• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.328-339
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate the astronomy-related concepts formed by elementary school pre-service teachers and analyze the distribution of misconceptions. The study was conducted on 43 pre-service teachers enrolled in the second year of an elementary teacher training college located in the central region of Korea. As a result of the study, first, pre-service elementary school teachers' misconceptions about astronomy concepts showed a diverse distribution. In particular, pre-service elementary school teachers still had misconceptions regarding seasonal changes, which were pointed out in many previous studies. Second, pre-service elementary school teachers had formed concepts at the level of simple memorization of astronomy concepts and were having difficulty applying the concepts they knew to various cases. Based on these research results, future astronomy-related education should be directed toward understanding astronomical phenomena through the application and application of various cases rather than simple memorization, and astronomy education in teacher training courses and teacher training should also reflect this content.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.699-706
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of pre-service teachers, which directly affect the concepts and ways of thinking of students who are studying Earth science. This work further seeks to identify pre-service Earth science teachers' Earth science-centered ways of thinking regarding the components and the process of water cycle. The concept sketch method was used to survey 50 pre-service teachers who majored in Earth science education at a National Teachers' University. The survey analyzed the preservice teachers' perceptions of a subordinate concept of Earth systems from the applied components of water cycle, and to code the applied concepts with the components of the water cycle based on a subordinate concept of Earth systems including Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, Geosphere, and Biosphere. The preservice teachers only perceived the components of the water cycle as ones in Hydrosphere and Atmosphere. In Biosphere, many participants lack the knowledge about how the actions of plants and animals, and human beings impact the water cycle. About the process of water cycle, the majority of the participants only perceived evaporation and precipitation as the process of cycling: their understanding about the underground flow of water was more lacking than the surface flow.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.902-912
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of teaching based on analysis of a hierarchy of the concepts associated with astronomical observation as well as each learner's status of knowledge through analytical methods of the knowledge state. A test instrument was developed to measure high school students' concepts associated with astronomical observation before instruction. The learners' psychological hierarchy associated with astronomical observation that the participants possessed showed the order of 'motion of the earth${\rightarrow}$coordinate system${\rightarrow}$astronomical observation (mechanism of the telescope${\rightarrow}$installation of the telescope${\rightarrow}$observation through the telescope)', and so was the hierarchy of teaching (70.6%). The learners' knowledge state that is supposed to be similar each other in the ability of observing celestial bodies was different even through they scored the same on the concept test. There were cases with the knowledge state well-structured and not well-structured, which suggests that differentiated instruction with appropriate teaching-learning prescriptions be prepared. An analysis of the knowledge state can play the role of both preparing individualized learning prescriptions and formative evaluation. In the unit dealing with astronomical observation of Earth ScienceI, teaching according to the psychological hierarchy of learners rather than the order in which the textbook syllabi were presented scored significantly higher (p<0.05) on the level of concept achievements. This result suggests that the teacher can help students achieve more efficient in learning by analyzing the learner's knowledge state and reordering the syllabi of the textbook in teaching the concepts associated with astronomical observation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.165-173
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• 2013

This study was to analyse the understanding of the concepts of science based on the 6th graders' levels of logical thinking in elementary schools. To achieve the goal of this study, logical thinking test was given to 108 6th graders of elementary school and 32 students were interviewed. The result of this study was as follows. First, 61.1% of students were in concrete operational period in their logical thinking, 27.8% were in their transitional period, and 11.1% were in their formal operational period. By using Flow-Map, 32 students were analyzed and their levels of logical thinking was significantly associated with their understanding of concept. Students' flexibility of cognitive structure was significantly associated with logical thinking and the levels of understanding concepts as well. However, misconception didn't show significant association with levels of logical thinking. Second, the characters of understanding of scientific concept by their levels of logical thinking was that as you get higher levels of logical thinking, their cognitive structure to understand concept was more systemized, in order and more logical. The result of this study suggested the followings in science experiment class. First, 6th graders of elementary schools had various levels of logical thinking and that affected to their understanding of scientific concepts. Therefore, lesson planning and class should be done by reflecting their different levels of logical thinking. Second, since they had different levels of logical thinking, various teaching methods should be utilized to make students understand scientific concepts more systematically.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.886-901
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to document the changes in astronomical concepts for preservice and inservice elementary school teachers after being presented with the newly devised Earth Motions Centric Solar System Model. The subjects of the study were 31 preservice and 30 inservice elementary schools teachers in the Jeonbuk Province. First, the author investigated the naive theories of the subjects, and then, compared that data to the data obtained after their exposure to the model. The total number of items on the instrument for this study was 10. These items included questions about the motion of interior planets, the phases and sizes of interior planets, and the motion of exterior planets and comets. After analyzing the answers to the items before the experiment, the author was able to confirm the existence of the naive theories regarding astronomical phenomena. Also, after the experiment, the author was able to observe the conceptual change in thought of the preservice and inservice elementary school teachers. Results showed that learning through the new model had positive effects on the preservice and inservice elementary school teachers' conceptualization of the interior planets' motion, phases and sizes, and the exterior planets' motion.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.647-654
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to investigate the types of concepts about atmospheric pressure of middle school students and to design a new method to improve students' understandings on atmospheric pressure. The second grade students of the middle school has been selected and examined their pre-concepts on atmospheric pressure through questionnaires and interviews. Two groups of students have been taught using the second grade science textbooks and experimental methods designed from this study, respectively. The results suggest that we need to develope various teaching methods that can improve alternative concept as well as experimental tools that can help students understand difficult scientific concepts. The reason is that once alternative concept is occupied, it is extremely difficult to fix it. In addition, the proposed experimental methods are effective in establishing the concept and understanding on atmospheric pressure.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.132-139
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• 2002

