• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2009

This study examined the extent to which young children's scientific inquiry capabilities and curiosity are affected by their mothers' awareness about science education and their mutual interaction. Instruments were Levels of Mothers' Awareness about Science Education and Interaction with Children (Jeon, 2006), Children's Scientific Thinking Capabilities (Lee, 2000), and Children's Curiosity (Lee, 2001). Differences between high-and low-ranked groups were analyzed by t-tests. Results showed that children whose mothers displayed high levels of awareness about science education and mutual interaction showed better scientific inquiry capabilities and curiosity than children whose mothers did not display such high levels. By confirming the significant role of mothers in their children's science education these results can be an aid to parent education.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.337-348
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to examine epistemic thinking in middle school students in an argument-based inquiry science class. Participants of the study were 93 9th grade students from four classes of a middle school in a metropolitan city. Observations were made over one semester during which argument-based inquiry lessons on five subjects were conducted. Data was collected from argument-based inquiry activity worksheets and student questionnaires. After analysis of epistemic thinking in the written reflections, students were found to have the highest frequency of epistemic metacognitive skills, followed by epistemic cognition, epistemic metacognitive experience, and epistemic metacognitive knowledge. While investigating the effects of an argument-based inquiry science class on student epistemic thinking and after analysis of the reflections written for the first ABI activity and the fifth ABI activity, we found that all of the sub-elements of epistemic thinking have increased. The rate of growth for epistemic cognition is greatest, followed by epistemic metacognitive knowledge and epistemic metacognitive skills. Assessed for epistemic thinking, the level of epistemic thinking improved over the course of the argument-based inquiry science class. The results of the survey show that students actively participating and being recognized for their active participation in the argument-based inquiry science class are helpful in understanding scientific knowledge. Therefore, an argument-based inquiry science class is a teaching and learning program that allows students to understand and experience the epistemic nature of scientific knowledge and its construction through collaboration and agreement.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.505-514
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• 2010

This study aims to explore group inquiry using science writing heuristic in elementary school science. We observed and examined what elementary students experienced in their science classes and moreover how they used their data to support their claims in the view point of scientific epistemology. The research question of this study is 'what is the result of coherence measurement for figuring out the relationship between argument and ground in group inquiry activity?'. To solve the study question, one fifth-grade class at an elementary school was selected. Four lessons in group inquiry using a worksheet of science writing heuristic were videotaped and transcribed. It was found that the hours of group inquiry when students can discuss meaningfully occupied approximately 37 to 45%. When measuring coherence in each lesson by developing a scale from one to five to estimate the coherence of the work sheet designed, the total average was 3.424. It implicated that students had their claims supported by some of their evidences. Although the figure was not enough to assist that they found strong bonds between their claims and data, they started to move forward to epistemological approach in their science lab works.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.288-296
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• 2015

This study aimed to analysis of concepts and inquiry activities related to the 'Earth Science' area in the South Korean elementary school textbooks to the current and to seek the improvement of future textbook. For the study, we were collected South Korean elementary school textbooks to the current. After the collection had been made, we were analyzed related to the 'Earth' area in the South Korean elementary school textbooks and were extracted central concepts and inquiry activities. The result of this study: First, there were 'A change in the land', 'Strata and Fossil', 'Volcanoes and Earthquakes', 'Earth and Moon', 'The weather', 'The Solar system and the Star', and 'Seasonal Change' in the central concepts related to the 'Earth' area in the South Korean elementary school textbooks to the current. Second, central concepts were almost the same but the curriculum was changed. Third, inquiry activities also were confirmed to be maintained with little change. This result was believed that it can provide a variety of suggestions at this point in changing the curriculum.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.486-501
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• 2012

