• Title/Summary/Keyword: alternative education

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Directions towards sustainable agricultural systems in Korea

  • Kim, Chang-Gil
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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    • 2017.06a
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    • pp.3-3
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    • 2017
  • The question of how to establish sustainable agricultural systems has become as prominent as questions related to water, energy and climate change. High input/high output agriculture has brought with it many adverse effects; the massive deterioration of soil and water in both quantity and quality, increased greenhouse gas emissions and an increased prevalence of unsafe foods. Additionally, urbanization and climate change has worsened the shortage of farmland and reduced the supply of agricultural water. Given these challenges, maintaining, conserving and efficiently using agri-environmental resources, through fostering of sustainable agriculture, have emerged as key tasks in solving these problems. What is needed therefore is research, based on systematic and comprehensive empirical analyses, that can propose plans and methods for establishing an appropriate sustainable agricultural system. The empirical analysis of sustainable agricultural system is approached separately from economic, environmental and social aspects. An analysis of environment effect reveals that the available phosphate level is 1.3~2.1 times greater than the optimal amount in rice paddies, upland fields and orchards. Further examination has revealed that the excess nutrient is polluting both ground water and surface water. Analytical results for economic feasibility show that factors of production have been invested heavily in the rice crop. Under these conditions, sustainable agriculture, including low-input agriculture, appears to be a possible alternative that will facilitate simultaneous improvements in both economic feasibility and environment effects. Analysis results for sociality reveal that social factors include the value of producer, association and interior networks. Social conditions are comprised of leadership, consumers' awareness, education and conflict solutions. In addition, analysis as to the degree investments contribute to improving agricultural value added has revealed that the direct payment program is the most effective instrument. Experts confirm that economic feasibility can be improved by scientific and well-reasoned nutrient management on the basis of soil testing. Farmers pointed to 'economic factors' as being the largest obstacle to switching to the practice of sustainable agriculture. They also indicate 'uncertainty with regards to sustainable agriculture technology' as an impediment to practicing sustainable agriculture. Even so, farmers who believe environmental and regional issues to be the most pressing problems have expanded their practice of sustainable agriculture. The keys to establishing sustainable agriculture system are classified into the following four aspects. Firstly, from an economic aspect, the research indicates that agricultural policy needs to be integrated with environmental policy and that the function of market making based on the value chain needs to be revitalized. Secondly, from an environmental aspect, there is a need for an optimal resource management system to be established in the agricultural sector. In addition, sustainable agriculture practice will need to be extended with attendant environmentally-friendly and sustainable intensive technology also requiring further development. Thirdly, from a social aspect, green agriculture management needs to be fostered, technology and education extended, and social conflict mediated. Lastly, from a governance aspect, it will be necessary to strengthen good governance, assign and share suitable roles and responsibilities, build a cooperation system and utilize community supported agriculture.

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Review on the Korean Terms of Sediment Grain Size Demonstrated in the Textbooks (교과서에서 사용하는 퇴적물의 입도에 대한 한국어 용어의 검토)

  • Kim, Jeong-Yul
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.350-359
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    • 2012
  • The Korean terms of sediment grain size demonstrated in the 30 textbooks of elementary, middle, and high schools and university levels are compared and reviewed, and the problems of its use and alternative terms are proposed. The Korean terms of sediment grain size shown in the most textbooks are the translated terms of the Udden-Wentworth grade scale, and the different terms have been used in these textbooks. In the case of gravels, granule, cobble, and boulder have commonly been translated as wangmorae (king sand), janjagal (fine gravel), wangjagal (king gravel), and pyoryeog (drift gravel) or georyeog (large gravel), respectively. However, it is regarded to be reasonable that they are termed as janjagal, jungjagal (medium gravel), keunjagal (large gravel), and wangjagal, respectively. Adjectives such as 'maeu goun' (very fine), 'goun' (fine), 'junggan' (medium), 'gulgeun' (coarse), and 'maeu gulgeun' (very coarse), attached with each sediment name seem to be suitable to terms for sediments smaller than gravels. Silt has been commonly termed as misa (fine sand) in many textbooks, but it may be appropriate that silt is expressed as silt. Finally, mud, which is a mixture of silt and clay, should be named ito (mud) as shown in several textbooks including Dictionary of Korean Earth Science, though mud has been frequently termed as jinheug (slush or watery soil) in the most of textbooks for elementary and middle school students, and some high school and university textbooks.

Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Cancer-related Fatigue: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

  • He, Xi-Ran;Wang, Quan;Li, Ping-Ping
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.14 no.5
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    • pp.3067-3074
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    • 2013
  • Background: Faced with highly prevalent and recalcitrant cancer-related fatigue (CRF), together with the absence of any official guidelines on management, numerous groups have been striving to seek and test alternative therapies including acupuncture and moxibustion. However, different patients have various feedbacks, and the many clinical trials have given rise to varied conclusions. In terms of the therapeutic effect of acupuncture and moxibustion, there exist vast inconsistencies. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the auxiliary effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of CRF, and to provide more reliable evidence to guide clinical practice. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published before December 2012 were all aggregated, focusing on evaluation of acupuncture or moxibustion for CRF. The quality of the included studies was assessed basing on Cochrane handbook 5.1.0, and the available data were analyzed with RevMan software (version 5.2.0). Descriptive techniques were performed when no available data could be used. Results: A total of 7 studies involving 804 participants were eligible. With real acupuncture versus sham acupuncture, subjects receiving true acupuncture benefited more in the reduction of fatigue. With real acupuncture versus acupressure or sham acupressure, fatigue level appeared 36% improved in the acupuncture group, but 19% in the acupressure group and only 0.6% with sham acupressure. When real acupuncture plus enhanced routine care was compared with enhanced routine care, the combination group improved mean scores for general fatigue, together with physical and mental fatigue. With real acupuncture versus sham acupuncture or wait list controls, the real acupuncture group displayed significant advantages over the wait list controls at 2 weeks for fatigue improvement and better well-being effects at 6 weeks. When moxibustion plus routine care was compared with routine care alone, the meta-analyses demonstrated the combination had a relatively significant benefit in improving severe fatigue and QLQ-C30. Conclusion: Up to the search date, there exist few high quality RCTs to evaluate the effect of acupuncture and moxibustion, especially moxibustion in English. Yet acupuncture and moxibustion still appeared to be efficacious auxiliary therapeutic methods for CRF, in spite of several inherent defects of the included studies. Much more high-quality studies are urgently needed.

The Effects of Children's Art Activities through Forest Experience in Relation with Nuri Curriculum on Their Environmental Sensitivity (누리연계 유아의 숲 체험 미술 활동이 환경 감수성에 미치는 효과)

  • Kang, Young-Sik
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.18 no.12
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    • pp.264-275
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    • 2017
  • Objective: This study examines the effects of children's art activities through forest experience in relation with Nuri curriculum on environmental sensitivity. Method: A survey was administered to an experimental group of 20 children as well as a control group of 20 children for statistical analysis. after 16-class art activities through forest experience were performed to children aged 4 at a daycare center for 50 days. Result: Children's art activities through forest experience in relation with Nuri curriculum had a positive effect on their environmental sensitivity. In particular, their art activities had a positive effect on their self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy and motivation in the experimental group, supporting the educational effects and benefits of developmental children's art activities through forest experience in relation with Nuri curriculum. In other words, art activities through forest experience are useful in terms of providing children with creative expression activities in art by leading to observation and exploration, as well as educational experiences that have positive attitudes toward the environment. Conclusion: As children's art activities through forest experience have a positive effect on their environmental sensitivity, more useful information on teaching-learning methods will be able to be provided to early childhood teachers in the field. Consequently, children's art activities through forest experience need to be actively introduced in the field of early childhood education as an alternative for learning nature and improving environment-friendly emotional intelligence.

