• Journal of Science Education
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.1-16
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this study is to explore the variables of knowledge, acceptance of theory of evolution and epistemology that could be keys for teaching and learning the theory of evolution within school contexts, and to suggest instructional tips for teaching evolution in relation to the grade levels of education. This cross-sectional study examined the grade level differences (8th, 11th, and preservice teachers) of four variables: evolutionary knowledge; acceptance of theory of evolution; and both domain-specific epistemology (nature of science in relation to evolution) and context-specific epistemology (scientific epistemological views) and their relationships. This study, then, built conceptual models of each grade level students' acceptance of theory of evolution among the factors of evolutionary knowledge and epistemology (both domain-specific and context-specific). The results showed that the scores of evolutionary knowledge, evolution in relation to NOS, and scientific epistemology increased as the grade levels of education go up(p<.05) except the scores of acceptance of theory of evolution(p>.05). In addition, the 8th graders' and the 11th graders' acceptance of evolutionary theory was most explained by 'evolution in relation to NOS', while the preservice teachers' acceptance of evolutionary theory was most explained by evolutionary knowledge. Interestingly, 'scientific epistemological views' were only included for the 8th graders, while evolutionary knowledge and 'evolution in relation to NOS' (context-specific epistemology) were included in explaining all the level of students' acceptance of evolutionary theory. This study implicated that when teaching and learning of the theory of evolution in school contexts, knowledge, acceptance of evolutionary theory and epistemology could be considered appropriately for the different grade levels of students.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.259-265
• /
• 2015

This study examined high school students' acceptance of evolutionary theory, evolutionary knowledge, and epistemological belief. The Christian and non-Christian students' acceptance of evolutionary theory and evolution content knowledge were compared in relation to their 'scientific epistemological views' (domain-specific) and 'evolution in relation to nature of science' (context-specific). The Christian students' evolutionary knowledge was most predicted by the theory-laden exploration of science, while the non-Christian students' scores on evolutionary knowledge were most predicted by the scientific epistemological views. In addition, the Christian students' scores on scientific epistemological views and evolution in relation to evolution were not significantly related to each other, while the non-Christian students' scores on both variables were significantly related. Furthermore, 'evolution in relation to nature of science' is the strongest predictor of both Christian and non-Christian students' acceptance of evolution.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.31 no.8
• /
• pp.1186-1198
• /
• 2011

The understanding of real-world application of scientific knowledge such as the evolutionary theory has been emphasized in science curriculum. Despite this, many students and biology educators misunderstand the use and practical application of the evolution theory. The purpose of this study is to explore variables related to the understanding of practical application of evolution. Methodologically, we employed large-scale survey that examined three independent variables (major, academic year, and religion) and five dependent variables (understanding of practical application of evolution, knowledge of, interest in, and acceptance of evolution, and religiosity). Two hundred and thirty three biology pre-service teachers and 405 non-biology pre-service teachers participated in the survey. The results demonstrate that the biology teacher education program does not help in increasing the understanding of the practical application of evolution. Rather, the understanding of practical application of evolution was associated with their religion. In addition, the understanding of the practical application of evolution was associated with the acceptance of and interest in evolution. The results of this study inform the development of new biology teacher education programs to improve their understanding of practical application of the evolution theory. We also suggest further areas of research for other scientific concepts that could be used to gauge teachers' understanding of the practical application of scientific knowledge.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
• /
• v.58 no.4
• /
• pp.655-678
• /
• 2012

Doris Lessing, who considers science and technology as instruments of capitalism, deals with the theme of 'biological evolution' in The Sirian Experiments, the third book in the Canopus in Argos: Archives series. One of her themes that repeats throughout is that of 'spiritual evolution,' and in The Four-Gated City she even used 'biological evolution' as its metaphor. This paper analyzes The Sirian Experiments using scientific knowledge such as the concept of 'biological evolution' from Charles Darwin's evolution theory and Edward O. Wilson's sociobiology. Lessing concludes that while 'biological evolution' not accompanied with 'spiritual evolution' puts humans in existential problems and mental breakdown, the one in equilibrium with the other can bring social and political revolution. Lessing's concept of 'spiritual evolution' is basically a product of her holistic view and her own philosophical view that human evolution is a necessary process following the Universal Order, which shows that she is influenced by Sufism. The basic tenet in Sufi philosophy is to achieve equilibrium between the rational and non-rational modes of consciousness. Lessing incorporates her rational and irrational ideas into The Sirian Experiments to make a field for confluence where the biological, the sociological, and the spiritual thinking converge.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.357-377
• /
• 2002

