A Study on the Basic Scientific Knowledge of In-service and Pre-service Elementary School Teachers

초등 현직 교사와 예비 교사의 기초적인 과학 지식에 관한 조사

The purpose of this study is to identify the basic scientific knowledge of in- and pre-service elementary school teachers, specific areas having insufficient knowledge and the reason for the lack of understanding. For the study, we analyzed the survey asking basic scientific knowledge to in-service elementary school teachers within an urban communities and pre-service elementary school teachers enrolling the first, the second and the third year in National University of Education. The results shows that there is the lack of understanding about scientific knowledge such as boiling points, perihelion, substances, and elements, which elementary school teachers should have exactly known. With regard to the age, an effort is required to increase scientific knowledge of the in-service teachers in 50's, compared to those in 20s' and 30s'. In the pre-service teachers, the average in the third year was significantly higher than that in the first and second year. Regarding the major background in high school, both of in- and pre-service teachers who completed the science course showed significantly higher average than those who completed the liberal arts course. In addition, regarding the major in the university, the average of the group with science and engineering major was higher than that of the group with other majors.