• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.87-103
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• 2024

The content system table of the subject-matter curriculum is considered important in the Korean national curriculum, textbook writing, and teaching and learning in the classroom. However, studies that comprehensively organize the issues concerning the format of the subject-matter curriculum content system have been scarce. This study scrutinized the evolution of the content system from its inception in The 6th Curriculum to the most recent 2022 Revised National Curriculum, focusing on science curricular. The following issues and suggestions were derived for the format of the subject content system. First, caution should be exercised in using terms such as "domain," "field," and "category," and it should be clarified whether these terms are intended simply for logical differentiation or to serve as a content organizer with a specific emphasis. Second, the nature of components such as "core ideas," which can serve as innovative content organizers, should be strictly defined. Third, while the introduction of three-dimensional content elements such as "knowledge and understanding," "process and skill," and "value and attitude" is viewed positively, it is suggested that a further delineation be made, elaborating how each can be utilized to form core competencies. Fourth, the construction of the subject-specific content system in national curriculum needs caution because whether it will resolve or exacerbate the 'disparity between general curriculum and subject-matter curriculums' is uncertain. Finally, as an apparent pendulum motion of the subject-matter content system is observed in national curriculum documents, efforts should be made to ensure that it does not result in meaningless repetition, but instead achieves meaningful dialectical progress.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.215-223
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• 2017

This study aims to find an effective way to present essential science concepts in national science curriculum through international comparisons. Next Generation Science Standard (US), Ontario Science Curriculum (Canada), Australia Science Curriculum, and British/English Science Curriculum were selected for comparison. In science curriculum documents, these countries used terms such as 'Key ideas,' 'Big ideas,' 'Key concepts,' 'Disciplinary core ideas.' and 'Fundamental concepts' to present essential concepts of science. This study reviewed the characteristics of the meaning, the status, and the role of essential concepts country by country. The result shows essential concepts have been used with different meanings and statutes in each case. Furthermore, various roles were performed through essential concepts in order to organize their science curriculum. From these foreign nation's cases, this study proposes several ways to present essential science concepts based on results. First, interdisciplinary integrated concepts were needed to organize an integrated science curriculum. In science curriculum documents of the United States, Canada, Australia and England, two types of terms were used in order to structuralize an integrated science curriculum. Second, essential concepts should include concepts related with function and value as well as scientific knowledge. Third, essential concepts need to be presented in such a way as to show specific contexts. Therefore, selecting appropriate contents and structure are needed to be able to improve the way to present essential concepts in Korea's educational environment.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.1673-1682
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• 2016

The paper is the principle of a curriculum, a recent method of teaching-learning in pedagogy, and intended for the exploration of the meaning of which reconstructs curriculum by narrative through practical exploration and narrative being discussed as the form of exploration. To date, Korean education showed an inclination of the traditional paradigm centered thinking and has emphasized the results by the method of scientific investigation. Even a curriculum reconstruction demonstrates documents that produce results without actually demonstrating the actual school setting. With communication one another is becoming increasingly important, we need the conversion of cognitive thinking that can express dilemma, contradictions, and complexities of the human world of which unexplainable by traditional paradigm mindset. Ultimately, the exploration of the direction that reflects a series of verbal, symbolic, and spiritual activities, which analyze lives of students, understanding and composing the meaning by using narrative, which talks about the experience of the human world in curriculums, is an important task for us.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.209-228
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• 2011