This study is for better understanding about the process of students' conceptual change. As a starting point, it is assumed that the process of students' conceptual change can be viewed as the process of the successive refinement and articulation of students' conceptual framework. Based on the theoretical review of conceptual change literature, various processes, which can be involved in the above assumed process, can be found. And also, by analyzing the process of development of scientific knowledge about Planck's blackbody radiation law and Bohr's atom, six types of processes of refinement and articulation of scientific knowledge can be found. It is hoped that these theoretical discussions can guide the direction for obtaining and interpreting the students' real responses during the process of conceptual change.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.249-257
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study was to analyze the knowledge and ability levels of middle school students in four areas: conceptual understanding, argument construction, justification schemes, and use of scientific knowledge in a causal explanation for a genetic phenomenon. A group of 162 middle school students who have taken a class titled Genetics and Evolution participated in the study. Each student answered-and justified the answer to-one question pertaining to genetics. Ability levels were rated from level 0 to level 4, with 4 being the top rating. Students were required to choose one of two competing arguments to explain whether green seed pimps and red seed pimps of the same size and shape were the same species or not. Analyzing conceptual understanding: 47% of the respondents provided the correct answer. Analyzing their abilities for constructing an argument: 75% of the students with the correct answer and 42% of the students with the incorrect answer were evaluated to be at ability level 3 or 4 for argument construction. Analyzing the students' justification schemes: "Scientific idea" and "Analogy" were the most frequently used schemes. Analyzing their use of scientific knowledge: of the students who selected the scientific idea justification scheme, 36% used the correct scientific knowledge, but the remainder used inaccurate or nonspecific scientific knowledge. These findings provide implication for encouraging argumentative writing explaining scientific phenomena regarding epistemic practice.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.32 no.10
• /
• pp.1537-1550
• /
• 2012

This study aims to explore the differences between Korean and United States college students regarding their degree of religiosity, interest in, understanding and acceptance of evolution, and the effects of their interaction on these variables. A total of one thousand and fifteen Korean and US biology majors and non-majors college students participated in this study and a sub sample of 516 students were randomly selected for statistical tests. The results illustrated that Korean college students harbored significantly lower degrees of religiosity and interest in evolution but significantly higher degrees of knowledge and acceptance of evolution than US college students. The path analysis uncovered that the knowledge of and interest in evolution played a mediating role between religiosity and acceptance of evolution. Korean college students' interest in evolution was less correlated to other variables than US college students' interest. The acceptance of evolution was less predicted by knowledge of evolution in the Korean biology major sample than in the US biology major sample. The acceptance of evolution was predicted more by religiosity in the Korean non-major sample than in US non-major sample. This study suggests that future Korean science curriculum for evolution needs to enhance the degree of students' interest in evolution. In addition, future Korean science curriculum needs an instructional strategy in developing students' ability to make scientific decisions, such as the acceptance of evolution, without interference from their personal religious belief.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.12
• /
• pp.4753-4758
• /
• 2014

In recent times, a number of studies have provided evidence that biotoxins present great potential as antitumor agents, such as snake venom, bee venom, some bacteria toxins and plant toxins, and thus could be used as chemotherapeutic agents against tumors. The biodiversity of venoms and toxins make them a unique source from which novel anticancer agent may be developed. Biotoxins, also known as natural toxins, include toxic substances produced by plants, animals and microorganisms. Here, we systematically list representative biological toxins that have antitumor properties, involving animal toxins, plant toxins, mycotoxins as well as bacterial toxins. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge involving biotoxins and the active compounds that have anti-cancer activity to induce cytotoxic, antitumor, immunomodulatory, and apoptotic effects in different tumor cells in vivo or in vitro. We also show insights into the molecular and functional evolution of biotoxins.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.309-320
• /
• 2013

Augmented reality (AR) is considered to be an excellent user interface to a 3D information space embedded within physical reality. For this reason, it has been applied to various applications such as design, medical service, interaction, and collaboration. However, there is no formal way of analyzing the research trend and evolution of augmented reality. This paper identifies the research trend and change in augmented reality (AR) via co-citation analysis. The co-citation analysis provides how the AR research has evolved, who are main contributors, and which papers suggest essential and influencing impact. To systematically analyze the cocitation, we have retrieved 1,145 papers from the Web of Science and applied a scientomertric analysis using CiteSpace. Based on the co-citation analysis of authors and documents, it is possible to analyze the evolution of augmented reality, key authors and papers, and breakthroughs. We have also compared the proposed approach with survey papers written by experts so that the result of the co-citation analysis can compromise the qualitative result done by experts, and thus it can provide a different view and insight for visualizing the research on augmented reality.

• Korean Medical Education Review
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.111-118
• /
• 2014

Over the last century, medical education in North America has evolved by identifying educational challenges within its own socio-cultural context and by appropriately responding to these challenges. A discipline-based curriculum, organ-system or integrated curriculum, problem-based curriculum, and competency-based curriculum are historical examples of the educational solutions that have been developed and refined to address specific educational challenges, such as students' lack of basic scientific knowledge, lack of integration between scientific knowledge and clinical practice, and lack of clinical practice. In contrast, Korean medical education has evolved with the influence of two forces: (1) the adoption of educational solutions developed in North America by pioneers who have identified urgent needs for medical education reform in Korea over the last three decades, and (2) the revitalization of Korean medical schools' curricula through medical education accreditation and national medical licensing examination. Despite this progressive evolution in Korean medical education, we contend that it faces two major challenges in order to advance to the next level. First, Korean medical education should identify its own problems in medical education and iteratively develop educational solutions within its own socio-cultural context. Secondly, to raise reflective doctors who have scientific knowledge and professional commitment to deal with different types of medical problems within a continuum from well-defined to ill-defined, medical education should develop innovative ways to provide students with a balanced spectrum of clinical problems, including uncertain, ill-defined problems.