant differences on the cognitive load. We should consider a positive effect of types of presenting learning materials and EB enhancing capabilities of solving ill-structured problems in real life.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• no.36
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• pp.227-252
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• 2008

This study investigated the relation between social worker's beliefs on the nature of scientific knowledge which has been classified objectivism and constructivism and social work practice. As an epistemological position, constructivism is based on a view of knowledge that differs from that of objectivism, which holds that knowledge exists "out there" as objective truth. The focus of this paper is a examination on epistemological beliefs of social worker and social work practice. This paper proves that social work's epistemological beliefs have an effect on the practice modes. This research indicates that social works have a higher constructivist veiws than objectivist veiws on the nature of scientific knowledge. And social worker who have a high level of objectivism show a positive determinative mode. It has suggested that the constructive theory offers useful epistemology to the social worker who should deal with the clients in uncertain situations. In conclusion, a social worker with a high level of constructivism use an approach that creats a more equitable relationship between social worker and client. This perspective will allows cliens to participate in the formulation of theories in practice.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence and structural relationship of variables related to science teaching professionalism. These variables set up learning organizational culture as exogenous variables and science epistemological beliefs and science teaching efficacy as endogenous variables. For this study, a survey was conducted with 499 elementary science teachers from Seoul and Gyeonggi province participating. The results of this study are as follows: Science epistemological beliefs and science teaching efficacy were found to directly affect science teaching professionalism. In addition, learning organizational culture perceived by the teachers did not show significant effects on the science teaching professionalism, but it was found that it has direct significant effects on science epistemological beliefs and science teaching efficacy. Based on the results of this study, which examines the structural relationship between learning organizational culture, science epistemological beliefs, science teaching efficacy and science teaching professionalism. we deem that it is necessary to consider internal factors of teachers as well as ways to improve learning organizational culture.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.412-420
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• 2007

In this study, we investigated the influences of the epistemological beliefs on the conceptual change processes in respects of cognitive conflict, situational interest, attention and state learning strategies. After administering epistemological belief questionnaire as a pretest, 218 seventh graders possessing misconceptions about density were selected from the results of a preconception test. The questionnaires of responses to a discrepant event and situational interest were administered. After learning with a CAI program, attention test, state learning strategy test and conception test were also administered as post-tests. Analysis of the results revealed that fixed ability, quick learning and certain knowledge, which are epistemological factors, were highly related, but only certain knowledge exerted a direct effect on conceptual understanding negatively. It also had positive effects on attention directly as well as via situational interest, and thus increased conceptual understanding, even if the effects were relatively smaller than the direct effect. However, epistemological beliefs had little influence on conceptual understanding through cognitive conflict and/or state learning strategies.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.277-287
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• 2022

This study aims to investigate the main effects and interaction effects of individual variables on the epistemological beliefs of elementary school science teachers. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on 338 elementary science teachers in the metropolitan area on gender, teaching career, and epistemological beliefs. Epistemological beliefs show significant differences not only in gender and teaching career, but also in the interaction between gender and teaching career. Depending on gender, female teachers are more integrated in knowledge than male teachers, and process is more important than outcome in learning. Depending on the teaching career, it was found that high-career teachers generally value the process rather than the results, as knowledge is integrated and constantly evolving, knowledge is acquired by individual reasoning and justified through external interaction. On the other hand, teachers with low career perceive that efforts are indispensable in learning compared to other groups. Depending on the interaction between gender and teaching career, elementary school teachers believe that the higher the teaching career, the more integrated and constantly evolved, but low-career male teachers believed that learning ability was born with experience, while high-career male teachers value the learning process. Based on this study, it is expected that many training sessions aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning will provide more effective opportunities to develop elementary science teachers' epistemological beliefs, considering teachers' personal characteristics.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.64-68
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• 2012

