• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.59-81
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of early childhood science education instruction through the implementation of science teaching methods and science teaching attitudes of preschool teachers. Methods: This study was conducted on 52 female students in the early childhood education department of Early Childhood Science Education at G university in Gyeongbuk province. The data collected in this study were analyzed through reliability analysis, carbon scanners verification, and homogeneity verification; ANCOVA was used to verify the effectiveness of the program. Results: First, the results showed that the post-test belief of science teaching methods of the experimental group were significantly different than that of the control group. Second, the results showed that the post-test scores of science teaching attitudes of the experimental group were significantly higher than that of the control group. Conclusion/Implications: This study suggests that there were positive influences of early childhood science education instruction through the field practice on the belief of science teaching methods and science teaching attitudes of preschool teachers.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1040-1054
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• 2011

This formative evaluation study presents a professional development program, "Earth Science Systems for Teachers (ESST)" held in a Midwest State in the United States. This study investigates how a professional development for urban teachers affects the teacher participants' perceptions of using the urban environment for their science teaching and their lesson unit development. The purpose of the program was to help urban teachers create science units using the urban geologic environment and its connection to urban students' everyday lives. The participant teachers' daily journal entries during the program, their lesson plans before and after the program, as well as their teaching reflections were collected as major data source. The teachers' daily journal entries were analyzed qualitatively and their pre-post lessons were analyzed quantitatively using a lesson plan analysis tool, Culturally Relevant Science Teaching Perspectives (CRSTP) was developed by the author. The lesson analysis tool was used to assess teachers' science lesson plans in the perspective of culturally relevant pedagogy and place-based pedagogy. The major findings include: 1) The teacher participants' field experiences in urban geologic sites and urban environments help the teachers to change their perceptions of using the urban environment as a teaching resource and 2) there were significant differences in their pre and post lesson unit scores based on CRSTP (P<. 01). The implications of this study are also discussed.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.96-108
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate how prospective elementary school teachers perceived teacher's inquiryoriented teaching practice, with an emphasis on students' scientific explanations based on scientific evidence. For this study, 94 prospective elementary school teachers were participated. 14 among 94 participants had chances to intensively experience this particular teaching methods for 15 weeks. All of the 94 participants observed the intended science teaching practice for 4th graders in two different elementary schools, which utilized the science talks emphasizing students' scientific explanation activity. For quantitative data analysis, they were asked to provide their reaction to the science teaching methods after their classroom observation. For qualitative data analysis, 5 among the participants, who had relatively long term experience with this teaching practice, were chosen to interview in order to understand their individual reasons of the ways they perceived about the inquiry-oriented teaching methods boosting students' scientific explanation. The results show that the prospective elementary teachers generally thought the emphasis of students' scientific explanation based on scientific evidence could enhance young elementary students' science content understanding, stimulate their curiosity/interests, and further develop their ability to engage actively in scientific discussions. However, some prospective teachers tended to think that the science teaching. methods would not be effective in terms of managing science classes, though. This study concludes that the prospective teachers tended to hold an endemic dilemma. On the one hand, they had their clear preference to the inquiry-oriented teaching practice as the most ideal teaching methods. On the other hand, they also had their persistent hesitance in using these methods due to their fear that elementary students might not adequately grasp the important science content when engaged in scientific discourse through an inquiry-oriented class.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.86-92
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• 2010

Although constructivist assessment has been emphasized by many science educators, most elementary school teachers are still not familiar with this. In order to investigate the causes of this problem, we examined the perceptions of pre-service elementary school teachers toward constructivist science assessment and the relationships among the perceptions toward constructivist science assessment, the views on science teaching and learning, science teaching efficacy beliefs, and the perceptions toward constructivist science learning environment. Analyses of the results revealed that the perceptions of pre-service elementary school teachers toward constructivist science assessment were higher than those of the elementary school teachers reported previously. The results of a stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that the views on constructivist science teaching and learning and personal science teaching efficacy beliefs were the significant predictors of the perceptions toward constructivist science assessment.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.375-385
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• 2003

In an effort to provide information about the effect of Microcomputer-Based Laboratory (MBL) use in science teaching and learning on student achievement and attitudes, a review of research analyzed studies was done between 1981 and 2001, using a meta-analysis procedure. Thirty-seven published and unpublished studies were reviewed. Use of MBL was shown to be potentially effective in the following condition of class; two students, physics teaching, more than one topic, or at the college level. Appropriate research design strategies, financial support (including hardware and software), and the use of more than one instrument for assessing the effect of the MBL instruction are crucial factors for more informative research studies. While helpful in many respects, the prior research revealed a number of problems related to the use of MBL in school science teaching and learning. The prior research does not support the desired intention described in the theory-based outcomes and reveals so little about how teachers and students use MBL, how it influences their teaching and learning, and how effectively it fits into the existing science curriculum. In order to know if the integration of MBL in the existing school science is worth it or not, more careful research design and comprehensive research should be done.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.37-50
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• 1991

