• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.340-352
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• 1999

Constructivist theory and teaching science in the social context are a main stream in science education. This study was purposed to introduce the STS in-service program implementing in Chonnam National University. and to analyze the results of the program in terms of changes of teachers' and students' perceptions and attitudes. The major features of the STS in-service program were as follows: teacher-centered. teaching in the social context. emphasis on constructivist approach. development of STS module and implementations. A total of 20 secondary science teachers participated in the in-service program. and filled out two questionnaires. Science Education Reform Inventory and Constructivist Teachings Survey. Three of the 20 teachers were selected to gain information from their implementations of a STS module into their respective classrooms. The students completed two instruments. Constructivist Learning Environment Survey. and Scientific Attitude Survey. The responses from teachers and students are as follows: 1. The participating teachers were very aware of the necessity of reform in science education. and the degree of the perception of the necessity increased after the STS in-service program. 2. The STS program significantly improved constructivist teaching techniques. 3. The perceptions of the students about constructivist learning environments improved significantly after the STS in-service program. 4. Students' scientific attitudes improved significantly through STS approach. The STS in-service program with the above mentioned features was found to be effective in our current school system. and could be implemented successfully if teachers were willing to learn and participate in the reforms of science education.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.261-271
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• 1997

This study evaluates on students' understanding and misunderstanding of homeostasis, classification of animals and plants, and food production in plants, and analyzes the teacher factor as a possible source of students' misconception. A total number of 863 students and 47 biology teachers at the middle and high school were randomly selected. Students' conceptions and misconceptions were measured with concept evaluation statements (CES) which was translated into Korean by author. The CES was developed and validated by Simson and Marek (1988). Teacher's misconceptions were investigated the way in which teachers marked students' work. The supposed answer given to the teachers to mark was based on misconceptions held by students tested in concept evaluation statements. The results of this study are as follows : 1. 0% of 7th Grade students, 4.5% of 9th Grade students and 5.4% of 11th Grade students understood homeostasis. There was a significant difference at the level of students' understanding of homeostasis according to schools and gender(P<0.05). Many students had a tendency of understanding the conception of the homeostasis by experiences and unscientific use of everyday language rather than a scientific concept. 2. 0.4% of 7th Grade students, 3.1% of 9th Grade students and 2.9% of 11th Grade students understood classification of animals and plants. There was a significant difference at the level of students' understanding of classification of animals and plants according to schools and gender(P<0.05). Students classified animals and plants through personal experiences and observations instead of trying to classify through microscopic analysis of animals and plants cell. 3. 1.2% of 7th Grade students, 10.3% of 9th Grade students and 19.4% of 11th Grade students understood food production in plants. There was a significant difference at the level of students' understanding of food production in plants according to schools and gender(P<0.05). Students had a misconception that food production in plants was done by an absorption of nutrients from soil not by photosynthesis. 4. A large proportion of teachers surveyed in this study appear to have misconceptions about homeostasis (38.1%), classification of animals and plants (34.1%), food production in plants (40.4%). The male teachers had. more misconceptions than female teachers(P<0.05). However, they didn't show any significant differences according to schools and teaching experience(P<0.05). 5. According to the investigation of teachers' perception, 29.8% of the teachers acknowledged that they might be a cause for students' misconceptions. This study shows that 38.3% of teachers did not understand the analyzed biological concepts precisely. By comparing the data of students and teachers, it turned out that teachers participate in the students' misconceptions. And teachers themselves acknowledged that students' misconceptions could be caused by them. Therefore. teachers' right understanding of fundamental biological concepts should precede to students' biology education. New training programs for biology teachers seem to be urgent.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.297-304
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• 2020

This study is to find out experiments of Earth's revolution and which experiment is effective by school level. Researcher investigated and developed eight experiments for students to learn Earth's revolution. Twenty six pre-service teachers did these experiments, discuss about them, chose an effective experiment of Earth's revolution and wrote the reason why. As a result, they thought that an experiment of seasonal constellations is effective for elementary school students, an experiment of seasonal star's spectrum is effective for secondary school students and an experiment of the superior planets' retrograde motion is effective for university students. Pre-service teachers gave reasons such as hands-on experience, connection with textbooks, background knowledge and higher-level thinking.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.341-360
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• 2012

