• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.515-529
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• 2020

'Scientific inquiry experiments', which was newly created subjects in the 2015 revised curriculum, was expected in the aspect of learning science and developing core competences through science practices. Based on changed view of evaluation, assessments of a practice-centered subject 'Scientific inquiry experiments' should be try to conducted in various ways, but many challenges were reported. In this study, through analysis of current status of assessment of the subject, we intended to find the way of conducting and supporting 'Scientific inquiry experiments'. We collected assessment materials and explanatory description about them from 25 teachers who taught 'Scientific inquiry experiments' in 2018 and 2019. And we analyzed the cases with framework which were consisted with three main categories: elements, standards, methods of assessments. Also, we investigated how the results of assessment were utilized. For the validity, we requested verification of the results of our data analysis to experts of science education and science teachers. From them, we also collected their opinions about our analysis. As a result of the study, teachers assessed some elements of inquiry skills such as 'analysis and interpreting the data', 'conducting inquiry' more than others which were closely related to what subject-matter the teachers used to organized inquiry program with. In the aspect of domain of assessments, though cognitive domain and affective domain as well as skills were evaluated, we also found that the assessment of those domains had some limitation. In terms of standard of assessment, the goals of assessment were presented in most cases, but there were relatively few cases which had the specific criteria and the stepwise statements of expected performance of students. The time and subject of the assessment were mainly post-class and teachers, and others such as in-class assessments, peer-assessments were used only in specific contexts. In all cases, the results of assessments used for calculating students' grade, but in some cases, we could observe that the results used for improving teaching and feedback for students. Based on these results, we discussed how to support the assessments of 'Scientific inquiry experiments'.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.499-508
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine the features of the standards of classification, prediction and reasoning in foreign national science standards and the characteristics of these inquiry processes in the Korean science textbooks. The inquiry process of classification was found less frequently rather than observation and measurement. 'The classification of one character' was much more contained than the higher level of classification, 'the classification of composit character'. For the inquiry process of prediction, most of prediction was 'prediction from experiment result'. In the level of prediction, 'basic prediction' was found more frequently than 'operation prediction'. The inquiry process of reasoning was found more frequently than classification and prediction and was increased in the higher grade textbooks. In the level of reasoning, the higher grade textbooks included 'secondary reasoning' rather than 'simple reasoning'.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.725-739
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• 2022

This study aims to analyze what elementary school pre-service teachers focused on and what challenges they faced in designing and producing a guided science inquiry program based on augmented reality (AR) and to provide some implications for teachers' professionalism and teacher education. To this end, focusing on the cases of pre-service teachers who designed and created AR-based guided inquiry programs, the researchers extracted and categorized the pre-service teachers' focus and challenges from the program design and production stages. As a result, in the program design stage, the pre-service teachers tried to construct scenarios that could promote students' active inquiry process. At the same time, drawing on the unique affordances of AR, the pre-service teachers focused on creating vivid visual data in a 3D environment and making meaningful connections between virtual and real-world activities. The pre-service teachers faced challenges in making use of the advantages of AR technology and designing an inquiry program due to a lack of background knowledge about CoSpaces, a content creation program. In the program production stage, the pre-service teachers tried to make their program easy to handle to improve students' concentration on inquiry activities. In addition, challenges of programming using CoSpaces were reported. Based on these results, educational implications were discussed in terms of the pedagogical uses of AR and teachers' professionalism in adopting AR in science inquiry.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.63-78
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• 2014