The aims of this study are to investigate two main problems for the hypothetico-deduction method and to develop a scientific inquiry model to resolve these problems. The structure of this scientific inquiry model consists of accounts of the context of discovery and justification that the hypothetico-deduction holds as two main problems : 1) the heuristic flaw in the hypothetico-deduction method is that there is no limit to creating hypotheses to explain natural phenomena; 2) Logically, this brings into question affirming the consequent and modus tollens. The features of the model are as follows: first, the generation of hypotheses using an analogical abduction and the selection of hypotheses using consilience and simplicity; second, the expansion phase as resolution for the fallacy of affirming the consequent and the recycle phase as resolution for modus tollens involving auxiliary hypotheses. Finally, we examine the establishment process of Copernicus's Heliocentric Hypothesis and the main role of the history of science for the historical invalidity of this scientific inquiry model based on three examples of If/and/then type of explanation testing suggested by Lawson (International journal of science and Mathematics Education, 2005a, 3(1): 1-5) We claim that this hypotheticho-deduction process involving abduction approach produced favorable in scientific literacy rising for science teacher as well as students.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.323-336
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to evaluate students' written arguments embedded in scientific inquiry investigations using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach. Argument components defined in this study are questions, claims, questions-claims relationship, evidence, claims-evidence relationship, multiple modal representations, and reflection. A set of criteria for evaluating each argument component was developed to evaluate writing samples of students from college freshman general chemistry laboratory classes. Results indicate that students produced, on average, moderate to powerful questions, claims, and evidence. They also constructed reasonable questions-claims relationship and claims-evidence relationship. Compared to other component scores, the average score for reflection was relatively low. Overall, the average Total Argument score was 21.4 out of a possible 36, that is, the quality of the written arguments using the SWH approach during a series of inquiry-based chemistry laboratory investigations was moderate to powerful. The findings of this study suggest that students, on average, developed reasonable scientific arguments generated as part of scientific inquiry. In other words, students are capable of putting together reasonable arguments as they participate in inquiry-based laboratory classrooms.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.147-158
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to explore changes of elementary science class in student oriented group inquiry activities using a Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) template that enhance scaffolding of inquiry. The changes focused on students' written reports and perceptions of their learning environment as well as discourse patterns. One fourth-grade class of 29 students participated in this study, and a developed work sheet of science writing was utilized to scaffold student's inquiry activities. Four units in the first-semester text book for fourth grade of the-, 2007 Educational Curriculum Revision were chosen for scaffolding inquiry, and sixteen lessons of instruction were all videotaped. For investigating students' written reports, a framework based on the aspects of science inquiry by Millar (2010) was used to evaluate the coherence between student inquiry activities and their claims. Secondly, a regular fourth-grade class was selected as the control group and was compared with the experiment group using the pre- and post-test of the survey on the perception of science class and science. Lastly, students' discourse patterns of the beginning science lesson were compared with those of the closing lesson. We found that the coherence in the last class increased significantly in students' written reports compared to the first one. Findings also indicated that students' perceptions on their learning environment moved toward student-centered. Based on our discourse patterns analysis, the last class was more student-centered from being teacher-centered than the first one.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.244-256
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to develop and apply an scientific inquiry program related to school science for elementary gifted students. And development of a program had been used a geological museum. A science inquiry program had developed after verifying a content validity to 3 science education experts about program's design and content selection, and then program applied to 20 elementary gifted students during 4 weeks, 14 hours. The results of this study showed that gifted students interested in an inquiry program using a geological museum, and they were in full activity. Especially gifted students replied that they lodged in their memory that inquired into activities on listening a docent's explanation about exhibits. Gifted classroom teacher also replied that gifted students saw a high level of participation and expectation. And they replied that this program supplied a chance that gifted students can understand a meaning of inquiry.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.222-238
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to explore a learning progression for integrated process skills in Earth science inquiry. For the purpose, a hypothetical learning progression (HLP) that capture how students' integrated process skills of science become sophisticated over time is developed through the literature review. This learning progression contains four components of the integrated process skills of science: designing inquiry, collecting data, analyzing data, and forming conclusion. Three hypothetico-deductive inquiry tasks of Earth science that start from recognition of the given problem to the forming conclusion are developed in order to document students' integrated process skills. A total of 126 students from middle, high, college level students participated in this study. After conducting the Earth science inquiry tasks, the integrated process skills of individual students are assessed by element based on HLP. In addition, the validation process for HLP was administered by applying the Rasch model using the students' assessment data. Finally, based on the analyzed data, the empirical learning progression (ELP) is developed by revising and supplementing the HLP. This study can help to find scaffolding methods to effectively improve the students' integrated process skills in Earth science inquiry class by identifying the factors that affect students' development of integrated process skills. It also provide implications for improving teachers' PCK of Earth science inquiry instruction.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.336-344
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to analyse achievement of 'Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science' in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat (TIMSS-R), which was performed in 1999 with 38 nations participating. Korean 8th grade students' achievement of 'Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science' was compared to that of other countries and other content areas in science. Average percent correct of items in each subcategory - Scientific Method, Experimental Design, Scientific Measurements, Describing and Interpreting Data - was also analysed. Although 'Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science' topics were not included in intended curriculum in Korea, Korean students' average scale score of 'Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science' was significantly higher than international average and, in comparison with other science content areas, achievement of that area was relatively high. The reasons could be that the most students studied topics related to 'Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science' through the implemented curriculum and that the Korean teachers recognized the importance of inquiry. According to the results to analyze subcategories, the average percent correct of Korea were higher than 50% except the 'Scientific Measurements' subcategory. However, the international average percent correct were lower than 50%. Especially, the average percent correct of Korea was the highest in 'Describing and Interpreting Data' subcategory despite there were many students who were confused at observation, hypothesis and conclusion.