• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.200-211
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to analyze Korean middle school student achievement in environmental science based on the TIMSS 2003 (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), a student comparison of 46 participating nations. Korea ranked the fourth with a mean score of 554 in environmental science. However, all 3 environment science topics assessed in TIMSS are not included in the Korean science curriculum through 8th grade, even though they are included in most other participating nations' curricula. The average percent correct of items was analyzed according to the main topic, the item type and the cognitive domain. Items that showed differences between the average percent correct of Korea and the international average as well as differences between the average percent correct of boys and girls were further analyzed. Results revealed that Korean students performed better than the international average, especially in 'use and conservation of natural resources', multiple-choice items, and items requiring 'factual knowledge'. Also, male students demonstrated significantly higher achievement than female students. On the other hand, Korean students showed relatively lower achievement in constructed-response items, items that contained content they had not learned in science lessons and items requiring descriptions of the uses and effect of science and technology. Moreover, Korean student lacked understanding about acid rain, global warming, and ozone layer destruction. Korean female students showed relatively lower environmental conceptions and lower performance on items requiring data analysis than Korean male students. On the basis of these results, this study suggested that topics of environmental science be included in the science curriculum and taught in the science classroom to help middle school students more fully comprehend environmental issues.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.261-272
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to compare the earth science curriculums of South Korea and North Korea. Aspects such as the content of the curriculums and the timing of learning were analyzed, in order to provide basic data that can be used to design a revised and integrated Korean curriculum. The objects of this study were South Korean Science textbooks from grades 5-9, and the high school Unity of Science and Earth Science I and II textbooks. Additionally, from North Korea, the junior middle school Natural Science 1 and 2 textbooks and the senior middle school Chosun Geography 2 and Geography 1 textbooks were analyzed. The results of this study obtained through an analysis that used the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2019) grade 8 earth science assessment framework were as follows. First, South Korea needs to adopt iterative learning. Repetitive learning, which is effective for understanding what is being learned, is applied to only 1 by 8th grade. Second, South Korea needs to adjust the time when certain content is learned. This is because there is a disparity between when content is learned in comparison to North Korea, and the timing of learning of about 50% of the TIMSS standards have not been followed. Third, it is necessary to reflect the content present within the TIMSS that have not been learned. This can be a way to increase the nations' educational competitiveness in the international community. This paper proposed a comparative analysis of South korean and North Korean approaches to the earth science curriculum and conducted practical research to facilitate the construction of an integrated curriculum.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.607-616
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• 2016

In the 2009 revised science curriculum, comprehensive verbs such as 'know (38%)' and 'understand (46%)' are used in more than 80% of the achievement standard. Many readers, such as teachers, textbook makers, etc. have difficulties in interpreting the meaning of achievement standard sentences with these comprehensive verbs. On the other hand, 'Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)' uses more various and specific verbs to express the cognitive domain. In this study, we analyzed the 2009 revised science curriculum achievement standard focusing on the TIMSS cognitive domain assessment framework. We divided achievement standard to 228 sentences and three teachers analyzed the meaning of verbs in achievement standard. There were two main results of this study. First, the verb 'Know' was analyzed into different kinds of meanings, such as 'Describe (27%)', 'Recall/Recognize (25%)' and 'Relate (17%)', etc; and the verb 'Understand' was analyzed into 'Explain (37%)', 'Relate (27%)' and 'Describe (21%)', etc. Second, there appeared to have a disagreement among the three analysts during the process of interpreting the achievement standards when the level and scope of the contents of each grade is not clear. This study concludes that there's a need for continuous discussion on the use of verbs in achievement standard to promote clearer expressions for better understanding.