Integrative STEM education is an engineering design-based learning approach that purposefully integrates the content and process of STEM disciplines and can extend its concept to integration with other school subjects. This study was part of fundamental research to develop an integrative STEM education program based on the science inquiry process. The specific objectives of this study were to review relevant literature related to STEM education, analyze the key elements and value of STEM education, develop an integrative STEM education model based on the science inquiry process, and suggest an exemplary program. This study conducted a systematic literature review to confirm key elements for integrative STEM education and finally constructed the integrative STEM education model through analyzing key inquiry processes extracted from prior studies. This model turned out to be valid because the average CVR value obtained from expert group was 0.78. The integrative STEM education model based on the science inquiry process consisted of two perspectives of the content and inquiry process. The content can contain science, technology, engineering, and liberal arts/artistic topics that students can learn in a real world context/problem. Also, the inquiry process is a problem-solving process that contains design and construction and is based on the science inquiry. It could integrate the technological/engineering problem solving process and/or mathematical problem solving process. Students can improve their interest in STEM subjects by analyzing real world problems, designing possible solutions, and implementing the best design as well as acquire knowledge, inquiry methods, and skills systematically. In addition, the developed programs could be utilized in schools to enhance students' understanding of STEM disciplines and interest in mathematics and science. The programs could be used as a basis for fostering convergence literacy and cultivating integrated and design-based problem-solving ability.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.405-420
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to contrive the specific teaching plans based on the frame of 2007 revised science curriculum for applying open-inquiry lesson in real education situation and to research the effects of open-inquiry lesson on the student's science-related attitude, science process skill, and to investigate instructing teachers' cognition about open-inquiry. For this study, two fifth grade classes were chosen, one class was the experimental group, who were taught by open-inquiry based lesson, and another was the comparative group, who were taught by traditional method based lesson. The findings of this study were as follows: After open-inquiry lesson, the experimental group students came to enjoy open-inquiry learning and had the positive thought about it. After open-inquiry lesson, the experimental group marked higher mean score than the comparative group in science-related attitude's field but didn't showed the meaningful difference. On the other hand, in science process skill's field, the experimental group showed the significant higher improvement than the comparative one, especially in the subordinate area of basic science process skill. Finally, teachers who instructed students open-inquiry lesson thought open-inquiry lesson is the self-directed problem solving learning which raise the student's science process skill and interest. And the teachers thought the obstacles to instruct open-inquiry lesson are the lack of the student's cognition about open-inquiry and the insufficient circumstance for open-inquiry lesson. Therefore the teachers argued that the prerequisite for settling open-inquiry lesson successfully is to develope open-inquiry lesson curricula and teaching materials.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.857-870
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• 2015

Concerning elementary school science subject electric circuit units, which are regarded as difficult by teachers and students, this study aims to use the knowledge state analysis method along with interviews to analyze the knowledge state and hierarchy of inquiry abilities. Before and after applying the electric circuit inquiry abilities module, the question items aimed at assessing the basic inquiry abilities and integrative inquiry abilities for electric circuits were presented to students, and their knowledge state was analyzed along with interviews. Through analysis of the knowledge structure and hierarchy of inquiry abilities about electric circuits, the way of thinking of teachers who taught inquiry abilities, and the way of thinking of students were found to be visually different from each other, and this is an important factor that should not be neglected in the process of teaching and learning about inquiry abilities and should be considered. In addition, the presentation of the knowledge state of and hierarchical relations between inquiry abilities factors can offer implications for guidance on students' learning about inquiry abilities.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.137-153
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• 2000

In this study. 'extended science investigation' was conceptualized as a comprehensive science investigation contrasted with exercise of process and skill component and cookbook style experiment. The extended investigations should be pursued for giving opportunity of more authentic science activities in school science. And one of important educational objectives in students' science investigations is to achieve motivation for investigation which drives and triggers further investigations. It can be discerned as positive and negative by its direction and also as internal and external by its cause. The purpose of this study was to describe change of students' motivation for investigation while they were performing the extended science investigations. The subject was 128 7th grader attending coeducational school in Seoul. Questionnaires and students' reports were analysed complementarily to describe students' motivation for investigation. The number of students who showed positive motivation for investigation did not increase in the developed extended investigations than in the directive investigations in textbook, but the cause of positive motivation for investigation has changed largely from task-exclusive factors to task-inclusive factors. In case of negative motivation for investigation, regardless of the kind of investigation task, task-inclusive factors were recognized as the main causes. Among those whose motivation changed during successive extended investigations, the students who showed change from negative to positive were more than the reverse. And the number of positive intrinsic motivation for investigation was increased at the second half of the extended science investigations. So it can be said that there was a desirable change of motivation for investigation at the second half the extended science investigations.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.495-507
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• 2023