Learning in medical school is usually regarded as a very specialized type of learning compared to that of other academic disciplines. Medical students might have general beliefs about their own learning. Beliefs about learning have a critical effect on learning behavior. There are several factors that affect medical students' learning behavior: epistemological beliefs, learning styles, learning strategies, and learning beliefs. Several studies have addressed epistemological beliefs, learning styles, and learning strategies in medical education. There are, however, few studies that have reported on medical students' beliefs about learning. The purpose of this study was to determine what learning beliefs medical students have, what the causes of these beliefs are, and how medical educators teach students who have such beliefs. In this study, the five learning beliefs are assumed and we considered how these beliefs can affect students' learning behaviors. They include: 1) medical students are expected to learn a large amount of information in a short time. 2) memorization is more important than understanding to survive in medical schools. 3) learning is a competition and work is independent, rather than collaborative. 4) reading textbooks is a heavy burden in medical education. 5) the most effective teaching and learning method is the lecture. These learning beliefs might be the results of various hidden curricula, shared experiences of the former and the present students as a group, and personal experience. Some learning beliefs may negatively affect students' learning. In conclusion, the implications of medical students' learning beliefs are significant and indicate that students and educators can benefit from opportunities that make students' beliefs about learning more conscious.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.359-374
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• 2020

This study is a complex type consisting of survey study and self-study. The former investigated elementary teachers' epistemological beliefs on convergence knowledge and teaching. As a representative of the result of survey study I, as a teacher as well as a researcher, was the participant of the self-study, which investigated my epistemological belief on convergence knowledge and teaching and my execution of convergent science teaching based on family resemblance of mathematics, science, and physical education. A set of open-ended written questionnaires was administered to 28 elementary teachers. Participating teachers considered convergent teaching as discipline-using or multi-disciplinary teaching. They also have epistemological beliefs in which they conceived convergence knowledge as aggregation of diverse disciplinary knowledge and students could get it through their own problem solving processes. As a teacher and researcher I have similar epistemological belief as the other teachers. During the self-study, I tried to apply convergence knowledge system based on the family resemblance analysis among math, science, and PE to my teaching. Inter-disciplinary approach to convergence teaching was not easy for me to conduct. Mathematical units, ratio and rate were linked to science concept of velocity so that it was effective to converge two disciplines. Moreover PE offered specific context where the concepts of math and science were connected convergently so that PE facilitated inter-disciplinary convergent teaching. The gaps between my epistemological belief and inter-disciplinary convergence knowledge based on family resemblance and the cases of how to bridge the gap by my experience were discussed.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.242-258
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• 2002

This study investigated preservice teachers' understandings of the ontology and epistemology underlying constructivist notions of teaming. Throughout this study, the epistemological, ontological, and pedagogical characteristics for each teacher's developing views of learning were identified through four in-depth interviews. Data from interviews were used to create three profiles containing ontological beliefs, epistemological commitments and pedagogical beliefs. This study has demonstrated that the notion of a constructivist profile change has significant potential for informing the analysis and description of preservice teachers' beliefs changes. Major findings include: constructivist profile changes overtime, diversification of profile components over time, features of the teachers' pedagogical belief profile changes, and teachers' unawareness of their profiles. However, changes in ontological beliefs and epistemological commitments were not easy, nor were they easily internalized for these teachers. The implications of this research are that preservice teachers should be aware of coexisting different categories of their learning-to-teach profiles, and that teacher educators should provide these preservice teachers with instruction designed to change preservice teachers' profiles towards increasing constructivist views of teaching and learning and restricting other undesirable categories.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.427-447
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• 2001

Science teachers need to understand what science is, how students learn, how to teach science effectively, and the rationale for their teaching methods. Along this line, this article discusses constructivist learning theory as an alternative to the traditional pedagogy and the origin of various versions of constructivism. Constructivism is defined and used in a variety of contexts including philosophical constructivism, constructivist research paradigm, sociological constructivism, and educational constructivism. Educational constructivism (or psychological constructivism) can be divided into three distinct versions (i.e., individual, radical, and social constructivism) depending on unique ontological and epistemological beliefs that underlie each version. Each version of educational constructivism supports different conceptions of science teaching and learning that are consistent with its specific ontological and epistemological beliefs. In this article, the main tenets of each version of educational constructivism are examined with regard to ontological beliefs, epistemological commitments, and pedagogical beliefs. In addition, two major criticisms on constructivist pedagogy as well as implications for research methods for each version are also discussed.

• 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.