One of the prime objectives of school science is to help the children learn science concepts and conceptual schemes that will help them understand and interpret their environment. One of the basic scientific concepts is 'Change -everything existing in universe is changing always'. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of elementary and secondary students' conception of change. The subjects for this study were 489 students in Korea; 111 fourth graders, 95 sixth graders, 140 seventh graders and 143 ninth graders. Four items - mountain, river, ground, sea -were used for investigating students conception of change because representing the nature world in elementary and secondary level. The subjects were asked to check whether each item was changing and to explain each their check. Students' explanations were classified by whether they were sound understanding geologically, or not. The rate of responses that each item was changing was compared by grades and the rate of geological explanations was also compared by grades. Because students' conceptions of change might were effected by time scale, the additional questions that asked students whether the present status of four items were equivalent to the that of several points of time. As a result, the rate of scientific answers and patterns of explanations were similar by grade and the rate of geological understandings was relatively low. The frequencies of concept of change were more dropped as the point of time was closer to present.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 1998

A good example of the persistence of naive theories about change in seasons is well knowned: A filmmaker carried a camera into the crowd of gowned graduates at the 1987 commencement of Harvard University and asked a simple question, that is, "Why is it hotter in summer than in winter?" to twenty five students chosen at random. All of the answers except two were that the Earth is closer to the Sun in summer, so it is hotter in summer, but the Earth is farther from the Sun in winter, so it is cooler in winter. Until now, naive theories about the cause in seasons have been extensively studied. However, few studies to overcome these naive theories were reported. Author takes two steps: first, a new model on the cause in seasons is developed. Second, preservice students concepts' change on the cause in seasons through the new model is observed. The author concludes that the new model have a good effect on the preservice students concepts' change on the cause in seasons.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.236-252
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• 2023

Both Earth science II and Korean geography textbooks emphasize the importance of content related to 'geology of the Korean Peninsula'. This study aimed to analyze the differences in the content related to the 'geology of the Korean Peninsula' presented in the textbooks, and to find out whether these differences are consistent with the latest scientific knowledge in any inconsistencies are found. For this purpose, seven textbooks (four Earth science II and three Korean geography) published under the 2015 revised curriculum were selected as the subject of analysis, and the difference in the description of the tectonic provinces of the Korean Peninsula, geologic time scale, and explanatory texts of geological characteristics between Earth science II and Korean geography textbooks were compared. As a result of the analysis, there are some cases of inconsistencies between Earth science II and Korean geography textbooks in terms of terminologies, names, and distribution ranges related to the tectonic provinces of the Korean Peninsula. The Korean geography textbooks had inconsistencies in the geochronologic data of the rocks as they cited outdated data. In addition, inconsistencies were found in the explanatory texts describing the 'distribution of rocks on the Korean Peninsula', 'characteristics of the Pyeongan Supergroup', and 'great hiatus of the Paleozoic Era'. Both Earth science and Geography have many concepts in common, therefore, effort is needed to minimize the differences in content. It is important to select the content appropriately which should reflect the latest scientific knowledge and presents the concepts consistently.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.259-266
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• 2010

High school students' understanding hierarchy of astronomical concepts and an individual student's knowledge state are analyzed by using the knowledge space theory that allows one to infer an individual's entire knowledge on a subject based on fragmentary information coming from that student's answers. The hierarchy of astronomical space concepts is: spatial position$\ll$spatial reasoning$\ll$spatial variation. In addition, an analysis of assessment materials using the knowledge space theory shows not only the relationship of assessment questions but also the knowledge state of individual students, which the current evaluation method is not able to reveal. Therefore, the assessment analysis of this study using the knowledge space theory becomes critically instrumental in providing information of an instructional differentiation amenable to individual learners for deciding their level of understanding and selecting suitable curriculum.