• Journal of Science Education
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2021

In this study, we analyzed the relationship between the physical science domain of TIMSS 2019 and the Korean science curriculum. Twelve subjects are presented in the physical science domain of the TIMSS 2019 4th grade evaluation framework. Research group consisting of elementary and middle school teachers and science education experts, a total of 12, participated to analyze in which grade these subjects were included in the Korea 2009 revised and 2015 revised science curriculum. As a results of analyzing whether the achievement standards of the TIMSS 2019 evaluation framework and Korean science curriculum are consistent, the subjects pertinent to chemistry like 'chemical changes in everyday life,' 'heat transfer,' and 'electricity and simple electrical circuits' appeared not covered at all until the 4th grade curriculum in Korea. Given that the TIMSS 2019 evaluation framework is an international achievement standard, we are proposing to improve the Korean curriculum as follows: first, for the development of the next science curriculum, there is a need for science curriculum organized from the 1st grade of elementary school to connect the content and scope of chemistry in elementary, middle, and high schools as a whole including the Nuri curriculum. Second, as an alternative to the problem of suitability of learning volume and level of learning, it is possible to think of a method to readjust the grade of dealing with related concepts by lowering the difficulty or simplifying the concept. Third, it is necessary to discuss about introducing essential concepts and standard terms into Korea science curriculum according to international trends.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.371-378
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the eight topics in TIMSS 2019 8th grade chemistry domains and the Korea 2009 Revised Science Curriculum and the 2015 Revised Science Curriculum. For this purpose, four elementary and four secondary teachers participated in physics, chemistry, biology and earth science majors, and two science education experts participated in analyzing in which grades the content elements of the TIMSS 2019 science framework are covered in the Korean science curriculum. The study also analyzed whether the content of the Korean science curriculum matches the 246 items of 8th grade in the TIMSS 2019 assessment and reflects in which grades the eight topics are covered. The results of this study are as follows. First, among the TIMSS 2019 evaluation topics, topics not covered at all in the Korean middle school curriculum were periodic table, matter and energy in chemical reactions, the role of electrons in chemical bonds. Second, the topic of "the periodic table as an organizing principle for the known elements" needs to be introduced in the Korean middle school curriculum, and topics such as "familiar exothermic and endothermic reactions" and "factors affecting the reaction rates" need to be discussed in consideration of the flow of international curricula. Third, the next science curriculum should be structured so that the sequence of chemistry contents and scope, especially core concepts to be included in the elementary, secondary, and higher education curriculum is linked to continuity.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.149-160
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• 2022

Comparative studies using large-scale data such as TIMSS, PIRLS, and PISA inform us of the effectiveness of each educational system. Even though samples in the large-scale studies were representative, admitting potential discrepancy when applying the findings of the large-scale studies to local educational system is still needed. This study examines the structural relationship among students' attitude towards science, learning support from teachers, school life, and science academic achievement with both large-scale data and local comparative study data utilizing same variables. Responses on the TIMSS 2019 of 5,554 Korean seventh-grade students and National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA) 2019 of 6,365 third-grade middle school students were used. The results indicate that: a) school life did not affect the science achievements in both data. However, in NAEA 2019, students' attitude mediated the relationship between school life and science achievement; b) learning support from teachers had a significant impact on TIMSS science achievements, and also had positive effect on achievement through students' attitude in TIMSS. On the other hand, learning support had a positive effect on achievement only when student's attitude mediated the relationship in NAEA; c) students 'attitude toward science had positive effect on science achievement on both data; d) the impact of gender was different on school life, academic achievement, students 'attitude towards science, and learning support from teachers on both data; and e) the impact of the number of books differed as well. There were differences in results between the international and domestic research, which inform us that we need to pay attention when interpreting the domestic environment through the results of international research.

• 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 Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.119-130
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• 2019

The TIMSS assessment is conducted every four years, and Korean fourth grade cohort in TIMSS 2011 participated in TIMSS 2015 again as eighth graders, which produced the first achievement data of the cohort group of elementary and middle schools. In this study, in order to investigate the causes of the decline in Korean students' science achievement with grade changes from the fourth to the eighth grade, we analyzed educational context variables such as characteristics of students, teachers, and classroom instructions of the top 5 achievement countries participated in both TIMSS 2011 and TIMSS 2015. According to the results, students' sense of school belonging increased, whereas students' positive attitudes toward science teaching decreased with the grade change from the fourth to the eighth. As for the teacher characteristics, the teacher's professional development activity increased, and the teacher's confidence in science teaching showed similar tendency to the international average. Regarding classroom instruction characteristics, the frequency of inquiry-related science activities was highest at the fourth grade, and lower than the international average at the eighth grade. Based the results, we suggested implications for science teaching and learning as well as further studies including development of differentiated strategy by the school level to improve students' achievement, the necessity of converting into more student-engaging science classes, and the necessity of in-depth study on the teacher related educational contextual variables.

