• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.284-309
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• 2013

This study aims to explore how to characterize high school science inquiry. For this research, data were collected from fifteen science classes (18 hours), through observation and videotaping, interviews with a few students and their teacher, and documents such as lesson plan or activity sheet in 13 Science Core High Schools. All the data were transcribed and analyzed. Analyses of these transcripts were proceeded in three steps: first, classroom cases showing active interactions between teacher-students and among students were selected; second, according to cognitive process of inquiry (Chinn & Malhotra, 2002), each segment was analyzed and interpreted; lastly, distinctive cases were determined to show essential features of school science inquiry. Based on the analyses, we characterize high school science inquiry in terms of features of variables controlling-device improvement, design studies, evidence-explanation transformation, and reasoning to formulate explanations from evidence. Teachers' role and educational support were discussed as well as the practical characters or features of school science inquiry.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.267-277
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• 2015

This study explored elementary school teachers' perspectives on science inquiry teaching. First, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to elicit teachers' experiences of their approach to inquiry teaching. These self-reported approaches revealed three conceptions of teaching for inquiry learning in science: 'science process skills-centered' category focused on observing, classifying, measuring, and fair testing; 'generating scientific questions' category focused on students' question-generating; and 'illustrate concept and/or content' category focused on science content demonstration by making use of experimental procedures to obtain expected results. Second, teachers were asked to place 18 activity cards either close to or further from an 'inquiry-based science classroom' card. The relative distances from the activity card to the central classroom card were measured. The teachers perceived that students' activity of 'designing and implementing appropriate procedures' was the most important in supporting an inquiry-based science classroom. Understanding teachers' views has implications for both the enactment of inquiry teaching in the classroom as well as the uptake of new teaching behaviors during professional development.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.239-247
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of an free inquiry method based on PBL(Problem-Based Learning: PBL) to improve students science process skills and self-directed learning characteristics. To verify this research, twenty-two third-grade students were selected from Chung-ryeol Elementary School located in Busan. They have received pre-test and post-test about their abilities in their science process skills and abilities for self-directed learning characteristics. Also, their self-reflection data was analyzed. The teaching and learning PBL process is to provide the information named 'I am the expert on Earth and Moon' which is recreated by analyzing the science curriculum and characteristics of students from Lesson 3 'Earth and Moon', and to make plans for solving the information with K/NK method. Then, to solve the information is gathered and investigated using the PBL workbook. Lastly, students present their finding using the free inquiry method in a group. The post-test showed following results : first, the free inquiry method based on PBL stimulates inquisitiveness in students about science learning and the research group shows improved science process skill. It shows us that using the free inquiry method based on PBL can be used effects to elevate science process skill. Second, the free inquiry method based on PBL has a positive effect on self-directed learning. The research tells us that using the free inquiry method based on PBL can improve a student self-directed learning characteristics.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.1075-1083
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to develop a checklist for helping students write scientific inquiry reports after conducting open inquiry. To do this, eight scientifically gifted middle school students' worksheets for open inquiry, inquiry activities during conducting open inquiry, and final scientific inquiry reports were analyzed. Parts that were considered unsuitable in the writing inquiry reports as well as good parts were identified, and using this result, a checklist for helping students write good inquiry reports was developed. The checklist consisted of five categories and 46 items. The checklist was applied to inquiry reports written by seven other gifted students. Analyzing agreement rates of the checklists with two evaluators, high reliability could be obtained. Finally, recommendations for more effective use of the developed checklist were discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.54-67
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• 1995

This study has been performed in order to achieve three objectives. They are as follows: To analyze, based on the research literatures, the nature of scientific inquiry ability and the characteristics of its constitutive elements. To identify inquiry skills and techniques essential to such areas as physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science. To develop instructional models and materials for enhancing inquiry ability on the part of high school students. It was found in the study that the scientific inquiry was interpreted in terms of different meanings according to the viewpoint of the person who are interested in the nature of science. The scientific inquiry has been viewed as the process of knowledge formation, scientific method, inquiry process or process skills depending on the epistemological, methodological, educational perspectives, respectively. It was also identified that certain kind of skills or techniques would be used for inquiry in only one specific area of the science. The skills and techniques are effectively learned when those are taught with specific knowledge in each area of the science. The model and materials for fostering scientific inquiry skills will be presented on the second part of the report.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.160-175
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• 2004

