• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.635-652
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• 2023

This study conducts a comprehensive analysis of the curricular progression of the concepts and learning sequences of 'lines', specifically, 'line segments', 'straight lines', and 'rays', at the elementary school level. By examining mathematics curricula and textbooks, spanning from 2nd to 7th and 2007, 2009, 2015, and up to 2022 revised version, the study investigates the timing and methods of introducing these essential geometric concepts. It also explores the sequential delivery of instruction and the key focal points of pedagogy. Through the analysis of shifts in the timing and definitions, it becomes evident that these concepts of lines have predominantly been integrated as integral components of two-dimensional plane figures. This includes their role in defining the sides of polygons and the angles formed by lines. This perspective underscores the importance of providing ample opportunities for students to explore these basic geometric entities. Furthermore, the definitions of line segments, straight lines, and rays, their interrelations with points, and the relationships established between different types of lines significantly influence the development of these core concepts. Lastly, the study emphasizes the significance of introducing fundamental mathematical concepts, such as the notion of straight lines as the shortest distance in line segments and the concept of lines extending infinitely (infiniteness) in straight lines and rays. These ideas serve as foundational elements of mathematical thinking, emphasizing the necessity for students to grasp concretely these concepts through visualization and experiences in their daily surroundings. This progression aligns with a shift towards the comprehension of Euclidean geometry. This research suggests a comprehensive reassessment of how line concepts are introduced and taught, with a particular focus on connecting real-life exploratory experiences to the foundational principles of geometry, thereby enhancing the quality of mathematics education.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.618-629
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• 2023

Although society has become increasingly diverse, on a few studies analyzed elementary science textbooks in terms of race or disability. Therefore, this study analyzed character illustrations presented in elementary science textbooks in terms of multiculturalism and disability. It identified 14 approved elementary science textbooks for the 2015 revised curriculum, which are used during the first and second semesters in the third grade. First, analysis of the race of character illustrations in elementary science textbooks indicated that 8.2% of them are multicultural, which is higher than the actual proportion of foreigners living in Korea. In addition, most of them were white illustrations, whereas Asian foreign illustrations made up the least, which suggests a different distribution in the Korean context. The study observed significant differences in distribution according to publishers. Second, the gender distribution of multicultural character illustrations differed by 59.0% and 41.0% for men and women, respectively, and the gender variation between publishers was relatively large in which a few publishers accounted for 80% of male multicultural figures. The third pertained to the function of illustrations, that is, the distribution of illustrations of Koreans and multicultural figures was similar in terms of the order of illustrations with explanatory functions followed by exemplary, decorative, and supplementary functions. Finally, from the perspective of diversity in disability, the proportion of illustrations with disability was 2.0%, which was less than the actual proportion in Korea. The study discussed the need to consider the situation and diversity of Korea in terms of race and d isability.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.136-147
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• 2024

It has recently be emphasized in science education that lessons that can develop "scientific participation and action" should be implemented to scientifically recognize various problems and respond to them as well as risks that occur in real life. This study aims to analyze the characteristics of scientific participation and action lessons as perceived by the preservice primary school teachers. To do that, the researchers collected and analyzed the lesson plans designed by the preservice teachers based on the achievement standard related to noise for grades 3-4 in 2022 revised science curriculum. Focusing on the stages of "problem recognition," "data collection and analysis," and "implementation and sharing," the results identity the four main characteristics as problem-solving activity, inquiry activity, investigative activity, and activity that encourages practical actions. The two or three features were found to be combinated in a lesson depending on its context. In some cases, only one feature was seen in a lesson. Based on the results, educational implications were discussed in terms of the teaching and learning methods and teacher education for implementing scientific participation and action.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.527-536
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• 2006

