• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.245-255
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• 2012

The purposes of this research are to analyze preservice elementary teachers' degree of difficulty in classes of seasonal variation and suggest the measures of classes so that preservice elementary teachers can progress classes of seasonal variation effectively. To achieve them, the research was conducted for 90 first graders completing teaching method of elementary science in P university of education from Sep. to Dec. 2012. This research was conducted, based on the results of in-depth interview for 9 preservice elementary teachers who performed classes of seasonal variation, survey on the degree of class difficulty and evaluation of classes on 8 classes theme of Earth sector in elementary science. The results of this research are as follows. The first, preservice elementary teachers had relatively high class difficulty for teaching seasonal variation among the sector of the earth in elementary science. The second, in the evaluation of preservice elementary teachers' classes, the more the subject showed high class difficulty, the more the score of class evaluation was low. The reason is analyzed that high class difficulty reduces teacher's confidence. The third, preservice elementary teachers had insufficient knowledges and concepts which are basically necessary for the classes of seasonal variation. Especially, it was more serious for preservice elementary teachers who didn't learn Earth-science during their high school time. The fourth, it is necessery that concrete and systematical teaching method should be developed so as to improving preservice elementary teachers' teaching method for the classes of seasonal variation.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.166-179
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• 2002

This study investigated preservice teachers' perceived constraints in implementing their ideal pedagogies and the influence of the teacher education program on their pedagogical beliefs changes. Unique features that the university-based coursework and field experiences had on preservice teachers' learning to teach were also explored. This preservice teacher education program employs constructivist aspects of teacher education and generates applications of constructivism to the practice of teaching. Major findings include: preservice teachers' having traditional pedagogy as the default, recovery of prior beliefs, constraints on implementing constructivist pedagogy, and being overly confident in themselves as teachers. With the influence of constructivist epistemology, these preservice teachers' pedagogical beliefs evolved and were refined over time as they incorporated various constructivist ideas. The benefits and influences of the M.Ed. program's theoretical coursework and the field experiences on these teachers' learning-to-teach experiences are addressed with rich data. The implications for teacher educators as well as for the instructional practices of preservice teacher education programs are discussed. Recommendations for future research are also presented.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.342-358
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice teachers' understanding of democratic citizenship. This study utilized the democratic citizenship frame to assess 17 participants' comprehension of this concept. The researcher designed a method course where participants in groups analyzed science activities to identify democratic citizenship components. Through the analysis of two science activities-one on energy and the other on climate change-and the development of science panels addressing various global issues, preservice teachers' understanding of democratic citizenship was enhanced. Preservice teachers showed a good understanding of critical thinking, communication and collaboration, and STS (science, technology, and society); and the most enhanced understanding of empathy, which was the least perceived in pre-survey, component of democratic citizenship. The democratic citizenship frame proved to be a valuable tool for teaching and learning this topic, particularly when applied to socioscientific issues in the classroom. More research-based revisions of the science curriculum are necessary, and more systematic practices with reflections are essential in teacher education.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.392-403
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• 2024

This study investigated the perceptions of elementary school preservice teachers in their 4th year at K-Education University, an elementary school teacher-training institution, on the nature of science (NOS). To examine the differences in elementary school preservice teachers' perceptions of NOS according to their high school career aptitude, we conducted in-depth interviews with two students each in the humanities and social sciences (HS) and natural sciences (NS) based on the subjects that they had taken while attending high school. For this purpose, we used the Views of Nature of Science Form C (VNOS-C) and Views about Scientific Inquiry (VASI) questionnaires, which were reconfigured. The main research results were that the elementary school preservice teachers showed a positivistic perspective on the NOS, validity of scientific knowledge, difference between theory and law, and social and cultural embeddedness of science. However, they had a latest perspective on the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, observation and inference, and the role of imagination and creativity. In particular, there were clear differences in perception between HS and NS teachers in the areas of tentativeness of scientific knowledge and understanding of observation and inference. Based on these research results, educational implications for improving the science education competencies of preservice elementary school teachers were proposed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.675-686
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• 2004

The enhancement of the quality of the teaching practice is a major factor in securing better schooling opportunities for students. In this article, initial teacher preparation of secondary school Earth science teachers, in-service science teacher education, and improving teacher policy are discussed. Data from in-depth interviews with exemplary science teachers were used to explore how to improve the quality of science teacher education in Korea. In terms of preservice teacher education, most exemplary teachers contended that teacher education programs should provide preservice teachers with practical knowledge by translating theory into practice. Their suggestions for how to improve in-service education are also discussed. Regarding directions of improving teacher policy in Korea, the teachers proposed an alternative teacher-promotion structure that incorporates the master-teacher position. Implications for introducing action research courses into teacher (re)education programs are also discussed.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.119-131
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• 2002

