• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.215-226
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• 2022

This study analyzed the trends and causes of the decline in Korean students' positive experiences about science (PES). To do this, 4th to 10th grade students were sampled by grade at general elementary, middle, and high schools in Seoul, and then a questionnaire was administered to ask the students about their PES and the causes for their decline. The results of one-way ANOVA for Test for Indicators of Positive Experiences about Science (TIPES) revealed that there were no statistically significant differences according to grade and school level in the overall mean of TIPES scores. However, the results were slightly different for each sub-component. That is, in 'science academic emotion,' the mean of elementary school students was statistically significantly higher than that of middle school students. In addition, the mean of 4th graders was significantly higher than the mean of middle school 1st graders, middle school 3rd graders, and high school 1st graders, respectively. The mean of high school students was statistically significantly higher than that of middle school students in 'science-related career aspiration.' In the 'science-related self-concept', 'science learning motivation,' and 'science-related attitude,' the differences in scores according to grade and school level were not statistically significant. The main causes of the decline in each sub-components of PES were somewhat different depending on the school level. Based on these results, the ways to improve students' PES were sought according to grade and school level.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.779-786
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• 2014

Elementary children, hoping for jobs in science/engineering(Sci/Eng) or medicine(Med), were surveyed on the reasons for jobs, science/math preferences, interests in science, and science aspirations. For 3rd grade boys, twice more students picked Sci/Eng than Med choices. However, for 6th grade boys, the numbers of Sci/Eng and Med became close. The ratios of girls with Sci/Eng in 3rd and 6th grade did not differ much. The 6th graders chosing Med was 1.4 times bigger than 3rd graders for both boys and girls. For students with Sci/Eng, the most important reason for a job was that he/she liked it. For Med, helping others was as much important as doing what he/she liked. Science preference were the highest in the Sci/Eng group. The Med group came next with the non-science group being last. Math preferences were lower than the science preferences. Therefore, children need to be guided to increase the preferences for math as well as for science to keep the Sci/Eng and Med career choices. The interests in science and the science aspirations show similar patterns. The 3rd graders showed higher value than the 6th graders, the boys higher than girls, and the Sci/Eng group highest, the Med the second and non-science group the last. Science aspirations were higher than the interests only for the Sci/Eng group, while it was lower than the interests in all other groups. This implies that science aspirations might have bigger influence on getting a career in Sci/Eng than interest does.