• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.201-203
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• 2011

We report an experimental result of applying a data mining algorithm for analyzing the questionnaire results of high school students' views on science-technology-society (HS-VOSTS). The preliminary empirical result of Naive Bayes classifier on HS-VOSTS questionnaire from one South Korean university students indicates that data mining algorithms can be effectively applied to automated knowledge discovery from students' survey data.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.41-47
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• 2012

Data mining and knowledge discovery techniques have shown to be effective in finding hidden underlying rules inside large database in an automated fashion. On the other hand, analyzing, assessing, and applying students' survey data are very important in science and engineering education because of various reasons such as quality improvement, engineering design process, innovative education, etc. Among those surveys, analyzing the students' views on science-technology-society can be helpful to engineering education. Because, although most researches on the philosophy of science have shown that science is one of the most difficult concepts to define precisely, it is still important to have an eye on science, pseudo-science, and scientific misconducts. In this paper, we report the experimental results of applying decision tree induction algorithms for analyzing the questionnaire results of high school students' views on science-technology-society (HS-VOSTS). Empirical results on various settings of decision tree induction on HS-VOSTS results from one South Korean university students indicate that decision tree induction algorithms can be successfully and effectively applied to automated knowledge discovery from students' survey data.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1143-1157
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to develop HS-VOSTS(High School Students' Views On Science-Technology-Society), which is an instrument that monitors high school students' views on STS. For this study, 23 multiple-choice items were developed on four categories. First, a categorial scheme was constructed. The categorial scheme was based on many instruments that evaluate students' understanding on STS, literature review, and STS learning goal that many researchers had asserted. Second, the multiple-choice items were developed. The development of the items was carried out through four steps. In the first step, some pairs of statement on each subordinate category were formed. Next, the student statement questionaries which were based on the pairs of statement were responded by 772 students. In the second step, the response written by the students were analyzed to common viewpoints and the first multiple-choice items were constructed. In the third step, the semistructured interview with 28 high school students was implemented and the second multiple-choice items were constructed. In the fourth step, the final version of the instrument was developed through the analysis of the students' response on the second multiple-choice items. HS-VOSTS is an useful instrument for monitoring students' beliefs and viewpoints on STS topics. The results of the students' responses to HS-VOSTS items reflect the students' own thoughts directly. These results will give some implications for the curriculum developers, the authors of text books and the educational policy makers as well as the teachers.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.395-403
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• 1997

In order to study the effect of the 'General Science' course implemented under the 6th science curriculum, high school students' views about the relationship between science/technology and society and their perceptions of science classroom environment were investigated. Four classes (n = 211) were selected from those completed the 'Science I' course under the 5th science curriculum, and 4 another classes (n = 216) which took the 'General Science' course under the 6th science curriculum were selected. In order to compare students' views about the relationship between science /technology and society. 10 items were selected from the VOSTS (Views On Science-Technology-Society) while considering the 6th science curriculum and the 'General Science' textbooks, and administered at the end of the 'Science I' course and at the beginning and end of the 'General Science' course. In order to compare the perceptions of science classroom environment, the Perceptions of Science Classroom Environment Questionnaire, which was prepared from the Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire. the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory, and the Classroom Environment Scale. was also administered at the end of the 'Science I' course and the 'General Science' course. The results indicated that the mean VOSTS score of the 6th-curriculum group was lower than that of the 5th-curriculum group, although the difference was not statistically significant. The decrease in the VOSTS score of the 6th-curriculum group during the 'General Science' course was statistically significant. It was also found that unrealistic views such as 'technology is the application of science', and 'corporations should control science/technology' had been formed during the course. However, the 6th-curriculum group had more positive perceptions of science classroom environment. Educational implications are discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.650-659
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate the change of students' views on the relationship between science/technology and society during the high school 'Science' course implemented under the 7th science curriculum. Participants were 241 tenth graders in Seoul. An instrument consisted of ten items selected from the VOSTS (Views On Science-Technology-Society). The surveys were administered at the beginning and the end of the course. The results indicated that the high school 'Science' course, on the whole, could not make students have adequate understanding about the relationship between science/technology and society.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.150-158
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of STS by science gifted and talented students. A multiple-choice format questionnaire HS-VOSTS was administered to 134 science gifted and talented students. We found that most of students had possessed the tentativeness of scientific knowledge. Science gifted and talented students mainly agreed that government should not control scientists' researches. Science gifted and talented students emphasized that scientists should consider the positive and negative influences of research products. There was no significant difference according to the gender in the view of science gifted and talented students on the definition of science, the external and internal sociology of science, and epistemology. This study would provide implication for the development of gifted students' program and curriculum.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.200-209
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• 1996