Establishment of Rice Bakanae Disease Management Using Slightly Acidic Hypochlorous Acid Water (미산성 차아염소산수를 이용한 벼키다리 병 방제)

  • Goo, Sung-Geun;Koo, Jachoon
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.178-185
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    • 2020
  • Rice bakanae is a typical seed-borne and seed-transmitted disease caused by infection by Fusarium fujikuroi. Seed disinfection using chemical fungicides (such as benomyl and prochloraz) is most effective in controlling the disease, but the emergence of fungicide-resistant strains has recently been increasing. Slightly acidic hypochlorous acid water (SAHW) is a safe and environmentally friendly disinfectant that has a potent and broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against viruses, bacteria, and fungi. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of SAHW against F. fujikuroi strains, including chemical fungicide-resistant strains, as an alternative to conventional chemical fungicides in the management of bakanae disease. SAHW showed strong but similar levels of antifungal activity among the F. fujikuroi strains with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC90) of 5±2.5 ppm of free available chlorine (FAC). In addition, F. fujikuroi cells lost viability completely within 5 min of SAHW treatment due to the lethal damage to cell integrity. When the rice seeds infected by F. fujikuroi were treated with SAHW containing 20±10 ppm of FAC for 12 hr, the efficiencies of seed disinfection and disease control were 95-98% and 90.1-92.6%, respectively. Altogether, our data suggest that SAHW is an effective compound for controlling rice bakanae disease.

Analysis on the Argumentation Pattern and Level of Students' Mental Models in Modeling-based Learning about Geologic Structures (지질구조에 대한 모델링기반 학습에서 나타나는 논증패턴과 정신모형 수준에 대한 분석)

  • Park, Su-Kyeong
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.35 no.5
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    • pp.919-929
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    • 2015
  • This study aims to develop a modeling-based learning program about geologic structures and to reveal the relationship between the argumentation patterns and levels of students' mental models. Participants included 126 second grade high school students in four sessions of modeling-based learning regarding continental drift, oceanic ridges, transform faults, and characteristics of faults. A modeling-based learning program was implemented in two classes of the experimental group, and teacher-centered traditional classes were carried out for the other students in the comparison group. Science achievement scores and the distribution of students' mental models in experimental and comparison groups were quantitatively compared. The video-taped transcripts of five teams' argumentation were qualitatively analyzed based on the analytic framework developed in the study. The analytic framework for coding students' argumentation in the modeling-based learning was composed of five components of TAP and the corresponding components containing alternative concepts. The results suggest that the frequencies of causal two-dimensional model and cubic model were high in the experimental group, while the frequencies of simple two-dimensional model and simple cross sectional model were high in the comparison group. The higher the frequency of claims, an argumentation pattern was proven successful, and the level of mental model was higher. After the rebuttal was suggested, students observed the model again and claimed again according to new data. Therefore, the model could be confirmed as having a positive impact on students' argumentation process.

Research on the Effectiveness of the Mentoring System to Support Beginning Science Teachers (초임 과학교사 지원을 위한 멘토링의 효율성 연구)

  • Kwak, Young-Sun
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.1-13
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    • 2011
  • The purpose of this research is to investigate ways to introduce mentoring system to support beginning and experienced teachers for their professional development. As an alternative to existing teacher training programs, we planned and implemented a mentoring system to examine its effects in developing professionalism among teachers-in-need, and those who have not met the teacher's evaluation standards. Mentoring is defined as being concerned with promoting the 'development of an individual to his/her full potential,' both professionally and personally. It is linked with professional and career development, and is somewhat characterized by an 'expert-novice' relationship. The mentoring system in science features group mentoring, where 3 prot$\'{e}$g$\'{e}$-mentor teams gathered together for instructional consulting using their videotaped classroom teaching. Through video-based discussions, teachers could share reflective experiences through collaborative investigations based on evidences revealed in classroom teaching videos. Using open-ended interviews with the teachers and video-based discussions, we extracted needs and goals of mentoring, the need of mentoring system to support beginning teachers, and the requirement of mentor quality in light of mentor's expected roles. Conclusions and recommendations related to teachers' mentoring and for the government's development of mentoring system are discussed.