This study investigated the components of science teacher professionalism, the meaning of PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge), examples of science PCK, and complementary measures that should be taken to improve teacher professionalism. Six science teachers recommended by their colleagues explained that the science teacher's professionalism (or professional knowledge) consists of science content knowledge, knowledge about teaching, knowledge about learners, and improvement efforts. Science teachers' definition of PCK, which is the professional knowledge that members of the wider society expect teachers to possess, is the teacher's materialized knowledge that aims at students' understanding and PCK is the accumulated know-how of teachers as they strive to make their teaching comprehensible by students. Science teachers also contended that teachers as professionals need to complement an accountability system, acknowledgement of continuous self-developmental efforts, collegiality, and securing validity in the teacher employment test. The teachers argued that the societal recognition of teaching professionalism is essential for a high quality teaching. Suggestions for how to improve science teaching professionalism are also discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.547-558
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to compare inquiry activities in science textbooks' physics contents for Korean secondary schools with those of Singapore in order to provide a reference for further improvement of inquiry activities in Korean science textbooks. We analyzed inquiry activities using the framework of Millar et al.(1998) and Chinn & Malhotra (2002). The results of this study are as follows: There are differences between Korean and Singaporean inquiry activities in the area of 'learning objectives', 'students' thinking activities' and 'degree of openness'. In the area of 'learning objectives', the Korean textbooks have more activities associated with the learning of science content than those in Singaporean, whereas the Singaporean textbooks have more activities associated with the processes of scientific inquiry than in Korean textbooks. In the area of 'students' thinking activities', the Singaporean textbooks have activities like 'test a prediction', which Korean textbooks lack. The 'degree of openness' is higher in Singaporean textbooks than in Korean textbooks. And some differences in the area of 'authentic scientific inquiry' between Korean and Singaporean textbooks were also found. While the Korean textbooks do not have any activities associated with 'generating research questions', the Singaporean ones feature such activities. In the area of 'designing studies', the Singaporean textbooks have activities corresponding to 'selecting variables' and 'controlling variables', while the Korean ones never have such activities. The results of this study imply that it is necessary to balance inquiry activities in the area of 'learning objectives', 'students' thinking activities' and 'degree of openness', and to present activities close to authentic scientific inquiry in inquiry activities in textbooks.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.901-921
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary teachers' views on the barriers in implementing inquiry-based instruction in science education. For this, semi-structured in-depth interviews were performed with 22 elementary school teachers who have served for more than five years in the Gyeonggi province. The interview questions were developed through triangulation of Seidman's phase to achieve reliability in the interview data, then interview questions were modified and completed through an analytic induction method in pre-interviews. In-depth interviews were performed individually and all the interviews were recorded. The data of teachers' views on the barriers were categorized and analyzed into external and internal factors of teachers. The study found that the external factors referred by teachers included the following; the lack of a unit time, lack of materials and equipments, too many students in a class, problems in science curriculum management, difficulty in the assessment of students' inquiry activities, the students' learning, lack of opportunities for teaching inquiry activities, harmfulness of accidents, and so on. Internal factors included the following; lack of preparation for inquiry activities, lack of self-confidence, lack of patience, and so on. The various barriers presented and their causes were analyzed in detail, and possible efforts in activating inquiry activities in elementary science education were suggested.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.105-117
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to explore changes in elementary teachers' modeling pPCK (personal PCK) resulting from knowledge exchange within the realms of PCK described in the Refined Consensus Model (hereafter RCM). For this purpose, a professional learning community (hereafter PLC) was established for three elementary school teachers to facilitate knowledge exchange specifically focused on science modeling instructions. The study then analyzed the CoRe (content representations) written by the research participants twice to explore any changes in modeling pPCK (personal PCK). In addition, the discourse shared by the participants in the PLC and the data from the in-depth interviews were also analyzed using grounded theory research methods. The results of the study showed that there was no significant change in knowledge of the science curriculum in elementary teachers' modeling pPCK, but there were changes in orientations toward teaching science, knowledge of students' understanding in science, knowledge of instructional strategies and representations, and knowledge of assessment of science learning. Furthermore, the analysis of PLC discourse and in-depth interviews showed that modeling instructions reflection (ePCK; enacted PCK) and educational research-based modeling cPCK (collective PCK) influenced these changes in teachers' modeling pPCK. Accordingly, this study suggests recommendations for pedagogical approaches aimed at improving teachers' modeling PCK.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.297-305
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• 2024

As society changes rapidly, the role and status of general education has produced many changes, and accordingly, it is forming a close relationship with various social and cultural environments around the school. Especially, the direction in which general education should proceed and the development of regional-linked general education models have been actively studied at a time when the relationship between local regions and universities is getting strong. In this study, we have provided significant policy implications related to the development and application of future university-local cooperation models by developing a subject of community service activities based learning (CSAL) to get closer to community service and by analyzing actual educational cases and applying them to real community service organizations. In addition, we closely collaborated with local volunteer organizations operated by this local government system to connect with local community service, and through this, we reviewed actual cooperative classes with a local university and local volunteer organizations for the class curriculum, and developed a model to activate the university-local educational ecosystem.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.527-547
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• 2024

It is difficult for mathematics teachers to develop mathematical modeling tasks and implement mathematical modeling lessons for their students. These difficulties serve as a reason why mathematical modeling lessons are not implemented well in school mathematics. In this study, we aimed to examine how preservice mathematics teachers (PMTs) modify mathematical modeling tasks in mathematics textbooks as a way to develop mathematical modeling tasks and how they implement the mathematical modeling lesson. In particular, we focused on how the openness and reality reflected in the task and the mathematical modeling process change as PMTs modify the tasks. We collected data through PMTs' evaluation reports on analyzing textbook tasks, task modification, lesson plans and implementations, peer evaluation, and self-evaluation. Then, we analyzed these data according to the case analysis process. The findings revealed that when PMTs modified the textbook task, they focused on and improved the openness and the defining variables and the model stages of mathematical modeling process. However, when PMTs implemented lesson, the openness and the defining variables and the model stages of mathematical modeling process were restricted again. PMTs did not focus on other stages. Based on these results, the theoretical and practical implications of the study was discussed.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.58-66
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• 2024

Robotics is a convergence technology with significant ripple effects across various industries, including manufacturing and services. Its importance has been increasingly underscored by advancements in artificial intelligence. As a crucial industry for addressing the challenges posed by a declining and aging production workforce and for enhancing manufacturing competitiveness, the training of robotics experts is now critically important. This paper examines the case of the Robot Job Innovation Center in Gumi City and proposes a strategy for training robotics experts and specialists in robot/AI-based signal processing. A core curriculum was carefully selected and implemented in actual educational settings, with key components necessary for developing a comprehensive educational framework detailed. The convergence of AI-based data signal processing and robotics represents a significant technological advancement poised to impact a wide array of industries. By proposing the comprehensive educational framework outlined in this paper, it is anticipated that related organizations will be able to effectively utilize these foundational elements to train experts in the field.