• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.143-157
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• 2003

This paper is to make strides toward an enriched understanding of mathematics teacher learning and professional development. Different theoretical frameworks in understanding mathematics teacher learning are reviewed, followed by a discussion of the relationships of knowledge and teaching practice. This paper then analyses contemporary conceptions about effective professional development and, in particular, deals with teacher learning in inquiry communities. This paper introduces a research project describing transition processes from teacher- centered mathematics classroom culture to student-centered culture and analyzing teacher learning in communities and its concomitant change in teaching practice. On the basis of the emerging problems in doing the project, this paper finally addresses some crucial issues on teacher learning and professional development, including the management of an inquiry community, the description of teaching practice from the researcher's perspective, and the analysis of teacher learning in communities.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.426-434
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• 2005

In this study, elementary school students' responses toward a discrepant event about a float-or-sink problem were investigated through semi-structured interviews. Initial participants were 61 fifth-grade students from two elementary schools. After excluding the students who did not possess the target misconception from the results of a preconception test and who were not willing to participate in an interview, 31 students (14 males and 17 females) were finally interviewed by two teacher-interviewers. During the interviews, students were first provided with a hands-on experiment which was the same as the situation in the preconception test, and then they were asked about believability of the discrepant event, inconsistency between the discrepant event and their existing conceptions, and belief change after experiencing the discrepant event. Interviews were audio- and video-taped, and then were transcribed by two interviewers. After analyzing the interview transcriptions, we found four types of students' responses; rejection, uncertainty, peripheral belief change, and belief change. We also found that belief change response type should be classified into three distinctive subtypes; belief decrease, ad-hoc belief change, and analytical-abductive belief change.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.611-619
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• 2006

The aims of this study are to investigate science high school students' understanding of velocity and acceleration of a simple pendulum bob, and to investigate their understanding of inertia and gravitational force in the motion of a pendulum bob when the tension is removed. For the study, 46 students that had already studied the physical, concepts in simple pendulum were sampled from a science high school in a large city in Korea. For a comparison with general high school students' conceptions, 49 students were sampled from a general high school in the same city. The test tool for the investigation consisted of four drawing and simple-answering type questions developed by the authors. The outcomes of the study revealed that a substantial number of science high school students have misconceptions concerning acceleration in pendulum motion, and that many of them do not understand the relationship between force and acceleration. In addition, the results of the study showed that more than 30% of the students drew the path of a bob going along the tangential direction at the highest point of the motion, and approximately 20% of them drew the path of a bob falling straight down at the lowest point of the motion.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.751-772
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• 2015

Valid and effective science education would require research-based decisions on multiple aspects of science education including policy decisions, science curriculum development, designing teaching resources and methods. However, this has not been the case. In order to provide a research base for science education practices and policy-making, this study reviewed research articles published in major science education research journals in South Korea in the last ten years. The analysis was focused on 8 areas including student conceptions, student thinking, inquiry, affective domain, student ideas about science, science curriculum, students' learning and classroom activity, and student learning in informal settings. General research trends found include: First, science education research conducted for the past decade focused on a certain limited topics/areas. Second, research participants were also limited to certain grade levels or types of students. Third, rather than examining developmental processes descriptive research was prevalent. Fourth, there was a lack of research on developing new areas of study or research on generation of new perspectives, theories or tools. Fifth, many studies were related to school science learning while relatively less studies were about other areas that would impact students' future. Based on the results, we suggest several implications for science curriculum development, policy development, science teaching and learning resources, and others.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.862-871
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• 2002

We investigated elementary students' conceptions of the simple electric circuit using a battery, a bulb and a wire, and made comparison between the cognitive conflict through peer discussion and the cognitive conflict through physical experience. Two hundred and sixty-four sixth grade students who already had learned about the electric circuit were participated. The questionnaire to investigate the student's conceptions about simple electric circuit consisted of 5 items drawing the wire connections between a battery and a bulb to light the bulb. The students in the discussion group paired randomly with student who had different conceptions, and then each pairs discussed about their ideas freely with each other. After discussion they conducted CCLT(Cognitive Conflict Level Test) which consisted of 4 factors; recognition, interest, anxiety, reappraisal. The physical experience group conducted a task in which they connected a battery and a bulb with a wire, then conducted CCLT. The sixth graders had various misconceptions. Most students were not aware of the scope of negative battery terminal and two electric terminals of a bulb. Many students emphasized the tip of a bulb and positive battery terminal. The score of CCLT in the discussion group was higher than in the physical experience group. This results showed that discussion with peers was more effective than physical experience to arouse cognitive conflict.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.221-233
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• 2000