This study is part of a larger project that investigated the patterns of children's use of educational graphic novels (EGNs), a publication format that has been popular among young readers in Korea since 2000. In-depth interviews with elementary school teachers and school librarians uncovered tension and gaps between these adult professionals and children's enjoyment of the format. Interviewees' views on EGNs ranged from limited tolerance to a potential candidate for high-interest / low-vocabulary reading. All teachers and school librarians urged for guidelines and criteria for selecting and evaluating EGNs for children.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.267-276
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to research seasonal constellation experiments and to find out what are effective seasonal constellation experiments according to school salary. we organized seasonal constellation experiments with 24 elementary preparatory teachers and asked them to what effective experiments are for each school class. As a result, constellation learning through direct experience activities through role play is the most effective in elementary school, and in middle and high schools, using the stellarium program to realistically observe and reason about seasonal changes in constellations was selected as an effective experiment. Pre-service teachers recognized that experiments in which direct experience and specific manipulation activities were emphasized in elementary school, and experiments in which observation of realistic natural phenomena and reasoning activities were emphasized were effective in middle and high schools.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.349-357
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to consider the implications of science experiment in class and to seek a direction for its improvement. For this purpose, Science textbooks, teachers' cognitions, and classroom activities have been analyzed to find out how many and what kind of levels of inquiry elements are included in those. In this study, 22 teachers have participated in the questionnaire to investigate their perception about experiment class, and the two instruction cases in two classes of 9th grade have also been analyzed. Results show that most of the textbooks have included questioning, evidence collecting, explanation of phenomena, and connection with existing scientific knowledge. But the elements of communication and justification have been few. Most levels of the inquiry are teacher-led. Although the teachers thought communication and justification are important, their classroom activities does not coalesce with their thoughts. The students mostly spend their time with connecting evidence, they hardly explain the phenomenon based on the proofs as the results of experiment, and the activities of connection with the existing scientific knowledge, and communication and justification.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1002-1016
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate beginner and experienced Korean science teachers' perceptions about the science teacher preparation courses from which they graduated, and to compare them. The study was conducted as a qualitative study using in-depth interviews. For the study, interview questions were developed by the authors based on the questionnaire of 'The IMPPACT project' that was being conducted in America. The interview tool includes questions about their experience of science subject matter content knowledge, science pedagogical content knowledge, and general pedagogical content knowledge in their preparation courses. For the interview, seven beginning science teachers, less than five years of teaching experience, and five experienced science teachers, more than five years of teaching experience, were sampled from secondary schools in Korea. The research results are as follows: First, most of the beginner and experienced science teachers perceived that the teaching methods in the classes of science subject matter were not good model for teaching science in their secondary school, because they were not diverse enough and entailed mostly knowledge transfer just through lecture without teacher-student interaction. Second, most of the beginner science teachers perceived that they were affected positively by the teaching strategies and evaluation methods in the classes for science pedagogical subject matter and they could apply those strategies and methods in their current science teaching. Lastly, most of the beginner and experienced science teachers perceived that general pedagogical subject matter is important and prerequisite for science teaching in their schools, but the courses that they experienced at their university were not appropriate for their current teaching.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.299-318
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• 2016

The purpose of study was to explore science teachers' practical knowledge on teaching the gifted in science; namely, what kinds of instructional methods did they perceive as effective approaches based on their teaching experience with the gifted? Twelve science teachers who had 4-11 years of teaching experiences with the gifted students at the gifted center under the local educational offices participated in the study. The data source included in-depth individual interviews with the teachers. In results, the teachers became more aware of the academic potentials and characteristics of the students and had made efforts to develop their instructional methods more fitting to the characteristics and needs of the gifted. They emphasized four instructional aspects: 1) experience of authentic inquiry process and methods, 2) group activities focusing on leadership, communication and collaboration, and empathetic attitudes, 3) tasks promoting creative and convergent thinking, and 4) career awareness in the field of science, technology, and engineering. It is expected that this study provides more practical implications and insights for novice science teachers in the gifted education.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.196-209
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• 2023

This study recruited 11 teachers with experience in guiding science exhibitions nationwide to investigate the perception and necessity of teachers as educational consumers of science exhibitions, one of the out-of-school science education activities, and conducted an in-depth written survey. An average of more than 3,600 characters answered a total of seven questions in writing, and through qualitative analysis, the growth of students and teachers due to participation in science exhibitions, difficulties in participating in competitions, and teachers' voices for revitalization were recognized. Teachers offered positive opinions in that participation in science exhibitions improves students' knowledge and attitudes related to science and experiences an open inquiry process linked to career advancement in science and engineering. However, the students who participated in the competition failed to record the contents of the inquiry in their school records, and instructors pointed out the obsession with discovering novel topics, the burden of guiding the inquiry process, and the limitations of their expertise in major knowledge. In order to revitalize science exhibitions, 17 city and provincial education offices called for measures to strengthen the capabilities of instructors and students, improve the promotion and screening methods of the National Science Museum, and improve the Ministry of Education's school records.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.535-547
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• 2014

This study analyzed the characteristics of National Science Curricula in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, and Korea with respect to core competencies. In the case of overseas countries, literature review on their curricula was conducted, and four common features were extracted: 'association of cross-curricular competencies with science-specific competencies', 'a combination of science contents and scientific practices', 'an emphasis on communication skills', and 'representation of an achievement level of competency'. In addition, the common core competencies of science education were 'critical thinking', 'creative thinking', 'problem solving', 'inquiry skills', 'communication skills', 'cultural literacy', 'ability to integrate discipline', 'application skills', and 'personal/social competency'. In relation to these features, this study also investigated Korean science teachers' perceptions of core competencies in science education. A survey was conducted on 135 teachers in elementary, middle, and high school in Korea. Teachers were not well aware of what core competencies are, and after introduction, they thought that they wanted to and needed to teach core competencies to their students. Teachers claimed that critical core competencies in science education are 'creative thinking', 'problem solving', and 'inquiry skills'. Teachers thought that core competencies-based science class would help develop students' scientific literacy and communication skills. However, they have difficulties in conducting core competencies-based science class because they are not familiar with how to conduct the class and they expect that it will take a long time to prepare such a class.