• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.81-99
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to develop scientist vignettes and to explore their effects to change students' perceptions of scientists, scientific attitudes, and the nature of science. The scientist vignettes developed in this study include research cases on seven scientists, including British zoologist Jane Goodall. Each vignette consists of 4 to 6 pages in consideration of the reading level of elementary school students, and contains illustrations describing the main contents of the text. In addition, scientist vignettes contain descriptions on terms and text boxes explaining the higher concepts, and each vignette contains questions that students can think deeply based on the story of the scientist. To verify the educational effectiveness of scientist vignettes, we investigated changes in their perceptions of scientists, scientific attitudes, and the nature of science in 564 elementary school students. We conducted group interviews with four elementary school teachers. As a result of conducting pre-test and post-test using a narrative questionnaire consisting of 6 questions, students became more sophisticated in the understanding of the science and the characteristics of scientists after experiencing scientist vignettes and their understanding the nature of science changed into a more modern epistemological perspective. Also, in a group interview with teachers, teachers assessed that scientist vignettes would positively affect the understanding of science process skills and the nature of science, and forming a scientific attitude, especially in increasing understanding of the nature of science. We discussed ways to effectively utilize scientist vignettes in elementary school science education based on these result.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.197-219
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• 2008

Unlike ordinary situations, deifinitions play a very important role in mathematics education in schools. Mathematical concepts have been mainly acquired by given definitions. However, according to didactical intentions, mathematics education in schools has employed mathematical concepts and definitions with less strict forms than those in pure mathematics. This research mainly discusses definitions used in geometry (promising) course in primary schools to cope with possibilities of creating misconception due to this didactical transformation. After analyzing problems with potential misconceptions, a survey was conducted $\underline{with}$ 80 primary school teachers in Jeju to investigate their recognitions in meaning of mathematical concepts in geometry and attitudes toward teaching. Most of the respondents answered they taught their students while they knew well about mathematical definitions in geometry but the respondents sometimes confused mathematical concepts of polygons and circles. Also, they were aware of problems in current mathematics textbooks which have explained figures in small topics (classes). Here, several suggestions are proposed as follows from analyzing teachers' recognitions and researches in mathematical viewpoints of definitions (promising) in geometric figures which have been adopted by current mathematics textbooks in primary schools from the seventh educational curriculum. First, when primary school students in their detailed operational stage studying figures, they tend to experience $\underline{a}$ collision between concept images acquired from activities to find out promising and concept images formed through promising. Therefore, a teaching method is required to lessen possibility of misconceptions. That is, there should be a communication method between defining conceptual definitions and Images. Second, we need to consider how geometric figures and their elements in primary school textbooks are connected with fundamental terminologies laying the foundation for geometrical definitions and more logical approaches should be adopted. Third, the consistency with studying geometric figures should be considered. Fourth, sorting activities about problems in coined words related to figures and way and time of their introductions should be emphasized. In primary schools mathematics curriculum, geometry has played a crucial role in increasing mathematical ways of thoughts. Hence, being introduced by parts from viewpoints of relational understanding should be emphasized more in textbooks and teachers should teach students after restructuring this. Mathematics teachers should help their students not only learn conceptual definitions of geometric figures in their courses well but also advance to rigid mathematical definitions. Therefore, that's why mathematics teachers should know meanings of concepts clearly and accurately.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.40
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• pp.155-185
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to compare death the Korean Buddhist understanding of death with that of Daesoon Jinrihoe. Various concepts, including reincarnation (輪廻), myeongbu (冥府, 'the postmortem offices' or 'afterworld') and the Ten Kings (十王) of the afterworld are used to explain views on death in both religions. However, these concepts differ not only in their content and categorization, but also in terms of the meaning they occupy within the doctrines of each religion. In other words, although many similarities can be found between Buddhism and Daesoon Jinrihoe's concept of reincarnation, at the same time, differences between them can also be pointed out. The differences include the period of time between one's death and reincarnation and also the importance of reliance upon other people or divine powers during the reincarnation process. With regard to ideas involving myŏngbu, there are far more differences than similarities. Both Buddhism and Daesoon Jinrihoe shares a similar notion of an afterlife judgment presided over by the Ten Kings. However, many differences can be found when it comes to Daesoon Jinrihoe other view of myŏngbu, known as 'myeongbu gongsa (the Reordering Works of Myeongbu).' These works are considered to be of great doctrinal importance in Daesoon Jinrihoe. Therefore, the concepts of reincarnation and myeongbu that appear in both traditions should not be considered identical and need to be redefined accordingly in comparative contexts. In other words, the concepts of reincarnation, myeongbu, and the Ten Kings as they appear in the Daesoon Thought should first be differentiated from their counterparts found in Buddhism and then be redefined in the context of the new and independent system of thought in which they exist. These concepts should then be applied to broader theoretical discourse on religion.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.567-578
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• 2022