Recent literature in science education has emphasized nature of science in science teaching. The theme has been considered to be an important element for scientific literacy.The purpose of this study was to identify Korean science teachers' points of view on topics related to nature of science, such as definition of science, characteristics of scientific hypotheses, scientific theories and scientific laws, and their construction, scientists, and scientific methods. The relevant 13 items were selected from Views on Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS) by the authors for this study. Most teachers perceived science as an exploratory process or problem solving. Some perceived science as an application of knowledge to make this world a better place to live in. Teachers viewed scientific activities as scholastic and individualistic instead of pragmatic or collective. They did not hold clear understandings of the idea that scientific knowledge is subject to change. As identified in previous studies, teachers thought that scientific ideas develop from hypothesis to theories, and finally to scientific laws. They did not show sound understanding of inventiveness of scientific hypotheses and theories, nor discovery of scientific laws. In summary, teachers' major points of view reflected 'realism'. It suggested that they needed to understand nature of science in the ways which it has been described in recent literature of science education, in order to teach science with personal and social contexts.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.650-657
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• 2005

The study purported to develop STS education course material at the university level in order to enhance science literacy and understanding of the relationships among science, technology and society. A developed STS course was provided to 265 freshmen and sophomore students, majoring in the Humanities and the Social Sciences, the Natural Sciences and Engineering, and Fine Arts. Students participated in the survey examining changes in students' attitudes toward and perspectives on STS before and after the implementation. Ten questionnaires were selected from VOSTS for the survey. One additional questionnaire asked the students to elaborate their opinions on the need for a STS education course. The responses to the survey were analyzed according to types of questions and students' majors. As result, the developed STS course significantly increased students' science literacy. Among the participants, 97.7% responded that there is a need for STS education and provided reasons for such need. These results imply that there is a definite need for a STS class at the university level. According to the analyses of responses, there were different responses depending on the students' major. These differences imply that the major, academic background, level of interest in science, and knowledge of science of the students affect their perceptions on identifying the need for a STS education course.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.581-596
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to identify students' views on the orientation of science and to investigate the relationship between their views and decision-making on socio-scientific issues (SSI). In this study, 27 university students attending a science course were asked to discuss four controversial issues: the Toyota recall, the green car, the global warming and swine influenza (influenza A (H1N1)). The study was comprised of two stages. At the first stage, we examined students' views on the nature of science and on the orientation of science with the open-ended questionnaire based on VNOS and VOSTS. While they held relatively similar views on the nature of science, their views on the orientation of science were distinct as pragmatic, intrinsic, communal and ethical views. At the second stage, to examine the role of their views on the orientation of science in decision-making, we selected four students who had similar views on NOS but different views on the orientation of science. The four students were selected from each group of views on the orientation of science and their decision-making processes were analyzed following grounded theory. Across SSIs, they relied upon their views on the orientation of science as the strategies for decision, though considered different perception, and causal and contextual conditions. This study indicates that understanding students' views on the orientation of science would be helpful for achieving scientific literacy for informed decision.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.451-460
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• 1997

Various modern social problems are also related with science and technology. Thorough understanding about Technology-Society(STS) interactions is required to take informed action about how to deal effectively with these problems. In this case, there is a need for STS education. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of high -school students and science teachers about Technology-Society interactions and differences of their perceptions. It is my hope that this thesis will contribute to future "General Science" class in Korea. We obtained the data by a survey of 414 high school students who took "General Science" courses in Seoul and 54 of their science teachers. The survey was made using 10 multiple-choice items selected from the VOSTS (Views On Science-Technology-Society) item pool. The results of this study are as follow: 1. More than half of the students and teachers thought that science is exploring the unknown and discovering new things. Their perceptions about the science are somewhat stable, but about the technology various. 2. Most students and teachers thought that science and technology interact and complement each other. They also thought that the improvement in the quality of life needs investments in both science and technology 3. Most students and teachers thought social facts as community, government, and politics influenced scientists and scientific research. They also had a good understanding about the effects of science and technology on society. We can conclude from this that they had a Science-Technology-Society oriented viewpoint. 4. There are significant differences between the perceptions of boys and girls in following categories (p<.05): Influence of Community or Government Agencies on Scientists Influence of Politics on Scientists Role of Scieoce/Technology in Resolving Social Problems 5. There are significant differences between the perceptions of students and teachers in following categories (p<.05): Definition of Science Influence of Politics on Scientists