• Atmosphere
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.499-509
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• 2017

Possible links among cosmic ray, cloud, and climate have scientific uncertainties. The reputed topics have been highly controversial during several decades. A link between the atmospheric ionization by galactic cosmic rays (GCR), which is modulated by solar activities, and global cloud cover was firstly proposed in 1997. Some researchers suggested that the GCR can stimulate the formation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the atmosphere, and then the higher CCN concentrations may lead to an increase of cloud cover, resulting in a cooling of the Earth's climate, and vise versa. The CLOUD (Cosmic leaving outdoor droplets) experiment was designed to study the effect of GCR on the formation of atmospheric aerosols and clouds under precisely controlled laboratory conditions. A state-of-the-art chamber experiment has greatly advanced our scientific understanding of the aerosol formation in early stage and its nucleation processes if the GCR effect is considered or not. Many studies on the climate-GCR (or space weather) connection including the CLOUD experiment have been carried out during the several decades. Although it may not be easy to clarify the physical connection, the recent scientific approaches such as the laboratory experiments or modeling studies give some implications that the research definitively contributed to reduce the scientific uncertainties of natural and anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing as well as to better understand the formation processes of fine particulate matters as an important parameter of air quality forecast.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.282-295
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• 2011

Prior research has reported that student epistemological beliefs might affect their participation in learning and the process of conceptual change. The purposes of this study were to investigate the characteristics of sixth grade students epistemological beliefs about science and the relation between their epistemological beliefs about science and factors related their learning. For this research questions, 245 sixth grade students participated and various test instruments were used in this study. Students answered two types of questionnaires on epistemological beliefs about science and three test instruments on factors related students' learning(achievement in science, science inquiry skills, and cognitive levels). The results of this study were as follows. First, a large number of elementary school students believed that the purpose of science to perform activities like simple experiments. A lot of students believed that scientific knowledge was changeable according to the nature of scientific knowledge and that scientific knowledge could be learnt on their own. Also, many students believed experiment results to be basis on which to form personal scientific conceptions. Second, students who believed in more modern epistemology about science represented higher levels of science learning achievement, science inquiry skills, and cognitive levels. Therefore, when developing science curriculum, science educators need to consider how to develop student modern epistemological beliefs about science.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.35-46
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• 1999

The most of elementary school science textbook contents are composed of observation and experiment activities. When students study natural phenomena, observation and experiment are st rongly emphasized to improve understanding of scientific concepts and inquiry abilities. The purpose of this study is deep understanding about experimental science classes. This ethnographic study is conducted by observations of experimental science classes in natural setting and interviews of teachers, students of the 5th grade. The conclusions of this study are as follows: First, the general process of the elementary science experimental classes is 'identifying learning purposes -1 planning experiments -1 predicting the results -1 experimenting-t summarizing the results.' The experiments are conducted by group activities and the teachers conceived that the me st difficult step considered by students is 'planning experiments'. Second, students like hands-on activities, but they feel difficulty on less guided experiments. Students perform results oriented-activities. Third, in group activities, students prefer to work with the same gender or collaborative peers.

• New Physics: Sae Mulli
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• v.68 no.11
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• pp.1231-1239
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• 2018

This study aimed at examining undergraduate students' writing about experiments related to the photoelectric effect and giving some implications for experiment education. Thus, this study analyzed 26 students' reports about three kinds of experiments: measuring Planck's constant, comparing the photocurrent and the photovoltage across the intensity of light, and comparing the photocurrent and the photovoltage across the frequency of light. In the measurements, less than 25% of the students expressed the data to the correct number of significant figures even though two-thirds of the students successfully obtained the data given in the manual. In terms of interpretation, the students were not aware of the physical meanings of the detailed parts in the graphs. Even though over 50% of the students drew a line relating photocurrent to voltage, no students compared the theoretical to the empirical data or made a judgment as to whether of not the background theory really fit the experiment. The research findings showed that insufficient knowledge and skills for physics inquiry may be an obstacle in performing the experiments well.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.509-524
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• 2007

