• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.194-204
• /
• 2004

The purpose of this literature review is to investigate what kinds of research have been done about scientific inquiry in terms of scientific argumentation in the classroom context from the upper elementary to the high school levels. First, science educators argued that there had not been differentiation between authentic scientific inquiry by scientists and school scientific inquiry by students in the classroom. This uncertainty of goals or definition of scientific inquiry has led to the problem or limitation of implementing scientific inquiry in the classroom. It was also pointed out that students' learning science as inquiry has been done without opportunities of argumentation to understand how scientific knowledge is constructed. Second, what is scientific argumentation, then? Researchers stated that scientific inquiry in the classroom cannot be guaranteed only through hands-on experimentation. Students can understand how scientific knowledge is constructed through their reasoning skills using opportunities of argumentation based on their procedural skills using opportunities of experimentation. Third, many researchers emphasized the social practices of small or whole group work for enhancing students' scientific reasoning skills through argumentations. Different role of leadership in groups and existence of teachers' roles are found to have potential in enhancing students' scientific reasoning skills to understand science as inquiry. Fourth, what is scientific reasoning? Scientific reasoning is defined as an ability to differentiate evidence or data from theory and coordinate them to construct their scientific knowledge based on their collection of data (Kuhn, 1989, 1992; Dunbar & Klahr, 1988, 1989; Reif & Larkin, 1991). Those researchers found that students skills in scientific reasoning are different from scientists. Fifth, for the purpose of enhancing students' scientific reasoning skills to understand how scientific knowledge is constructed, other researchers suggested that teachers' roles in scaffolding could help students develop those skills. Based on this literature review, it is important to find what kinds of generalizable teaching strategies teachers use for students scientific reasoning skills through scientific argumentation and investigate teachers' knowledge of scientific argumentation in the context of scientific inquiry. The relationship between teachers' knowledge and their teaching strategies and between teachers teaching strategies and students scientific reasoning skills can be found out if there is any.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.117-127
• /
• 1999

The present study investigated Korean and the US college students' scientific reasoning skills involving hypothesis-testing skills and tested the hypothesis that hypothesis-testing skills are more advanced ones than other scientific reasoning skills investigated in this study. Seven hundred and seventy-four(774) Korean and five hundred and sixty-eight(568) the US students were sampled in university level. The Test of Scientific Reasoning was used as a scientific reasoning test. The test is consisted of two conservational reasoning, two proportional reasoning, one pendulum, two probability reasoning, two controlling variable, one correlational reasoning, and two hypothesis-testing reasoning tasks. Korean students showed a significant higher score in proportional and probability reasoning tasks than the US students. However, the Korean showed a significant lower score in conservation and correlation reasoning tasks than their American counterparts. Further, Korean and the US college students showed a notably poor performance in hypothesis-testing skills comparing with other scientific reasoning skills, which supported the hypothesis that hypothesis-testing skills are more advanced ones than other scientific reasoning skills. In addition, the Korean showed a severe deficiency in candle-burning task which required the skill that students have to design a scientific test-procedure to test theoretical hypotheses. This study also discussed on the educational implications of the results of the present study.

• Research in Mathematical Education
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.201-213
• /
• 2008

The main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the 'logical reasoning skill' and performance in the logic unit that is part of the grade 9 syllabus in mathematics in Turkey. After the teaching of the logic unit, an achievement test, a general skills test and the test of logical reasoning were administered to the 80, 9th year high school students. Pearson Moments Correlation coefficient was used for the analysis of the data to determine the relations between the variables. In addition to that to obtain the most suitable regression explaining the students' performances in the logic unit, stepwise multiple regressions analysis was used. At the end of the study, statistically significant relations were found between the students' performance in the logic unit and their logical reasoning skills, their results of the shape recognition test from the general skills battery and their overall performance in the mathematics lesson.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.139-156
• /
• 1995