In this study, we examine whether the description of the elementary science curriculum guide, the concept of evolution, and the beliefs of teachers affect the teaching practice in classes related to adaptation of elementary school teachers. First, we examined the alternative concept among the sentences described in the bio-adaptation-related unit of the 2009 Elementary Science Curriculum Teacher's Guide and identified the effects of this description on the teaching practice of elementary school teachers. Next, six elementary school teachers were classified according to the results of the evolutionary concept test paper and the evolutionary belief test paper, and based on the class recording data and interview data, whether there is a difference in teaching execution. As a result, it was confirmed that there were a total of 18 descriptions corresponding to the concept of evolutionary alternatives in the analysis of instruction descriptions, and that these descriptions influenced elementary school teachers' adaptation concepts and teaching practice. Next, the group with high and low levels of evolution differ in the areas of "recognition of importance in the unit, distinction between adaptation concepts in the general sense and adaptation concepts in the biological sense, errors in the class," and "recognition of evolutionary education needs in the elementary curriculum." This study is meaningful in that it qualitatively confirms the research on the evolution concept of elementary school teachers, which has been approached quantitatively, and in-depth, confirms how the description, evolution concepts, and evolutionary beliefs affect elementary school teachers' biological adaptation concepts.

• School Mathematics
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.259-273
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• 2003

A fraction is one of the most important concepts that students have to learn in elementary school. But it is a challenge for students to understand fraction concept because of its conceptual complexity. The focus of fraction learning is understanding the concept. Then the problem is how we can facilitate the conceptual understanding and estimate it. In this study, Moore's concept understanding scheme(concept definition, concept image, concept usage) was adopted as an theoretical framework to investigate students' fraction understanding. The questions of this study were a) what concept image do students have\ulcorner b) How well do students solve fraction problems\ulcorner c) How do students use fraction concept to generate fraction word problem\ulcorner By analyzing the data gathered from three elementary school, several conclusion was drawn. 1) The students' concept image of fraction is restricted to part-whole sub-construct. So is students' fraction understanding. 2) Students can solve part-whole fraction problems well but others less. This also imply that students' fraction understanding is partial. 3) Half of the subject(N=98) cannot pose problems that involve fraction and fraction operation. And some succeeded applied the concept mistakenly. To understand fraction, various fraction subconstructs have to be integrated as whole one. To facilitate this integration, fraction program should focus on unit, partitioning and quantity. This may be achieved by following activities: * Building on informal knowledge of fraction * Focusing on meaning other than symbol * Various partitioning activities * Facing various representation * Emphasizing quantitative aspects of fraction * Understanding the meanings of fraction operation Through these activities, teacher must help students construct various faction concept image and apply it to meaningful situation. Especially, to help students to construct various concept image and to use fraction meaningfully to pose problems, much time should be spent to problem posing using fraction.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.614-624
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of utilizing a concept map as an instructional strategy to promote student achievement through semantical learning in elementary school on volcanoes. To analyze student achievement in understanding the concept of volcano, quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed through a written test for two different groups that were composed of 80 sixth-grade students: a control group that attended class using the conventional strategy and an experimental group that attended class using concept maps. The results of this study were as follows: First, the use of concept maps in class is effective in learning because of the higher understanding of the group that was using concept maps in the achievement assessment. Second, in their post-instructional understandings, no significant differences are shown between middle- and low-ranking students statistically, but a significant difference is shown between high- and low-ranking students or between high- and middle-ranking students. This indicates that the use of concepts maps in a class is more effective for the middle- and low-ranking students than for the high-ranking students. Third, in the repetitions of classes, the students learning with an aid of concept maps became accustomed to structuring the concepts of their learning subject in categories of relationships, hierarchies, cross-links, and examples easily.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.637-654
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the development of scientific conceptual understanding through a process-centered assessment that visualizes the process of scientific argumentation. In this study, 353 high school students and five teachers participated in the scientific argumentation. As a result of analyzing students' utterances on the elements of argumentation, scientific concepts in intragroup were embodied through query and clarification of meaning, and organized through agreement and rebuttal. In intergroup argumentation, scientific concepts were elaborated through query, clarification of meaning, and change of claim. Teachers were able to understand the process of argumentation through small-group activity sheets where the process was visualized, thereby providing feedback and improving the class. Based on the results, the scientific argumentation of visualizing the process was found not only to allow students to perform self-assessment and peer-assessment but also to help teachers understand the argumentation process. The findings of this study guide process-centered assessment in the science curriculum and are expected to contribute to the promotion of scientific argumentation in classrooms.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.505-516
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• 2003

