• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.237-253
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• 2001

This study examined the effects of the inquiry model on children's scientific thinking ability and processing skills. The experimental classroom of a kindergarten in Seoul was assigned the inquiry model while the control classroom was assigned general scientific education (N=48). Seventeen treatment sessions were applied to the experimental group. Tests to investigate the hypotheses included the Sink and Float Test and a new instrument developed by the researchers. Findings showed that preschoolers receiving the inquiry model of instruction gained higher scores in scientific thinking ability and processing skills than the preschoolers in the classroom using the general scientific education model. In sum, this study proved the superior effect of the inquiry model in developing children's scientific skills and ability.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.179-190
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• 2006

While most previous studies have developed educational programs for science gifted children and have analyzed the differences between science gifted children and ordinary children using quantitative research methods, few have investigated the differences among the science gifted, especially in terms of the scientific thinking process. The present study was conducted to explore the thinking characteristics of the elementary science gifted according to the three scientific thinking process types during the scientific problem solving process. The study resulted in the collected of quantitative and qualitative data through tests and an interview with questions and scientific problems which required the use of one of the three scientific thinking processes. Ten elementary science gifted children served as interviewees. Two types as an opistemological basis for solving the problems are revealed on inductive thinking problems. Three types are on abductive thinking, and Three or Four types are on deductive. The results are expected to have an influence on the teaching and the evaluation of the elementary science gifted.

• Journal of the Speleological Society of Korea
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• no.64
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• pp.1-11
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to analyze the scientific characteristics of speleology and to contribute to the scientific establishment of speleology. For this purpose, I analyzed the scientific specialty of speleology, the relation to other sciences and the scientific approaches. In conclusion, the speleology is the applied and synthetic science, so that the effective approach to the scientific establishment of speleology is to study by means of the organic and symmetric approach than the fragmentary and uniform approaches.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.399-419
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to develop performance assessment materials of scientific inquiry skills on 62 scientific activities in elementary science textbook for third and fourth grades. For this study, a total of 318 elementary teachers were sampled and surveys were carried out to examine the status of performance assessment of scientific inquiry skills in school. The classification system of assessment methods by Hart(1994) was also analyzed to create assessment strategy of scientific inquiry skills for elementary school students. Based on the quantitative data analysis, literature study and existing performance assessment materials analysis, performance assessment materials were developed and applied to science classes for third and fourth grades. Teachers and students were interviewed after the classes for asking about merits and improvements and the performance assessment materials were revised.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.167-191
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine how science activities using nonfiction literature affectspreschool children's scientific process skills, attitudes and concepts. For the purposes of this study, two classes, consisting of four and five-year-old children in a kindergarten located in D city were selected. One class was designated as the experimental group and the other as the control group. The experimental group performed science activities using nonfiction literature, while the control group did not. Thisexperimental study was conducted over the course of 8 weeks. Analysis of data was performed by ANCOVA. The results of the posttest indicated that the experimental group which performed science activities using nonfiction literature showed an improvement in their process skills, scientific attitudes and scientific concepts compared with the control group.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.96-108
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate how prospective elementary school teachers perceived teacher's inquiryoriented teaching practice, with an emphasis on students' scientific explanations based on scientific evidence. For this study, 94 prospective elementary school teachers were participated. 14 among 94 participants had chances to intensively experience this particular teaching methods for 15 weeks. All of the 94 participants observed the intended science teaching practice for 4th graders in two different elementary schools, which utilized the science talks emphasizing students' scientific explanation activity. For quantitative data analysis, they were asked to provide their reaction to the science teaching methods after their classroom observation. For qualitative data analysis, 5 among the participants, who had relatively long term experience with this teaching practice, were chosen to interview in order to understand their individual reasons of the ways they perceived about the inquiry-oriented teaching methods boosting students' scientific explanation. The results show that the prospective elementary teachers generally thought the emphasis of students' scientific explanation based on scientific evidence could enhance young elementary students' science content understanding, stimulate their curiosity/interests, and further develop their ability to engage actively in scientific discussions. However, some prospective teachers tended to think that the science teaching. methods would not be effective in terms of managing science classes, though. This study concludes that the prospective teachers tended to hold an endemic dilemma. On the one hand, they had their clear preference to the inquiry-oriented teaching practice as the most ideal teaching methods. On the other hand, they also had their persistent hesitance in using these methods due to their fear that elementary students might not adequately grasp the important science content when engaged in scientific discourse through an inquiry-oriented class.

• 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 earth science society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.401-415
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• 2006

The science education reforms put the emphasis of scientific literacy, so that students can understand how scientific knowledge is constructed through scientific inquiry at schools. However, scientific inquiry at schools has a problem as a cookbook system without the opportunity of developing argumentation, where students could understand how they use evidence to support their theory or vice versa. Teachers are supposed to understand the basic elements, purpose, and definition of scientific inquiry to implement authentic scientific inquiry at schools, then develop the instructional strategies of providing the opportunity of scientific argumentation to meet its needs.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.724-735
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to confirm correlation between elementary school students' VARK Learning styles test and Scientific Communication Skills through VARK questionnaire (version 7.3) for Youngers and Scientific Communication Skills Test. The subjects were 99 in 6th grade students of an elementary school located in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. The results of this study were as follows: 64% of the students had multiple learning styles, but only 36% of the students preferred a single mode of information presentation. Among students had a single mode preference, the aural ("A") was the highest unimodal preference. Among "V(visual)" mode, "A" mode, "R(read/write)" mode, and "K(kinesthetic)" mode, "A" mode was the commonest learning mode which students had. In Scientific Communication Skills Test, students' overall average was 26.19p [scientific explanation type (11.85p), scientific insistence type (14.34p)]. Girls' scores were higher than boys in scientific explanation type, but not in scientific insistence type. The scores by communication forms were Text (5.67p), Number (6.87p), Table (6.15p), and Picture (7.49p). Girls' scores were higher than boys in Text and Picture forms but not in Number and Table forms. In result of correlation analysis (Spearman's rho) between VARK Learning Styles and the types & forms of Scientific Communication Skills, there were common correlation in "Read/write (R) learning style-Scientific insistence type", "Read/write (R) learning style-Grounds of Scientific insistence", "Read/write (R) learning style-Description of Scientific explanation", and "R learning style-Text form".

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.601-608
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of science activities using drawing on young children's scientific inquiry competences and scientific attitudes. The subjects of this research were a total of 40 young children at age 5 from two classes in G and C child care center which located in G city. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups. The collected data were analyzed by t-test using SPSS program. The results of this study were as follow: First, experimental group which conducted the science activities using drawing showed significantly higher improvement in sub-factors of scientific inquiry competences, 'perseverance', 'creative', 'critical', and 'volunteering'. Second, experimental group which conducted the science activities using drawing showed significantly higher improvement in sub-factors of scientific attitudes, 'observing', 'measuring', and 'discussion'. Therefor, it might be concluded that science activities using drawing contributed to the development of scientific inquiry competences and scientific attitudes of young children.