Many studies such as Pepin (1999a; 1999b), Kaiser (2002), and Park & Leung (2006) revealed that there is a strong dependence of mathematics teaching on cultural traditions in different countries. This study was set up as a detailed comparison between the intended curricula in Berlin and Hong Kong to explore how cultural tradition influenced the intended curriculum. In this study, the intended curriculum is what the (local, state or national) curriculum developers stipulate in the official documents. The German educational system is influenced by the curriculum tradition called Didaktik. Didaktik is a tradition about teaching and learning. Since 16th century, Didaktik has been the most important tool for planning, enacting, and thinking about teaching in most of northern and central Europe (Westbury, 1998). On the other hand, the education system in Hong Kong is influenced by both the Anglo-Saxon curriculum tradition and the Confucian heritage culture (CHC). It was found in this study that, although many studies revealed that there is a strong dependence on cultural traditions of mathematics teaching in different countries, other factors such as social factors or the education system also played an important part in shaping the intended mathematics curriculum. So a simplistic view of dependence of the curriculum on cultural traditions is not warranted. The formation of the curriculum is a much more complicated process encompassing various factors including needs of society, advancement of technology, and government policies at different levels.

• School Mathematics
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.403-425
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• 2005

The study aims to get real picture of primary mathematics education based on RME in the Netherlands focusing on number and operations strand by reflecting and analyzing the documents in relation to the primary school mathematics curriculum. In order to attain these purposes, the present paper describes the core goals for mathematics education, Dutch Pluspunt textbook series for the primary school, and a learning-teaching trajectory by TAL project which are determinants of the Dutch primary school mathematics curriculum. Under these reflections on the documents, it is analyzed what is the characteristics of number and operations strand in the Nether-lands as follows: counting numbers, contextualization, positioning, structuring, progressive algoritmization based on levels, estimation and insightful use of a calculator. Finally, discussing Points for improving our primary mathematics curriculum and textbook series development are described.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.44 no.4 s.111
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• pp.497-508
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• 2005

The investigation of the curriculum in other countries provides meaningful implications to reflect our own curriculum. Since Korea is now under the curriculum revision, international comparative research was conducted with the curricula of Singapore and India to elicit some implications. These two countries were especially chosen because their curricula have not been actively investigated yet. Singapore mathematics curriculum starts the tracking based on students' mathematical ability from the 4th grade, and provides different curricula for the three tracks. This differentiated curriculum provides rich implications to next Korean curriculum which aims to classify the contents based on students' mathematical achievements. Indians, who have contributed significantly in the history of mathematics, have unique mathematics curriculum, remote from so called 'canonical curriculum'. After the U.S. announced the Curriculum and Evaluation Standard for School Mathematics in 1989 and the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics in 2000, many countries benchmarked these NCTM documents, and Korea was no exception. Since each country has their own school system, educational environment, and national mentality, it is not desirable to just adopt the curriculum of other countries. In this regard, Indians who have preserved their own mathematics curriculum can be a model. In sum, when we revise the curriculum, it is required to keep the balance between the open-mindedness to accept the strengths of other curricula, and the conservative attitude to preserve our own characteristics of the curriculum.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.29-46
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• 2013

The concepts of core competencies and achievement standards were newly introduced within national curriculum documents since the 2009 Revised National Curriculum. The purpose of this introduction was to develop a curriculum that reflects unique characteristics of each subject and for the effectiveness of student evaluation. The purpose of this study was to suggest a direction for the future national curriculum and achievement standards development through comparing the national curriculum and standards between South Korea and the U.S. In particular, this study focused on two aspects: 1) the hierarchical relationships and the structural system of achievement standards in the curricula of two countries, and 2) the details of differences in two countries' achievement standards of a specific content area, 'family'. The results are as follows: the Korean national curriculum includes core competencies was included in the objective statement, and standards were provided as a lower-level system, while the U.S. national standards was composed of hierarchical system of comprehensive standards(higher-level), contents standards(middle-level), and competencies(lower-level). This may be attributable to the difference in the definition of competencies. The analysis results of detailed contents of the curriculum was related to the terminologies used in curriculum documents of the two countries. For example, work and family balance was frequently mentioned in Korean document, while the U.S. national curriculum just displayed multiple roles of individuals rather than using the term explicitly. Also, terms such as happiness and welfare were frequently mentioned in Korean curriculum, while 'well-being' was more frequently used in the U.S. curriculum. These differences in usage of terms reflects the differences in cultural values and perspectives of the two countries.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.571-587
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• 1998