The concept of evolution is one of the most important concepts in the learning biology. However lots of students have difficulties in understanding its mechanism because their preexisted alternative concepts interrupt in gaining the correct idea of evolution. Students usually have the Larmarkian or teleological ideas of evolution. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of an activity-centered instruction on the learner's conceptual change from misconception into the scientific concept, Darwinian one, and achievement. For the study, 162 students were sampled from a high school: 81 students for the activity-centered instruction and 81 students for traditional instruction. The result is as follows; 1) The activity-centered instruction is more effective than the traditional one in understanding the concept of Darwinian natural selection(p<.05) and in changing the students' various misconceptions of evolution into Darwinian one. 2) The activity-centered instruction concerning natural selection is more effective in their achievement(p<.01). 3) However, after both of the instructions, some students still kept the Lamarkian thoughts.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.480-497
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• 2021

This study intends to explore the content and organization characteristics of elementary school science textbooks in the astronomical domain from the perspective of understanding the astronomical spatial concept. This study analyzed the relevant unit of the achievement criteria in the 2015 revised science curriculum for the 'space' domain in elementary school science textbooks in comparison with that in secondary school textbooks according to the spatial concept analysis criteria by texts, illustrations, and inquiry activities. As a result, elementary school science textbooks were found to be organized around phenomena rather than concepts, targeting observable celestial bodies linked to real life in order to optimize the amount of learning content. However, the learning contents of astronomical observation related to observation and phenomena-centered real life should stimulate the curiosity and imagination of elementary school students and encourage their intellectual participation. Students need to be supported for understanding of the spatial concept to find an answer to the question of 'why'. The content organization for core concepts should be organized around the transferable spatial concept rather than simply focusing on presenting results by accurately describing the phenomena observed by students through scientific practice in order for students to answer various questions that arise in the course of scientific practice.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.126-133
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• 2011

This study explored different concepts by handing out the questionnaires asking the 6 students of the second year of junior high school who had no lesson on cycle "which words related to cycle are suggested?" In regard to the stimulation of the word 'cycle', students relate it to different fields that they learn at school such as biology, environmentology, and earth science. The analyzed results from the answers by students are as follows. First, it resulted in from analysis on the questionnaire and the half-structured interviews that students were unable to expand the concept of cycle to the scientific concept, and perceived it fragmentarily. Secondly, their understanding on the system of the earth was low and they understood the concept of cycle with a unilinear thought rather than a systematic thought. Therefore, we need to synthesize the students' unilinear thoughts on cycle shown through this study and an effective educational strategy for their continuous, systematic thoughts, is essential.