Constructivism is defined in a variety of ways (e.g., constructivist research paradigm, sociological constructivism, and philosophical constructivism) and applied in vastly different contexts. Among the various usages and interpretations of constructivism, one is educational constructivism that embodies an epistemological view of knowledge and learning that is an alternative to naive empiricism or classical behaviorism. To represent the full range of stances taken by educational constructivists, three versions of educational constructivism were considered in this study: individual constructivism originating in the work of Piaget, the radical version of constructivism associated with von Glasersfeld, and the social constructivism of Vygotsky. I investigated preservice teachers' meaning construction about constructivist epistemology as they went through their preservice teacher education program using in-depth interviews. This preservice teacher education program employs constructivist aspects of teacher education and generates applications of constructivism to the practice of teaching. Features of preservice teachers' internalized meanings of educational constructivism include: (1)traditional pedagogy as the default, (2) Literal interpretation of constructivism, (3) Individual constructivism as conceptual change learning, (4) Radical constructivism as a strong individualistic philosophy, (5) Social constructivism as being too ideal to be practical. A compilation of the teachers' own statements about how to implement conceptual change learning and their projected role as constructivist teacher is also provided.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.123-135
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• 2021

In this study, we apply a lesson design process using an argumentation structure to preservice earth science teachers and analyzed argumentation levels displayed in the lesson plans written by preservice teachers in the process. As a result of the study, the preservice teachers designed a logically structured lesson by reflecting more argumentation components in the final lesson plan than the first one. In addition, in the case of lesson topics in which all argumentation elements were not explicitly presented in textbooks or curriculum, preservice teachers could not clearly reflect some argumentation components in the lesson plan. The conclusions and implications based on the results are as follows: First, it is necessary to use the argumentation structure as a tool to design logical science lessons, considering that argumentation levels of lesson plans written by preservice science teachers were improved by using argumentation structures in instructional design. Next, it is necessary to cultivate the preservice science teacher's ability to reconstruct the curriculum for science lesson design using the argumentation structure since argumentation levels of lesson plans written by preservice science teachers were limited to the argumentation components presented in the textbook and curriculum. Additionally, it is necessary to develop and apply a preservice teacher education program that uses the argumentation structure in the context of actual teaching activities so that preservice science teachers can not only understand argumentation but also improve their class expertise.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.117-127
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• 2003

This qualitative research investigated how to improve preservice and in-service teacher education programs through in-depth interviews with 10 exemplary science teachers. Data from interviews were used to analyze how the teachers perceived current situations of teacher education and what they suggested as an improvement plan. In terms of preservice teacher education, exemplary teachers argued that teacher education programs should (1) ensure the teacher education program's identity and goals, (2) provide preservice teachers with practical knowledge by translating theory into practice, and (3) secure faculty members who majored in science education. In light of in-service education, the teachers contended that (1) teachers should acknowledge the continuing processes of their own professional development, (2) the content and method of in-service training should incorporate teachers' practical needs in the classroom, and (3) the teaching community should implement a clinical supervision to improve their classroom practices. The central role of teacher (re)education in a successful classroom reform is also discussed.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.210-223
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• 2022

This study explores the criteria of climate change model evaluation by preservice Earth science teachers. The participants in this study were 25 preservice Earth science teachers who attended lectures on modeling-based science learning for 3 weeks in an Earth science education major course. The evaluation criteria of climate change models were categorized inductively using reports written by preservice Earth science teachers and post-interviews. The results showed that preservice Earth science teachers used various epistemic and communicative criteria to evaluate climate change models. Implications for modeling-based climate-change learning were suggested based on these results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.11-23
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to analyze the degree of argumentation structure development and factors of development of preservice teachers through SSI related argumentative writings. The study was conducted with 16 preservice teachers that students taking elementary science education theory class in K university located in Chungbuk. The testees wrote six SSI related argumentative writings (once a week), and we examined the degree of argumentation structure development and the change in the recognition of SSI of the preservice teachers by comparing the writings before and after the experiments. The experimental results showed that argumentation structure of the preservice teachers'writings improved and argument level (argument capability) of them also increased as the number of writing was increased. Factors that affect the argumentation structure improvement are mainly argumentation structure education, a number of writings, feedbacks, and subjects related to SSI. In this aspect, the argumentative writing on SSI has the effect of developing scientific sophistication and enhancing the decision-making power of students, and it has positive impacts in science education.