• Korean Journal of Comparative Education
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.1-19
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• 2018

The purpose of educational assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is to compare groups such as countries. When the unit of measurement is above the student level, group-level diagnostic assessment based on multilevel item response theory (ML-IRT) can be considered just as cognitive diagnosis models are developed from item response theory. This study suggests an ML-IRT-based group-level diagnostic assessment model by modifying an item feature model by Park and bolt (2008). The model is illustrated on the recently released TIMSS 2015 Grade 8 mathematics assessment. The results provide skill profiles for the studied countries and the nine cognitive attributes; that is, the attribute effects can be compared across the countries and also across the attributes. By controlling unexplained variance, the suggested model may provide more reliable and more informative group-level comparisons. The results are interpreted using an example. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.31-46
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• 2024

This study analyzes the academic achievement characteristics of Korean fourth graders on the problem solving and inquiry tasks (PSIs) introduced in TIMSS 2019. TIMSS 2019 conducted a computer-based assessment in addition to the traditional paper-based assessment. The PSIs were included only in the computer-based assessment, so 30 countries participated in the PSIs of the computer-based assessment. PSIs consist of integrating multiple content and cognitive domains, including 10 or fewer items. Most of the items are constructed in an open-ended format rather than multiple-choice. The analysis results showed that there were differences in student achievement across countries depending on the inclusion of PSIs. Korea's average achievement score decreased by 1 point. The analysis of individual items showed that students' achievement was somewhat low, and the correct answer rate for male students was generally higher than that for female students in many items. Furthermore, item-by-item analysis revealed that there were items where countries such as England and Finland had higher correct answer rates than traditional high-achieving countries, i.e. Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. Considering the recent emphasis on integrated education, it seems necessary to review the use of PSIs in assessments in Korea as well.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.433-445
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• 2024

This study aims to compare and analyze the educational contents of the material area in the elementary science curriculums of North and South Korea. The research subjects are materials and motion and energy (partial) areas of the revised science curriculum of South Korea in 2022 and materials around us and science in daily life (partial) areas of the nature and education program of North Korea in 2013. This study compared the elements of the educational content of the material domain between North and South Korea according to the grade. Furthermore, the reflection of the material domain goals of North and South Korea at the international level was analyzed using the evaluation framework of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2023 for the material content domains for fourth-grade elementary schools. Four teachers who majored in elementary science education and one expert in science education participated in the analysis. The results are as follows. First, in terms of the properties of matter, the content covered in the curriculum of North and South Korea differed in application period by grade and in the scope and level of content. Second, regarding material change, North Korea did not cover acids and bases but included methods for speeding up dissolution. Third, North Korea reflected the goal of the TIMSS 2023 properties of materials more highly than South Korea. Fourth, similar to the results for the analysis on the properties of materials, North Korea reflected the goal of the TIMSS 2023 for changes of materials more highly than did South Korea. In conclusion, the elements and timing of application of the material contents differed between North and South Korea, and the degree of reflection of goals at the international level was found to be higher for North Korea. In the future, this study hopes that cooperation and research on the development of integrated science and curriculum will occur along with the revitalization of educational exchange between North and South Korea from the perspective of the preparation for unification beyond the ideological conflict between them.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.383-403
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to examine how students' perception of their mathematics teachers' instructional practices is associated with students' attitude toward mathematics, taking into account their self-efficacy in mathematics. The sample contained 4669 Korean fourth graders who participated in Trends in International Mathematics Science Study 2015. We used exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to explore the factor structure of three latent variables and conducted structural equation modeling to examine the hypothesized model. The results revealed that when students positively perceived their teachers' instructional practices, they tended to have a positive attitude toward mathematics. We also found that students' self-efficacy beliefs in mathematics positively mediated the relationship between perceived teachers' instructional practices and personal attitude toward mathematics. We discuss the practical and methodological implications of these findings and offer directions for future studies.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.193-214
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• 2006

This study is focused on the trends in education and polices for women in Korea. First, historical background of education for women in Korea revealed that a biased view of education for women was deeply rooted. Next, several findings such as international comparison of performance on the PISA, TIMSS, and National Assessment including gender differences especially in Mathematical and Science performance were analyzed. In international assessments, female students perform better in reading literacy, but still fall behind male students in mathematical and scientific literacy, and the gap between the genders are wider than most OECD countries. The change in status of women in contemporary Korea is examined focusing on educational system and women's educational and vocational performance, etc. Additionally, policies planned by Ministry of Science and Technology which show the many execution plans for training and supporting female professionals were presented. Finally, possible reasons for gender differences in educational performance is examined and some suggestions are provided to reduce the gender gap in mathematical and scientific literacy of Korean students.