• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.721-738
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• 2018

Nature of Science(NOS) has been a well-organized focus of science education and one of the key elements in defining and cultivating scientific literacy for more than a century. In recent years, a specific description of NOS, which is often known as 'the consensus view of NOS', has become very influential and has gained ready acceptance as an arrangement for both curriculum building and research into understanding of NOS by students and teachers in many countries around the world. This study has two purposes; one is to review some debates and criticism on the consensus view of NOS which consists of a list of sentences to describe nature of refined and general science, which have been heated up for the last few years by many prominent science education researchers, and the other is to consider alternative perspectives on NOS for the purpose of a new direction of NOS education. As a result of an investigation into such views as 'Teaching about NOS', 'Critical NOS', 'Critical Thinking-NOS', 'Whole Science', 'Features of Science' and 'Reconceptualized Family Resemblance Approach to NOS', some implications which focus on the generality and plurality of content knowledge of NOS based on current philosophy of science and sociology of scientific knowledge are suggested for the improvement of teaching and learning NOS.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.353-366
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• 2011

An alternative vision for science inquiry that appears to be important and challenging is model-based inquiry in which students generate, evaluate and revise their explanatory model. Pre-service teachers should be given opportunities to develop and use their mechanistic explanatory models in order to participate in the practice of science and to have a sound understanding of science. With this view, this study described a case of pre-service elementary teachers' scientific modeling in magnetism. The aims of this study were to explore difficulties preservice elementary teachers encountered while they engaged in a model-based inquiry, and to examine how their understandings of the nature of scientific models changed after the model-based inquiry. The data analysis revealed that the pre-service teachers had difficulties in drawing and writing their own thinking because they had little experience of expressing their own science ideas. When asked to predict what would happen, they could not understand what it meant to make a prediction "based on their model". They did not know how to use or consider their model in making a prediction. At the end of the model-based inquiry they reached a final consensus of a best model. However, they were very anxious about whether the model was the "correct" answer. With respect to the nature of scientific models, almost all of the pre-service teachers initially viewed models only as a communication tool among scientists or students and teachers to help understand others' ideas. After the model-based inquiry, however, many of them understood that they could create, test, and revise their "own" models "by themselves". They also realized the key aspects of scientific models that a model can be changed as evidence is accumulated and a model is a knowledge production tool as well as a communication tool. The results indicated that pre-service elementary teachers' understandings of the nature of scientific models and their previous school science experiences could affect their performance on a model-based inquiry, and their experience of scientific modeling could help them enhance their understandings of the nature of scientific models.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.798-812
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate beginning teachers' views of scientific inquiry envisioned in science education reform, which is the main goal of science education at schools. Teachers' views about scientific inquiry influence their students' learning in the classroom, so it is significant to investigate teachers' views about the scientific inquiry. 126 beginning science teachers participated in this study. The survey asking teachers' view of general scientific inquiry, nature of science (NOS) and the relationship of science, technology, and society (STS), was developed and implemented for 30 minutes. Alternative views of scientific inquiry including NOS and STS were emerged through data analysis with open coding system. The reliability and validity of data collection and data analysis were constructed through the discussion with experts in science education. The results of this study were as follows. Participants defined scientific inquiry as opportunities of 'Hands-On' and 'Minds-On' or its combination rather than 'Hearts-On'. However, teachers demonstrated the view of 'Hands-On' for the purpose of scientific inquiry and for teachers' roles in its implementation. The view of 'Hearts-On' about scientific inquiry was not identified. The naive view of NOS were identified more than informative one. More positive attitude about the relationship of STS was released. The implication was made in teacher education, especially structured induction program for beginning teachers.