The purpose of the study is to compare elementary school science textbooks ($3^{rd}$ grade) in Korea and the U.S., centering on the ways to present scientific concepts and inquiry process in the units of 'matter.' The analysis is focused on: a) general structure of the units; b) how to present scientific concepts in terms of its connections and complexity; c) how to present inquiry process in terms of its types and skills. The findings of the study are as follows. First, the contents of 'matter' units are scientific discipline-based in both countries. The general structure of the units in Korean textbooks is unrestricted compared to those in the U.S. Second, the connections among the concepts are poor and the level of complexity is low in Korean textbooks, which are contrary to those in the U.S. textbooks. Third, it is a common feature that the inquiry process is based on learners' everyday experiences with simple experiments in two countries' textbooks. However, the inquiry process in the U.S. textbooks is provided with detailed instructions while the process in Korea is presented with diverse activities without formal guidelines. Based on the results, the study suggests three recommendations to improve Korean textbooks: a) science contents should be linked to other disciplines in order to promote practical applications; b) scientific concepts are required to be tightly connected and provided with in-depth explanations; c) inquiry process is needed to be presented with specific guidance to facilitate scientific thinking.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.201-218
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate qualitatively two cases of general citizens' scientific participation and activities responding to fine dust problem. The processes of their scientific actions were investigated and categorized inductively based on three stages: problem recognition stage, information collection and analysis stage, and sharing and spreading stage. As a result, in the 'problem recognition' stage, two participants recognized the seriousness of the fine dust problem as they felt a threat to their health and began to act practically by questioning the accuracy of public data. In the 'information collection and analysis' stage, a participant collected as much information as possible and compared them in order to obtain more accurate information for her situation. On the other hand, another participant conducted various experiments in person to get the information which is appropriate to his situation. Finally, in the 'Sharing and Spreading' stage, both participants created and shared various materials based on online environment, and continued their activities with a sense of contribution through others assistance. Educational implications are discussed in terms of civic science education and scientific literacy.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.255-270
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to investigate the elementary pre-service teachers' views about "the purpose of science experiments". For the study, the views about the purposes of scientists' experiments and school science experiments were surveyed from 227 pre-service teachers. And the responses were analyzed based on their gender, intensive majors and school science test scores. The main results of the study are as follows. First, in relation to the purpose of scientists' experiments, the pre-service teachers considered internal values of doing experiments were more worthy than the external values of it. In particular, the pre-service teachers responded that the most important purpose of the science experiments is 'to get the evidences for the theories and arguments'. On the other hand, the views from the women and social studies major pre-service teachers were more diverse than those of the man and science major pre-service teachers. Second, in relation to the purpose of school science experiments, the pre-service teachers excessively considered that the internal values of school science experiments were more worthy than the external values. In particular, only few pre-service teachers were aware of social and personal aspects of the experiments, though they considered well that the experiments are useful tools for the school science study. Third, there were quite different aspects of pre-service teachers' views between the purposes of scientists' experiments and school science experiments. For example, the views about the scientist's experiments were relatively broad concerning the nature of scientific experiments, but the school science experiments were just regarded as an educational tool for the science study. Based on the results from the study, some science educational implication were discussed.

• The Journal of Korean Association of Computer Education
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.65-76
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• 2014

This paper aims at implementing experimental devices with which middle school students can explore scientific ideas using GoGo Board and NetLogo that connect real and simulated worlds. Related research literature was reviewed to design a simulation-based learning model using computer simulation and robot-related activities. In order to construct devices for exploratory experiments, GoGo Board was adopted for developing the interface of Micro-Based Laboratory(MBL) devices with several sensors while NetLogo was used for connecting MBL devices (real world) and simulated experiments (virtual world). The simulation contents were developed in the area of heat equilibrium for changing temperature and the conduct-current relationship appeared in the textbook of middle school science class. With the developed device and contents students can visualize the change of temperature cold and hot waters in terms of heat equilibrium. They also can measure the change of conductor representing the relationship between conductor and current. The formative evaluation of the contents carried out with several middle school students indicated the future direction for upgrading simulation contents and interface. The results might be beneficial for science educators who want to apply simulation contents with the use of computers.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.323-332
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of science classes using smart devices that combine augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) on the scientific attitude of middle school gifted students. In addition, it is intended to find out the perception of science classes using these smart devices. In addition to actual experiments, a science class program that allows students to experience science experiments virtually using AR and VR was applied to 15 middle school gifted students. Before and after the application of the program, the questionnaire is to investigate the interest in scientific classes, the attitude toward science exploration, and the professional interest in science, and the recognition of classes that combine AR and VR. In addition, through in-depth interviews, the perceptions of gifted students was accurately investigated. As a result of this study, the content of science classes and instructors showed high class satisfaction, but the smart devices and applications used during the science classes showed lower class satisfaction than others. As a result of comparing and analyzing the pre-post of gifted students, interest in science class, attitude toward science inquiry, and professional interest in science increased significantly among the sub-areas of the scientific attitude test. As a result of analyzing free responses and indepth interviews, gifted students responded with the advantage that classes using smart devices that combine AR and VR can be tested quickly and safely for a short time compared to actual experiments. On the other hand, they responded with low completeness of the application and dizziness when operating virtual reality. Based on this, implications for the development of applications and instructional programs using advanced technologies that can experience realistically limited scientific experiments such as experimental preparation, class time, and risk factors were obtained.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.565-578
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to search for the factors that influence students' understanding of the nature of science through the experience of the cognitive processes of authentic open inquiries. The freshmen of a science high school practiced authentic open inquiries reflecting epistemological characteristics of authentic science. The case study was conducted with four focus students who were successful or unsuccessful at learning the nature of science during the authentic open inquiry activity. Questions that the focus students asked during the inquiries as well as students' answers to pre- and post-VNOS (C type) were analysed, and then elaborated in the semi-structured interview. The findings suggest that open inquiry activities provide the inquiry contexts that help science high school students to understand the nature of science, and that the characteristics of students' cognition influence the understanding of the nature of science. For instance, designing experiments with their own research questions had an influence on the students' understanding about the scientific methods and the diversity of research types, and drawing conclusions from their own data made students experience scientific reasoning. In addition, the experience of collecting anomalous data helped students to understand the role of inferences in generating scientific knowledge and the creative nature of scientific knowledge. In this inquiry context, the reflective thinking that came from proactive discussion among students, made students think about the validity of the designing experiments and interpreting data, and helped them to understand the uncertain nature of reasoning and the diverse nature of scientific methods. Moreover, divergent thinking linked to analogical thinking helped students to understand the creative nature of science.