• 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 the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.449-468
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• 2020

TIMSS is a representative international comparative study that analyzes changes in mathematics and science achievement, and it collects information on the educational system, curriculum, teaching and learning situation of participating countries as well as research and check, and provides implications for each country's mathematics and science education. Although domestic TIMSS studies focused on the results of achievement related to the evaluation of mathematics, not many have taken a closer look at the content and characteristics of the assessment framework. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of the TIMSS 2019 mathematics assessment framework, and to derive implications for the mathematics curriculum and mathematics learning by examining the students' study time in light of the Korean mathematics curriculum. The implications derived from the results of this study are summarized as follows: First, it is necessary to check the connection between content elements in the mathematics and education process. Second, it is necessary to check the appropriateness and connectivity of the learning timing of the content elements in the mathematics and education courses. Finally, it is necessary to verify that the hierarchy of content areas and the structure of content systems in mathematics and education courses are consistent with the direction of mathematics education at the international level. This study can be used as a basis for mathematics and curriculum revisions, and can be used to set directions for the development of large-scale evaluation frameworks.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.48-57
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• 2021

This study analyzed the science assessment items that were conducted by the paper and the computer-based assessment in the TIMSS 2019 pre-test, which is an international academic achievement assessment. We examined whether the test mode influenced the percentage of items answered correctly by each graders. As a result, there was no significant difference in the correct answer rates of science items according to the test media in 4th and 8th graders. Looking at the each graders, the difference in the percentage of correct answers was relatively large in the fourth grader rather than the eighth grader. In terms of items, the difference in the percentage of correct answers was relatively larger for the constructed items than the multiple choice questions. As a result of analyzing the content of science and assessment items on the influence of the test media, the multiple choice items showed little difference between the paper and the computer-based assessment items, but the answer-type items tended to have a lower percentage of correct answers than the paper-based assessment. In addition, by grade, 4th graders showed lower percentages of correct answers in the constructed items than 8th graders. This study provides implications related to the development and introduction of computer-based assessment in Korea, and suggests an educational implications for computer-based assessment to be well established as school evaluation.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.167-180
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• 2019

This study analyzed the effects of the educational contextual variables on fourth grade students' mathematics achievement in five East Asian countries(Singapore, Hong Kong Taiwan, Japan and Korea) using TIMSS 2015 data. There are four findings of this study. The first is that the common student-home-level variables that give significant influence on the mathematics achievement in all 5 countries are 'Home resources for learning' and 'Parents' educational expectations'. But 'Literacy and numeracy activities before entering a school' and 'Parents' attitude for mathematics and science' are not common variables. The second is that 'Students' interest in math learning' gave significant influence on the mathematics achievement of in all 5 countries. The third is that 'Teaching limited by student needs' does not give significant influence on the math achievement in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan but in Singapore and Hong Kong. The fourth is that 'Student economic background' gave more significant influence in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan than Singapore and Hong Kong. Suggestions to improve elementary school mathematics teaching and learning are discussed in the conclusion.

• Education of Primary School Mathematics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.83-94
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• 2019

Current mathematics curriculum of South Korea suggests that students learn mathematics in school with calculators except that the aim of the math lessons is to achieve calculation skills, but we can't be sure that elementary school students use calculators in math lessons of school. Actually we don't have enough data to identify how many elementary school students use calculators in math lessons. The aims of this study are to compare the ratio of elementary school students using calculators in math lessons of school between 20 countries and to analyse the relation between using calculators in math lessons and the achievements of math through $4^{th}$ grade mathematics test of TIMSS 2015. The results of this study are two. One is that generally $4^{th}$ grade students did not use calculators in math lessons. The other result is that generally there is no relation between using calculators in math lessons and the achievements of the math test through $4^{th}$ grade mathematics test of TIMSS 2015. Only in Hong Kong SAR, students without using calculators have higher achievements than students using calculators. In England and USA, students using calculators have higher achievements than students without using calculators. Finally, researcher in this study suggests some implications on using calculator in elementary schools.