The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of Gifted Education Isnstitute of Korea (GEIK) programs for gifted children especially in the areas of reasoning skills and creativity, thereby proving the effectiveness of the program. The subjects are 136 (103 boys and 33 girls) fourth, fifth, and sixth grade gifted children, who have participated in GEIK programs for more than six moths. They were stratified by the length of participation in GEIK programs. Ninety four children have participated for more than one year. Forty-two children have participated for less than one year. Both groups are rather homogeneous in IQ scores and school achievement levels at the time of enterance into GEIK programs. Both a Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GAIT) and a Creativity test were used for the study on reasoning skills and creativity. GALT, developed by V. Roadranka, R. H. Yeany and M. J. Padilla in 1983, consists of 12 questions. It is classified into six subscales: conservation, proportional reasoning, controlling variables, provability reasoning, correlational reasoning, and combinatorial reasoning. The reliability of this test is .85. This test recommends to classify the stages of child development as follows according to the total test score. 0-4 point: Concrete Stage, 5-7 points: Transitional Stage, and 8 and above points: Formal stage. The Creativity Test was developed by Y. Lee and W. Chung (1971). It consists of four components: fluency, flexibility, originality, and openness. Only both fluency and openness were used in this study. In order to analyze data, T-Test, Intercorrelational Analyses, ANOVA, and Nultiple Regression were used. Followings are the results deduced from the above analoyses of the data. First, 43.48% of the subjects were on Concrete Stage, 36.78% were on the Transitional Stage, and 19.86% were on the Formal Stage in the developmental level classified by Piaget. Second, the students who have participated in GEIK programs more than one year acquired significantly higher score in GALT than the students who have participated in GEIK programs less than one year. Third, boys showed higher score in GALT than girls did. Fourth, there were statistically significant intercorrelations between six subscales of GALT. Fifth, the students who have participated in GEIK programs more than one year acquired significantly higher score in openness of creativity test than the students who have participated in GEIK programs less than one year. There were no significant differences in openness of creativity test between boys and girls. Sixth, the students who have participated in GEIK programs more than one year acquired significantly higher score in fluency of creativity test than the students who have participated in GEIK programs less than one year. Girls showed higher score in fluency of creativity test than boys did. Seventh, the students who acquired higher score in GALT showed higher score in both openness and fluency of creativity test. Followings are the conclusions deduced form the above results. First, the developmental level of reasoning skills of the fourth grade students participationg in GEIK programs is the same as that of 7th grade of normal Korean students and the same as those of 10th grade of U.S.A. and Philipoine students. Second, the GEIK programs are effective in improving reasoning skills. Third, the GEIK programs are effective in improving creativity. Fouth, reasoning skills and creativity can be improved by well planned programs. In conclusion, this study suggests that beyond reasoning skills and creativity, other areas such as areas in science skills, mathmatical skills, or verbal skills, etc., should be studied in the future.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.23-30
• /
• 1991

The purpose of this study is to investigate the interrelationships on integrated science process skills and Piagetian cognitive modes for high school students according to the different cognitive reasoning levels. About 509 high school students were randomly selected for the samples of this study. They were identified as concrete, transitional and formal operational stage with the scores of GALT(Group Assessment of Logical Thinking) developed by Roadrangka, Yeaney and Padilla(1982), and TIPS II(Test of Integrated Process Skills) developed by Burns, Wise and Okey(1983). The result of this study were showed that about 11.8% of the samples were in the concrete operational stage and about 24.4% of the samples were in the transitional stage, while about 63.8% of them were in the formal operational stage. It was also found that the achivement scores of the science process skills increase in accordance with the cognitive reasoning levels. The value of the correlation coefficient between science process skills and cognitive reasoning abilities was 0.49, which was significant at the 0.05 level. This finding seems to support previous research that the student's cognitive reasoning abilities appeared to have influenced student's scores of the science process skills No differences to the logical reasoning ability between male and female students according to each cognitive level were found except formal operational stage.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.25 no.spc5
• /
• pp.567-581
• /
• 2007