The CAI (Computer-Assisted Instruction) system for science teaching has been increasing both in quantity and in quality during the last two decades. However, science learning by computer has not played a leading role in the science teaching process. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of tutorial CAI programs according to the learner's characteristics such as sex, inquiry skills, attitudes toward science subject, logical thinking skills, achievement motivation, science content achievement in science teaching. One group pretest-posttest design was used as an experimental design. The three tutorial science CAI programs were used for thirty males and females selected in grade eight. According to the analysis of CAI achievement scores the female students showed significantly higher (P<0.05) than the male students. Also, one-way analysis of variance was used to investigate the effects of interaction between sex and achievement motivation. The significant difference on the effects of interaction between sex and achievement motivation has not found. The effects of tutorial CAI between logical thinking skills, attitudes toward science subject, inquiry skills, achievement motivation, science content achievement according to upper and lower levels were investigated by using the statistical analysis of one-way ANOVA. The results indicate that tutorial CAI might provides a good opportunities for the improvement of science achievement to the lower level students of attitudes toward science subject, inquiry skills, science content achievement.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.339-351
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to analyze the processes of observation teaching and the types of observation in elementary life science class. For the purposes of this study, 40 teachers majoring in elementary science education participated in surveys on the processes of observation teaching. In addition, after videotaping the observation classes conducted by three teachers, each teaching in the 3rd to 5th grade, and their one hundred and eight students, we analyzed the processes of observation teaching. As a result, the processes of observation leaching in elementary science class were categorized into 12 stages (motivation, stating the objective, recognizing objects to observe, free and subjective observation, introducing ways to observe, observing by the simple way, introducing additional ways, observing by the manipulative way, making a note of observation, looking over the contents of observation, finding regularities, consolidation). In the types of observation, teachers and students performed mostly simple observing by the visual way. Teachers introduced time-independent/non-compared/whole observing; students concentrated on time-independent/non-compared/particular observing as targets. Thus, students carried out observing in the types of observation that teachers had presented. Consequently, the analysis about the processes of observation teaching can establish an effective teaching program for observing in scientific activities by reconstructing its observing target and suitable topic. The analysis about the types of observation can be applied to set up strategies for improving observation skills.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.173-190
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• 2019

The self-efficacy of pre-service teachers has been reported as a major factor in the instruction of the curriculum. In particular, considering the importance of science learning instruction for underrepresented students from the viewpoint of science education for all, pre-service elementary teachers' self-efficacy about science instruction for underrepresented students will be an important factor of science education for these students. The purpose of this study is to investigate the self-efficacy of pre-service elementary teachers in science instruction for underrepresented students. To this end, the science teaching and learning self-efficacy test tool (Lee & Im, 2010) was revised in accordance with the context of science teaching for underrepresented students into a total of 24 items using 5 Likert scales. Through using the test tool consists of 3 dimensions as Learning Efficacy, Teaching Efficacy and Outcome Expectancy, 81 pre-service elementary teachers were surveyed and the reliability of test tool was verified through factor analysis and assessing construct validity by using the responses. As a result of the analysis, setting 5 as the standard perfect score, the average score of self-efficacy per dimension was shown as 3.29 in Learning Efficacy, 2.89 in Teaching Efficacy, and 3.39 in Outcome Expectancy. We confirmed the tendency and difference of self-efficacy of the research objects according to their background factors in which direct and indirect experience relating to the science education for the underrepresented students. Also, we verified that pre-service elementary teachers' interest in science subject matter, teaching science and their perception of the value of science learning had significant relations with self-efficacy on science teaching for underrepresented students.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.305-317
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• 2004

The learning materials in elementary school science textbooks should include all kinds of materials being used by both teachers and students in the science teaching. The major purpose of this research is to analysis textbooks and teacher's guidebooks prepared for the science teaching of 3-6 grade students. To clarify this research, we listed whole of the learning materials of science teaching for each grade and counted numbers being used for whole of the lessons of science. And according to the characteristics and the methods of its preparation of materials, the types of learning materials can be divided into 10 categories such as teaching equipments for science, test materials, consumables, audio-visual aids, teaching equipments in general, collecting' recycling materials, field studies' collected data, breeding' cultivation materials, manufacture materials, and etc. At the result of this research, the 7th national science curriculum needs total 844 items of learning materials for science education. They could be separated into ten types of categories such as 159 items of teaching equipments for science, 65 items of test materials, 116 items of consumables, 198 items of audio-visual aids, 64 items teaching equipments in general, 31 items of collecting' recycling materials, 38 items of field studies (collecting) materials, 17 items of breeding-cultivation materials, 58 items of manufacturing materials, 105 items of other materials. And we found out that there were 332 items of materials for the 3rd grade, 303 items for the 4th grade, 324 items for the 5th grade, and 254 items for the 6th grade. The result of this research could be useful for classroom activities for science teaching.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for assessing teachers' awareness of science teaching through analogy (ASTA) and to establish its validity and reliability. Based on the literatures on science teaching with analogies, we constructed 23 survey items. Face validity of the items was established using three science education experts. Through exploratory factor analysis with responses of 35 pre- and 26 inservice elementary school teachers, the instruments were constructed on four subcategories: awareness of analogies in science, use of analogy in teaching and learning, self-efficacy in science knowledge, and knowledge of analogy. The data collected from pre- and in-service elementary teachers demonstrated that overall the teachers' awareness of analogy in science was neutral, which indicated they did not have clear standpoints of science teaching through analogy. Further examination demonstrated that there was no significant difference between pre- and in-service teachers and between two genders. Moreover, there was no significant difference among teachers who preferred either didactic or discovery teaching approaches. We conclude that ASTA test would contribute assessment of teachers' awareness of analogy in science teaching while further examination of the instrument will warrant for its broader use.