• 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.32 no.9
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• pp.1427-1442
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• 2012

This study tracked the changes of preservice biology teachers' pedagogical knowledge along with science teaching efficacy throughout sequentially developed science methods course I and II over two consecutive semesters. Two courses, science methods course I and II, aimed these preservice teachers to discuss the notion of science teaching with teaching and learning theories, to learn science instructional models, to design lessons utilizing science instructional models, and to eventually implement microteaching. The preservice teachers were mainly engaged in cooperative instructional planning activities through science methods course I, and engaged in cooperative microteaching activities through the science methods course II. This study revealed that preservice teachers successfully developed pedagogical knowledge and science teaching efficacy after two science methods courses. The science methods course I where cooperative instructional planning activities occurred helped the preservice teachers to improve pedagogical knowledge but not science teaching efficacy. Based on their pedagogical knowledge development, then, these preservice teachers increased science teaching efficacy belief after completion of the science methods course II.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2020

In this study, we investigated elementary and preservice elementary school teachers' actual and preferred types of science assessment focusing on the purpose and the method of assessment. Participants were 75 elementary school teachers and 93 preservice elementary school teachers. The questionnaire adopted from previous relevant studies was administerd in order to examine the types of assessment which the teachers have actually implemented and the preferred types of assessment for hypothetical situations known as the prototypical examples of constructivist assessment. The results revealed that most teachers and preservice teachers tend to possess the summative-oriented purpose of assessment. An affective assessment purpose focused on evaluating students' interest, attitude, and curiosity toward science was newly identified in this study. In analyzing teachers' responses from the viewpoint of the method of science assessment, responses of an informal mode such as observation and portfolio were noticeable. However, most of them were found to correspond to the traditional summative-oriented purpose of assessment. For prototypical constuctivist assessment situations, teachers and preservice teachers were found to prefer the performance and the informal modes than the measurement mode of the assessment methods, whereas their purposes of the assessment were not found to be constructivist.

• 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 Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to analyze students', preservice teachers and inservice teachers' images of scientists. For the purpose of this study, we selected 711 people. The results generally was showed the students, preservice teachers and inservice teachers have the stereotyped image of scientists. When we group the subject of investigation as elementary-school students, middle-school students, high-school students, preservice teachers, inservice elementary-school teachers, and looked into whether there were meaningful differences among them by the method of ANOVA, we could see the meaningful differences (p<0.05). And also elementary-school students showed the meaningful difference from other groups when examined on the $Scheff{\acute{e}}$ test.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.1452-1469
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• 2012

This study examined the science learning environments experienced by Korean and U.S. preservice elementary science teachers during their 3-week clinical experience. Observational experiences of 97 Korean and 112 U.S preservice teachers were surveyed with an instrument that we developed for the study. Follow-up interviews provided a clearer picture of what preservice teachers observed and experienced in science classrooms during their clinical experiences. Korean preservice teachers experienced a variety of science teaching environments, whereas the U.S. preservice teachers reported limited opportunities to observe science teaching and learning in terms of 6 identified facets that we posed. Along with our interpretation of the contrast in findings, some of the challenges are discussed in providing preservice teachers with opportunities to observe, experience, and teach in effective science learning environments during the clinical experience.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.23-39
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• 2013

Science teachers' perception on their preparation program can help in conceptualizing how science teachers could be prepared. Based on this premise, this study aims to investigate preservice and inservice science teachers' perception on their teacher preparation programs with a focus on the coherence and balance of program. For this purpose, 20 preservice and 39 inservice science teachers were participated. Selection form and open-ended form questionnaires were developed to survey science teachers' perception on their program. The results of study are as follows: Firstly, participating preservice and inservice science teachers perceived the coherence of their program as moderate. The most and least coherent category of program was 'planning & preparation' and 'professional responsibilities' respectively. Inservice teachers perceived the program less coherent than preservice teachers in all four categories. Secondly, participating preservice and inservice science teachers perceived that practical elements were deficient compare to theoretical elements in light of balance of the program. Lastly, participating preservice and inservice science teachers perceived that current science teacher preparation program was biased to test-driven curriculum, and four domains of the program (subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and teaching practicum) need to be more strongly connected to secondary school context. Alternative ways to be more coherent and balanced science teacher preparation program were also discussed based on the research.

• 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 Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.378-388
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• 2010

This study aimed at categorizing preservice teachers' reflections and understanding their characteristics in reflective journal writing after microteaching. Thirty-two preservice elementary teachers joined in this study. As results, three patterns were categorized: Reflection with practice, Reflection to be practice, Reflection with suspension of judgment. 'Reflection with practice' changed the topology of science class in active. 'Reflection to be practice' had clear focus in reflection and suggested orientations to succeed in the next teaching. 'Reflection with suspension of judgment' made something fall into abeyance, because it couldn't provide an orientation for teaching. After discussing these results, implications toward preservice teacher education were explored.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.40-53
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• 2019

This study was to analyze the inquiry characteristics of preservice teachers as they classify trilobites. For the study, 70 preservice teachers attending teacher training university participated. The classification tasks used in the study were 9 photos of trilobite fossils. The preservice teachers' inquiry activity was to classify the evolutionary processes of trilobites after observing trilobite fossils by group and then to construct a phylogenetic tree. The results of the study are as follows. First, preservice teachers observed the external features of the trilobites and constructed systematic classification results based on their observed contents. Second, preservice teachers classified trilobites using various classification criteria. Third, the phylogenetic tree of preservice teachers and the phylogenetic tree of scientists were very similar. The preservice teachers constructed a sphylogenetic tree based on the observation and inference of the change from a simple form to a complex form, which is a general evolution process of the trilobite fossil claimed by scientists. These results suggest that group-based inquiry activities with sufficient time are very effective and that the experience of inquiry activities is very important for preservice teachers.