This study examined patterns of reasoning of both the scientifically-gifted and children of average ability as witnessed in their science problem solving skills. Science problem solving skills are one of the significant characteristics of scientifically gifted children, and by using methods such as individual interviews, inductive reasoning, abductive reasoning, and deductive reasoning, the characteristics of these children can be to be further explored and categorized. The study also compared the findings with those of average children. This study sought to determine efficient guidelines fur teaching the scientifically-gifted, to come up with basic materials for developing relevant programs, and to find suggestions for identifying such students. The results of the study are as follows: Firstly, the creative science problem solving skills of the scientifically-gifted were better than that of the average students. Secondly, all of the three reasoning patterns used revealed in creative science solving processes were different between the gifted and the average, especially in terms of abductive reasoning, which was proved to reveal the greatest distinction between the two groups.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.211-226
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate science teachers' understandings about scientific argumentation in the classroom. Seven structured interview protocols were developed, asking the definition of scientific inquiry, the differentiation between scientific inquiry and hands-on activity, the opportunity of student argumentation, explicit teaching strategies for scientific argumentation, the critical example of argumentation, the criteria of successful argumentation, and the barrier of developing argumentation. The results indicate that there are differences and similarities in understandings about scientific argumentation between two groups of middle school teachers and upper elementary. Basically, teachers at middle school define scientific inquiry as the opportunity of practicing reasoning skills through argumentation, while teachers at upper elementary define it as the more opportunities of practicing procedural skills through experiments rather than of developing argumentation. Teachers in both groups have implemented a teaching strategy called "Claim-Evidence Approach," for the purpose of providing students with more opportunities to develop arguments. Students' misconception, limited scientific knowledge and perception about inquiry as a cycle without the opportunity of using reasoning skills were considered as barriers for implementing authentic scientific inquiry in the classroom.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.309-318
• /
• 2003

Scientific reasoning is one of the main concerns in current science education. This study have tried to answer on the question whether Korean science education has the potential to help improve of students' ability to think scientifically. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between reasoning patterns evident in science textbook and science examination items, and students' scientific reasoning skills across grades in Korea. 1975 subjects (1022 females and 953 males) were administered in the Lawson's Test of Scientific Reasoning skills. Forty seven science textbooks and 240 assessment instrument were analyzed by several scientific reasoning keys. Scientific reasoning patterns were adopted from Lawson's classification which characterized the patterns as the empirical-inductive and the hypothetical-deductive. This study found that reasoning patterns evident in textbook analyses and assessment instrumental items do not evidentce the potential to stimulate the development of students' reasoning skill. In order to improve the students' abilities to think and achieve, higher levels of reasoning must be included in the science textbook and examination. Further, some of scientific reasoning processes, such as generating hypotheses, designing experiments, and logical prediction, were not found in science textbooks and test items in Korean secondary schools. This study also discussed the educational implication of these results and further studies about to develop student's reasoning ability.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.304-313
• /
• 2009

Proportional reasoning is one of the most widely used concepts in everyday life. It could be the most important basic concept in science and mathematics. In research where the subjects were animals, it has been found that learning effect rapidly decreased with any stimulation given after a optimalperiod. Therefore, it is necessary to research about optimal periods in order to instruct about proportional reasoning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the optimal periods in proportional reasoning. The three programs for proportional reasoning instruction were developed by researchers. The titles of the programs were 'Block', 'Balance scale' and 'Water glass'. The subjects were 131 3$^{rd}$ to 6$^{th}$ grade students who were not expected to have any proportional reasoning skills yet. In order to find out the optimal periods in proportional reasoning, the programs were applied to these students. After 4-5 weeks of treatment, the researchers investigated whether their proportional reasoning skills were formed or not through the instrument. The results indicated that it would be most effective to teach proportional reasoning to 6$^{th}$ grade students. Teaching of proportional reasoning is essential not only for mathematics but also for science. The findings could be used to investigate the optimal periods of controlling variables, probability, combinational and correlational logic.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.58 no.6
• /
• pp.667-680
• /
• 2014

The purpose of this study was to develop teaching stratege focused on Conservational reasoning, Proportional reasoning, Variable-controlling reasoning, Probabilitic reasoning, Correlational reasoning, Combinational reasoning and investigate its effects on enhancing students' logical thinking skills through the science teaching on common education. And the teaching materials was implemented to 110 students in middle school over about six months. The results indicated that the experimental group presented statistically meaningful improvement in logical thinking skills (p<05). Especially, this teaching stratege was effective on Conservational reasoning, Variable-controlling reasoning, Combinational reasoning but was not effective on Proportional reasoning, Probabilitic reasoning, Correlational reasoning (p<.05). Logical thinking according to the teaching strategy skill was not affected by gender, cognitive level, academic achievement (p<.05).