This paper reviews and analyzes the conceptions of science achievement in the United States and Korean reform documents, including those on science content standards(NSES, Porject 2061, and Korean 7th science curriculum), performance standards(New Standards, and Survey of Ecucational Achievement in Korean Elementary and Secondary Schools), and large-scale assessment framworks(1996 NAEP, TIMSS, The National Assessment of Science Inqury Abilities, The National Assessment of Science Knowledge, and The National Assessment of Affective Characteristics related to Science). The analysis of these documents indicates that there is an overall agreement on the conceptions of science achievement. The documents consistently emphasize high achievement in terms of knowledge and abilities in scientific, technological, social, and environmental perspectives. In addition, these documents define science achievement at different developmental levels and at certain depths of knowledge and abilities for all students. Despite the overall agreement, there are also noticeable variations among the documents because of different contexts and purposes. There is a difference in the balance of representations or emphases among content and process standards in the documents. The conceptions of science achievement in the Korean documents are not as comprehensive or inclusive as those in the United States documents. There is no representation of the mathematical world, the nature of science, historical perspectives, unifying concepts, or scientific communication. From these results, two conclusions are drawn. First, more coherent conceptions of science achievement are needed for common understanding among educators and the public. Second, efforts are needed for developing more comprehensive and inclusive conceptions of science achievement in Korea.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.107-120
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• 2008

Building a competency of pre-service school teachers is one of the critical factors to decide right direction of k-12 computer & information education. In this context, we can realize of the importance of computer & information curriculum for pre-service school teachers. The purpose of this study is to explore the case of the CEL(Computer Educator License) program in Indiana University and to find the developmental direction of technology education for pre-service school teachers. To achieve the purpose of study, the methods and procedures involved the following steps: The literature reviews of technology education were performed. The analysis framework based on case study method was designed for collecting data. Data were composed of related documents, web resources, and interview resources. And collected data were analyzed. The finding and recommendation of this study were the importance of following factors: (a) technology integration in the curriculum for pre-service school teachers, (b) differentiated management with skill-based technology education, (c) leadership for using and diffusing technology in the school, and (d) connected curriculum with the national standard indicator.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.141-157
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• 2020

This study analyzed the content of national-level curriculum documents for the purpose of reviewing the overall status of population education in elementary and secondary schools in South Korea. Based on the results of the analysis, directions for the future of population education at school were proposed. Both the 2007-Revised Curriculum and the 2009-Revised Curriculum contain the contents of population education as a 'Cross-curricular learning topic' in the general curriculum influenced by the low birth rate and ageing society, yet not in the current 2015-Revised Curriculum. Furthermore, when the curriculum documents for the ten common subjects corresponding to the 'National Common Basic Curriculum' proposed by the 7th Curriculum were examined, only 'Home Economics' curriculum at the secondary school level and 'Social Studies' curriculum at the elementary and the secondary school levels adequately reflected the subject goals, characteristics, contents and achievement standards that correspond to those of population education. Based on the results of the curriculum analysis, the following five directions for population education at school are drawn. First, the purpose of population education at school should be stated using gender-neutral terms of 'response to low-birth and aging society' and it has to be emphasized that it is not to intervene in natural childbirth. Second, the subject which deals directly with the goals, content elements, and achievement standards of population education should be designated as the leading subject for population education. Third, with its inter-disciplinary nature, population education should be able to provide quality contents for convergence education. Fourth, the government should provide policy support to the leading subjects for population education so that more high schools may select the subjects as elective courses. Fifth, teacher education should be improved to enhance teachers' perceptions on population. This study asserts that 'Home economics,' which deals with human daily lives, is an optimal subject that can reflect population education in connection with real life. To this end, policy support should be provided for 'Home economics' so that it may fulfill the mission as a leading subject of population education.