Teachers often encounter challenges in supporting students with question generation and the development of investigation plans in sensemaking activities. A primary challenge stems from the ambiguity surrounding how students apply their conceptual understandings in this process. This study aims to explore how students apply their conceptual understandings to generate questions and design investigation processes in a sensemaking activity. Two types of student group activities were identified and examined for comparison: One focused on designing a process to achieve the goal of sensemaking, and the other focused on following the step-by-step scientific inquiry procedures. The design of investigation process in each group was concretized with epistemic criteria used for evaluating the designs. The students' use of conceptual understandings in discussions around each was then examined. The findings reveal three epistemic criteria employed in generating questions and designing investigation processes. First, the students examined the interestingness of natural phenomena, using their conceptual understandings of the structure and function of entities within natural phenomena to identify a target phenomenon. This process involved verifying their existing knowledge to determine the need for new understanding. The second criterion was the feasibility of investigating specific variables with the given resources. Here, the students relied on their conceptual understandings of the structure and function of entities corresponding to each variable to assess whether each variable could be investigated. The third epistemic criterion involved examining whether the factors of target phenomena expressed in everyday terms could be translated into observable variables capable of explaining the phenomena. Conceptual understandings related to the function of entities were used to translate everyday expressions into observable variables and vice versa. The students' conceptual understanding of a comprehensive mechanism was used to connect the elements of the phenomenon and use the elements as potential factors to explain the target phenomenon. In the case where the students focused on carrying out step-by-step procedures, data collection feasibility was the sole epistemic criterion guiding the design. This study contributes to elucidating how the process of a sensemaking activity can be developed in the science classroom and developing conceptual supports for designing sensemaking activities that align with students' perspectives.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.170-185
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to investigate a cognitive model of task commitment on biology classification inquiry. To achieve this goal, first, this study analyzed several literatures on task commitment in biology inquiry, and invented the tentative model of the task commitment. To investigate a tentative model invented, 2 main tasks were developed. These tasks were administered to 8 high-school students, first grade. Raw protocols were collected by thinking aloud method and a retrospective interview method. Collected protocols were converted to segmented protocols and coded by analyzing frame based invented model. The codes were analyzed. As a result, some problems were discovered, tentative model were revised. New analyzing frame based on Improved model were composed, and raw protocols were re-analyzed. Finally, a cognitive model of task commitment on biology classification inquiry was investigated. The investigated cognitive model of task commitment on biology classification inquiry was constructed 3 steps, 'Task commitment Induction', 'Task commitment Reinforcement', 'Task commitment Maintenance'. And each steps were consisted of several sub-factor. And commitment component were changed in each steps. Through this results, base information for strategy that improvement task commitment on biology classification inquiry is provided. Furthermore, the cognitive model of task commitment on biology classification inquiry will assist on evaluation and feedback by stage on task commitment.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.545-562
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to develop cognitive scaffolding tools and to explore their effects on integrated science process skills of high school students. For this purpose, we developed cognitive scaffolding tools including one kind of classroom instruction for training integrated process skills and two kinds of individual learning materials that students can selectively study according to their level of inquiry ability. In addition, we developed hypothetico-deductive inquiry tasks as a tool to investigate the level of students on the integrated process skills for pre-test and post-test respectively. In order to verify the effectiveness of the cognitive scaffolding tools, we conducted inferential statistics on the pre-and post-tests of the experimental group and control group to examine statistical significance of students' inquiry level change depending on the usage of the cognitive scaffolding tools. We also produced Wrightmaps based on Rasch model to compare the change of inquiry ability depending on usage of the cognitive scaffolding tools. As a result, the experimental group using the cognitive scaffolding tools showed a significantly higher scores in all the components of integrated process skills namely, designing inquiry, collecting data, analyzing data, and forming conclusion than the control group. In addition, students who used cognitive scaffolding tools improved their inquiry ability and showed a distinct transition to higher level in each component of the integrated process skills. The results of this study suggest that high school students need cognitive scaffolding to alleviate or eliminate the functional barriers they face in conducting scientific inquiries.