• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.549-555
• /
• 2015

In this study, we investigated the influences of Integrated Science on the views of 10th graders with regards to the nature of science (NOS), STS, interest in science, and science aspiration, in order to explore the effects of Integrated Science developed under the 2009 Revised National Curriculum. Participants in this study were 214 10th graders in Seoul. The survey was administered at the beginning and at the end of the Integrated Science course. The analyses of the results revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in the scores of the pre-test and post-test on the NOS survey. However, the post-test scores of the tentativeness of scientific knowledge and the use of imagination, which are the sub-constructs of the NOS, were found to be significantly lower than the pre-test scores. There were no statistically significant differences in the frequencies of the responses to each item of the STS survey. The pre-test and post-test scores of the interest in science and the science aspiration were also not significantly different. The results indicated that Integrated Science did not have any impact on students' views on NOS, STS, interest in science, and science aspiration. Educational implications of these findings are discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.743-752
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of scientifically gifted students' views on the nature of science. A multiple-choice format questionnaire was administered to 237 Korean 10th, 11th and 12th graders at the Korea Science Academy. The differences and similarities by gender and experience of R&E program on the students' views of the nature of science were investigated. The questionnaire developed by Lim(2004) was implemented for this investigation. We found that the majority of scientifically gifted students had highly possessed the tentativeness of scientific knowledge. The students who experienced R&E program have relatively high apprehension of scientists' motivation for researches and activities in social context compared to the students who did not experience an R&E program. Scientifically gifted students had relatively high apprehension that government should not control researches of scientists and relatively low apprehension of social responsibilities of scientists comparing to general high school students. The experience on R&E program was identified as a factor to effect changes in the students' views on the nature of science. The study has implications for the development of gifted program and curriculum such as running and assessing R&E program, and also the pre-service preparation of science teacher, teacher education reformat in both the practical and the policy levels.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.34 no.7
• /
• pp.677-691
• /
• 2014

Understanding of the nature of science (NOS) has been a consistent topic as one of the most important goals in science education for the past several decades. Even though there is a variety of research related with the NOS conducted in science education, few researches has been conducted for the conception of scientists regards to the nature of science (Bayir et al., 2014; Taylor et al., 2008; Wong & Hudson, 2008). Recently, researchers in science education turned their attention to identifying views of scientists about the nature of science since they recognized the importance of participation of scientists in science education (Southerland et al., 2003; Taylor et al., 2008). This study was conducted to examine the Korean scientists' views of the nature of science. Through the use of semi-structured questionnaire and in-depth interview the views of 35 scientists who belong to the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) regards to the nature of science were explored. Findings show that while the scientists have more informed views with respect to the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, cultural and social influence embedded in science, the limitation of science, and the collaboration of science with others, the scientists have more na${\ddot{i}}$ve views about the distinction between laws and theories, the existence of a universal scientific method, and the importance of imagination and creativity. As such, it can be assumed that the scientists cannot conceptualize their notion in a philosophical sense even though they are engaged in scientific work in reality (Bayir et al., 2014).