This study examined the knowledge and practices of scientific inquiry displayed by three student teachers and two beginning teachers at secondary levels. Observations using the instrument of OTOP designed by the research team of OCEPT (Oregon Collaborative for Excellent in the Preparation of Teachers) generalized similar teaching strategies of scientific inquiry between student and beginning teachers, such as using group work for students' first hand experience, using concrete materials for experimentation or visual tools for demonstration, using questions for factual knowledge mainly without opportunities to understand how scientific knowledge is constructed. Those scientific inquiry activities were very confirmative ones to follow the steps without opportunities of understanding nature of science or nature of scientific inquiry. However, all participants in this study hold knowledge of scientific inquiry envisioned by the National Science Education Standards [NSES] (NRC, 1996), where students identify their hypothesis, use critical and logical thinking, and consider alternative explanations through argumentation as well as experimentation. An inconsistent relationship between participating teachers knowledge and practices about scientific inquiry resulted from their lack of pedagogy skills of implementing it in the classroom. Providing opportunities for these teachers to reflect on their beliefs and practices about scientific inquiry was recommended for the future study. Furthermore, increasing college faculty interest in new teaching approaches for upgrading the content knowledge of student teachers and beginning teachers was recommended as a solution, since those teachers showed evidence of influence by college faculties at universities in their pedagogy skills.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.261-266
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• 2002

To investigate the pupils' ideas about appropriate scientific inquiry problem, we have chosen the 105 boys and girls of 7th grade in a middle school in Seoul, Korea. Their marks in science are within the highest one-third of their classes. The pupils have made their own scientific inquiry questions, which is to be investigated by themselves in summer vacation. The 105 inquiry questions were gathered and evaluated by the pupils with 5-point Likert scale. From these, we have found that the questions inquiring novel phenomena, questioning causality, or containing scientific terms were evaluated as appropriate. Some questions were changed during performance. The pupils have changed their inquiry problems if they feel any difficulties in performing the inquiry.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.123-130
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• 2004

This study is aimed at exploring the effects on Science Inquiry Ability, Scientific Attitude and Science Achievement of the Elementary School Students according to the Input time of Web-Based Instruction Programs. As the object of the study, seventy-two students were selected from three classes in the fifth grade of Y Elementary School located in the city of T, Gyungsangnam-do. They were classified into the three groups such as Group A (Class 1), Group B (Class 2) and Group C (Class 3). The author threw web-based instruction programs into the begining of a unit, during a unit, the end of a unit to each group, and explored the effects. The results of this study were as follows: First, for the learning effect of science inquiry ability, it was indicated that there was the highest effect in the case of throwing web-based instruction programs into during a unit, but the effect reduced a little in the case of throwing them into the end of a unit. Secondly, the scientific attitudes tended to be reduced in the case of throwing them into during a unit, but there did not occur statistically significant improvement. Thirdly, the degree of improvement of the science achievement tended to be highest in the case of throwing them into the end of a unit. Such findings indicated that the time of throwing in web-based instruction programs affected science inquiry ability, scientific attitude and science achievement of elementary school students. Thus, it will be said that teachers need to teach their students with the class strategies of considering various scientific elements revealed at the time of throwing in web-based instruction programs.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.476-485
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of free inquiry lessons utilizing flipped learning with smart devices on digital literacy, $21^{st}$ century skills and scientific attitude of $5^{th}$ graders of elementary school. The subjects of this study were two different $5^{th}$ grade classes in J elementary school located in B metropolitan city. Free inquiry lessons utilizing flipped learning with smart devices were applied to experimental group, whereas comparison group was taught general free inquiry lessons using ordinary teaching materials. The results of this study were as follows: First, free inquiry lessons utilizing flipped learning with smart devices were statistically meaningful on students' digital literacy. Second, free inquiry lessons utilizing flipped learning with smart devices were not statistically meaningful on students' $21^{st}$ century skills. Third, free inquiry lessons utilizing flip teaching with smart devices were not statistically meaningful on students' scientific attitude. Fourth, free inquiry lessons utilizing flipped learning with smart devices caused an effectiveness on students' interests.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.931-938
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• 2015

In the study, epistemological beliefs, metacognition, and scientific inquiry skills all directly affected the science academic achievement levels of high school students. Also, epistemological beliefs indirectly affected science academic achievement mediated by scientific inquiry skills and metacognition, while metacognition had an indirect effect on science academic achievement level mediated by scientific inquiry skills. We found that scientific inquiry skills had the biggest direct effect, while epistemological beliefs showed the most robust indirect effect on academic achievement level. Thus, we argue that students' scientific inquiry skills should be nurtured for the advancement of their academic achievement. In addition, more careful scholarly attention must be given to both epistemological beliefs and metacognition, which directly and indirectly affected academic achievement level. We believe that epistemological beliefs, metacognition, and scientific inquiry skills should all be considered in an integrative manner when developing educational programs and strategies.