Many investigators have reported difficulties in changing the high school students' misconceptions on mechanics. By one possible solution to this problem, some researchers suggested that the students should be taught mechanics at a younger age to make conceptual changes possible. because as they get older they become less willing to change their ideas. The purpose of this study was to compare the patterns of students' conceptual changes on force by age, to find out whether older students were less ready to change their conceptions than younger students. Individual interviews were carried out with 35 students (average ages 13) in middle school class and 50 students (average ages 17) in high school class near by the middle school. Those students who held the misconcetpion that "motion-implies-force (Impetus conception)" were asked to read a student-centered refutational text (anomalous data). In the immediate and delayed posttest, the types of responses of the students were analyzed to find out the patterns of student's conceptual changes on force by age. In result, first, most of students had impetus conception. Some of the students aged 13 understood the force as terminologies related with everyday experiences, while the students aged 17 understood the force as scientific terminologies. Second, there was no evidence to suggest that conceptual change is more difficult for the students aged 17 than aged 13. Third, the students aged 13 showed diverse responses (plain acceptance, critical acceptance, plain rejection, critical rejection) to the refutational text, while the students aged 17 showed restricted responses (critical acceptance, critical rejection). A month later those students who showed the plain acceptance retrogressed unscientific conceptions, while those students who showed critical acceptance maintained scientific conceptions. We did not find out any evidence to suggest that conceptual change is more difficult for older students. These results need deeper investigation on the nature of the loss of plasticity in comparison with other important variables.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.458-475
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• 2013

According to instruction of standard-based assessment system, teachers with higher level of competence in student assessment are required. The purpose of this study is to offer the basic data to enhance pre-service physics teachers' competency in student assessment. 17 pre-service physics teachers, who are sophomore in department of physics education, participated in the study for a whole semester. To do this, we gave the assignment of multiple choice question construction in physics conceptest for formative assessment to pre-service teachers and observed review questions constructed by them. We also analyzed multiple choice questions of 17 pre-service teachers. They had 5 classes for the review process of the question and improved their questions through it. 16 of 17 pre-service teachers completed test design. Our results show that pre-service teachers had a little low competence in test design for classroom assessment. In addition to, constructing and revising questions, almost of them didn't have various perspectives and didn't consider to get information about the pre-conceptions of students. These findings indicate that they have difficulties with constructing multiple choice question and more specific plan needs to enhance the overall student-assessment competency levels of pre-service teachers for successful settlement of the standard-based assessment system.

• Journal of Elementary Mathematics Education in Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.451-469
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• 2012

This research intends to examine how 6th graders (age 12) conceptualize the area of geometric figures. In this research, 4 problems were given to 122 students, which the 4 problems correspond to understanding area concept, finding the area of geometric figures-including rectangular, parallelogram, and triangle, writing the area formula for finding area of geometric figures, and explaining the reason why the area formula holds. As the results of the study, we identified that students revealed the most low achievement in the understanding area concept, and lower achievement in explaining the reason why the area formula holds, writing the area formula, finding the area of geometric figures in order. In based on the results, we suggested the didactical implication for improving the students' conception about the area of geometric figures.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.455-465
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• 2002

This study investigates students' preconceptions about measurement theory; repeating measurements. how to handle repeat measurements, measurement errors, and uncertainty. Thirty students in seventh grade participated in this study. Students' conceptions were elicited using observation and interview notes. Half of the students measured only two times. and none of them more than five times. After repeating measurements, seventy seven percent of them selected result according to their feelings, while only thirteen percent of them calculated the mean. Sixty percent of them regarded the main cause of measurement errors as their mistakes, not as the problems of environment or measuring instrument. Most students thought the main reason of various results by different persons or time period as human. Forty percent of them denied the uncertainty of measurement, while thirty three agreed, and most students thought the reason of uncertainty was due to human imperfection. This study showed more than half of the students did not know how to handle repeat measurements, and they regarded the cause of measurement errors as their mistakes. In addition, they thought the main reason of various measuring results and uncertainty as human.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.8-18
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to investigate middle school student's conceptual change about Force and Motion by the courseware based on constructivism. It is well known to science educators that misconcrptions about physics concepts are hardly changed into scientific ones. So as to change student's misconceptions about force and motion, the courseware was developed through the analysis of students' conceptions. 20 students were tested before and after learning through the courseware. One of the questions was about the direction of force acting on the ball thrown in the air when it is rising, at the top, and falling. The other was about the magnitudes and directions of forces acting on a car when it is accelerating, in uniform velocity, and decelerating. The results are as follows: In case of vertical motion, all students had misconceptions before learning, but after learning 5 students(25%) have changed their ideas into scientific ones. In case of horizontal motion, 9(45%) out of 20 students who had misconceptions about force and motion have changed their ideas into scientific ones.