• Journal of Science Education
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2020

In this study, we analyzed the written and drawn explanations of thirty elementary school pre-service teachers in order to examine their perception on the seasonal length of day and night. The main findings are as follows: First, pre-service teachers used the most common term in the description of the texts, such as meridian altitude, axis of rotation, and revolution, and there were more misconceptions in the drawn explanation than in the written explanation. Second, by analyzing the pre-service teachers' perceptions by combining written and drawn explanations, it is possible to detect scientific errors that the distance between the Earth and the Sun is closer when the axis of rotation is tilted in relation to the revolution and seasonal changes due to changes in the orbital radius of the Earth. In addition, there have been types of explanations such as seasonally changing meridian altitudes related to the rotation of the Earth but no change in the location of the Sun. Based on the results of the analysis, we discussed the lack of experience in constructing an explanatory system of specific phenomena using scientific knowledge, lack of observational experiences about natural phenomena, and lack of exposure to other explanatory systems that cause cognitive conflicts. We hope that it will be concrete and practical help to improve the understanding of pre-service teachers in the science domain of primary teacher training program.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.340-350
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• 2023

This study analyzed the difficulty level of class on the seasonal change unit for 84 students at a university of education. The conclusions of this study are as follows. First, if we first present the four topics that make up the seasonal changes in elementary science, the subjects that have the greatest difficulty in teaching for prospective elementary school teachers are 'Why do seasonal changes occur?' (Teaching difficulty level 4.05), 'The sun changes depending on the season' What is the difference between the southern altitude and the length of day and night?' (difficulty level of class, 3.12), 'What is the relationship between the altitude of the sun, length of shadow, and temperature during the day?' (difficulty level of class, 2.85), 'How does the temperature change depending on the season?' (class difficulty level 2.80). As a result, in the elementary science season change unit, the class on the four topics 'Why do seasons change?', which is classified as a class topic that requires the concept of spatial perception, showed a higher level of class difficulty than other units. Second, in the seasonal change unit, various factors of class difficulty appeared depending on the class topic. When pre-service elementary school teachers look at the factors that make class difficult when teaching a lesson on seasonal changes in order of frequency, 42 (50%) said 'Experimental instruction for comparing the altitude of solar masculine according to the tilt of the axis of rotation', followed by 'Solar masculine'. 38 people (45%) answered 'Difficulty in explaining mid-high altitude and the length of day and night', 27 people (32%) answered 'Difficulty in explaining the concept of mid-high altitude', and 24 people (32%) answered 'Difficulty in explaining seasonal changes in the sun's position.' 29%), 20 people (24%) said 'Explain the reasonable reason why the height of the light should be adjusted when measuring the solar altitude', and 16 people (19%) said 'It is difficult to explain the reason for the discrepancy between the solar altitude and the maximum temperature'. ), 'difficulties in measuring sand (ground) temperature' were mentioned by 12 people (14%). Third, when analyzing the factors of class difficulty, there were more curriculum factors than teacher factors. In this context, the exploratory activities on 'Why do seasonal changes occur?', the fourth topic of the seasonal change unit in which elementary school pre-service teachers showed the greatest difficulty in teaching, need improvement in terms of the curriculum.