• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.57-68
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• 2014

This study investigated the characteristics of science imaginary pictures drawn by elementary school students and their perceptions of science imaginary drawing. To do this, $5^{th}$ graders (N=107) were selected from 1 elementary school in Gangwon province and were administered the questionnaires. Some of them were also interviewed deeply. The analyses of the results indicated that most students drew science imaginary pictures in 'land' or 'universe' of 'future' than non-science imaginary pictures. In the academic field, 'machine' was most frequently included in their pictures, and 'earth science' or 'building and traffic' was also frequently included. In addition, half of the pictures included two or more fields. Many students perceived positively the educational benefits of science imaginary drawing upon cognitive, affective, and aesthetic aspects. However, they also had several difficulties in the processes of scientific imaginary drawing such as 'difficulties in using artistic skills', 'difficulties in selecting the subject', 'difficulties in imagining', and 'difficulties in expressing my thoughts to pictures'. Educational implications of these findings are discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.175-186
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• 2014

This study investigated the influences of pair activity on characteristics of science imaginary pictures drawn by elementary school students and their perceptions of science imaginary drawing. To do this, fourth graders (N=123) from one of the elementary schools were selected and assigned to individual science imaginary drawing (n=61) and paired science imaginary drawing (n=62) groups. The students of each group were administered the questionnaires. The analyses of the results indicated that pair science imaginary drawing was useful in some cognitive aspects (e.g., the understanding of science imaginary drawing, the diversification of topics and times, the generation of scientific ideas, and the elaboration of the pictures) and motivational aspects (e.g., the inducement of interest and intimacy about science, interest about science imaginary drawing, and sociability with friends). However, there were some limitations in positively changing the perceptions of some cognitive aspects (e.g., the acquirement of new scientific knowledge, the remembrance of scientific knowledge, the improvement of the ability to construct scientific logics, and the improvement of scientific imagination) and aesthetic aspects (e.g., the improvement of the abilities to express themes in drawing, paint the picture, and complete the works of art). In addition, the difficulties in imagining, selecting the subject, and expressing could not be overcome; a few disadvantages in the lack of discussion skills were also pointed out.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.49-69
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• 2013

While we interact with other people or objects, the brain continuously updates our own body schema to recognize the agent of observed actions. The Extrastriate Body Area (EBA) provides an initial interface for the sense of agency by integrating visual inputs of body parts with internal signals related to self-generated body movements. Less is known, however, about how the functional use of tools contributes to such processes. Here, we investigated whether tool-specific affordance would differentially affect the neural responses in the EBA depending on the agency of imaginary actions. In each trial we presented a picture of an object in a rectangular frame. Objects were either the tools typically brought towards the body (body tools; e.g., telescope, earphones) or away from the body (world tools; e.g., pen, dice; Rueschemeyer, Pfeiffer, & Bekkering, 2010). Depending on the color of the frame, participants imagined either themselves or the other person using the tool (self vs. other conditions). These four types of trials were randomly intermixed with blank trials. As results, independently localized right EBA regions of interest showed greater activation when participants imagined themselves using body tools than using world tools whereas no such differential activations were found when they imagined the other person using the tools. The postscan test revealed no significant difference in vividness of imagery between the self and other conditions. Our results suggest that the EBA incorporates functional affordance of tools into the body schema in order to enhance the sense of agency and to guide our own actions.