Student Understanding of Scale: From Additive to Multiplicative Reasoning in the Constriction of Scale Representation by Ordering Objects in a Number Line (척도개념의 이해: 수학적 구조 조사로 과학교과에 나오는 물질의 크기를 표현하는 학생들의 이해도 분석)

  • Park, Eun-Jung
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.335-347
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    • 2014
  • Size/scale is a central idea in the science curriculum, providing explanations for various phenomena. However, few studies have been conducted to explore student understanding of this concept and to suggest instructional approaches in scientific contexts. In contrast, there have been more studies in mathematics, regarding the use of number lines to relate the nature of numbers to operation and representation of magnitude. In order to better understand variations in student conceptions of size/scale in scientific contexts and explain learning difficulties including alternative conceptions, this study suggests an approach that links mathematics with the analysis of student conceptions of size/scale, i.e. the analysis of mathematical structure and reasoning for a number line. In addition, data ranging from high school to college students facilitate the interpretation of conceptual complexity in terms of mathematical development of a number line. In this sense, findings from this study better explain the following by mathematical reasoning: (1) varied student conceptions, (2) key aspects of each conception, and (3) potential cognitive dimensions interpreting the size/scale concepts. Results of this study help us to understand the troublesomeness of learning size/scale and provide a direction for developing curriculum and instruction for better understanding.

The Effect of Peer Discussion about Classroom Practices on Science Teachers' Teaching (수업에 대한 동료교사의 협의가 과학교사의 수업에 미치는 영향)

  • Seong, Suk-Kyoung
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.107-123
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    • 2010
  • This study investigated the content and the effect of peer discussion about classroom practices on their science teaching. Participants included three science teachers with chemistry backgrounds in middle and high schools. Each of them had their classes videotaped and observed the footage as well as discussed the lessons together. The teachers had six meetings on 15 recorded lessons including one meeting beforehand. Teachers' discussions were also audio-taped and the data was transcribed. Teachers extensively discussed their lessons not only in terms of instructional strategies and scientific concepts but also the curriculum organization and teaching goals. Analysis of video-recorded lessons showed that instructional strategies were changed partially, but the aspects of curriculum organization in relation to teaching goals were not changed. Analysis of the recorded data revealed that teachers recognized the problems in their science teaching and considered the practical alternative ideas suggested by peers, but teachers proposed the necessity of experience to practice in their class. The study shows that observing and discussing each other's classes is one possible way to improve the class. Implications about teaching improvement for other teachers were discussed.

An Analysis of Undergraduate Students' Perceptions and Practical Capabilities on Citizen Participation in Social Issues of Science and Technology (과학기술의 사회적 쟁점에서 시민 참여에 대한 대학생들의 인식과 실천 역량에 대한 분석)

  • Lee, Young Hee;Yoon, Jihyun
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.637-650
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    • 2017
  • It is necessary for undergraduate students whose citizenship reaches a maturity stage to recognize the importance of citizen participation in social issues related to science and technology and to be able to make meaningful use of citizens' rights and responsibilities. Therefore, in order to understand the actual status of undergraduate students' perceptions and practice capacity for citizen participation in science and technology, university students were selected from the department of arts physical studies (33 cases), humanities social studies (62 cases), and science engineering studies (67 cases) at D university in Gyeonggi province. Then, we investigated the scientific technology and society's interaction oriented by citizen participation, responsible decision-making ability, and the effectiveness of the social issue by scientific technology. Analyses of the results reveal that the overall perception level of the students about the interaction between scientific technology and society was high according to department of the arts physical studies, humanities social studies, science engineering studies, in that order, but the scores were not all in average. Therefore, it was found that the current undergraduate students lacked a deep understanding of the interaction between scientific technology and society regardless of the major field. In addition, the students' perception on citizen participation in the interaction between scientific technology and society was found to be problematic regardless of the major field. In responsible decision-making ability, undergraduate students were found to have difficulties in selecting the best alternative in terms of individual beliefs and welfare of others and formulating the action strategies. In addition, the self-confidence of the students about knowledge, skill, and capacity for action related science and technology in the effectiveness of the social issue by scientific technology was very low regardless of major field. We discussed educational implications of these findings.