• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.829-840
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• 2015

In this study, we analyzed the teaching practices of science teachers using smart technologies and investigated their difficulties in implementing smart education and their educational needs. We also studied their opinions on the application of smart technologies in science education. The participants were seven science teachers who participated in the smart education study group of a science teacher association in Seoul. We elaborated on the characteristics of smart education in science education during comprehensive analyses of instructional materials used in science classes and the initial interviews. We then analyzed the second interviews by categorizing their responses inductively. All the science teachers used the 'instant access as needed', but their interactions, simply answering students' questions, were found to be at a low level. They did not effectively use the 'collaborative interaction with SNS or wiki-based service' for the support for interactive learning. While most collected learning results of their students and provided feedback in the aspect of 'individualization according to leaner level', they were not aware of 'context, situation, and location of learners' in smart education. While all the teachers extended learning opportunities by using learning resources widely in smart education, most were not aware of 'support for self-directed learning'. Most teachers believed that smart education should be developed to help students learn interactively and in a self-directed manner. They also provided many opinions on teacher training programs and environmental support for smart education. Based on the results, some considerations for implementing smart education in science instructions effectively are discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.901-917
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to develop the questionnaire on pre-service elementary teachers' recognition of self-understanding and change capacity for science education and to investigate their recognitions with it. At the beginning of the study, we made a tool to investigate the self-understanding and change capacity of pre-service elementary teachers through literature review and discussions. The former half of the questionnaire was related to self-understanding with factors such as 'self-concept clarity,' 'career identity' and 'self-efficacy:' 'self-understanding as a pre-service elementary teacher' (12 items) and 'self-understanding as a pre-service elementary science teacher' (12 items). Its latter half was about the change capacity with factors such as 'change sensitivity,' 'goal consciousness,' 'collaboration,' 'reflection,' and 'mastery.' It consisted of three parts: 'general change capacity,' 'change capacity as a pre-service elementary teacher' and 'change capacity as a pre-service elementary science teacher' with 17 items, respectively. With this tool, we surveyed 153 pre-service elementary teachers. The results are as follows: First, pre-service elementary teachers have a positive recognition about self-understanding and change capacity, but the recognition of self-understanding and change capacity as pre-service elementary science teachers were relatively less positive. Second, factors of self-understanding and change capacity as pre-service elementary science teachers have a significant correlation with each other. Especially, there was a high correlation between 'self-efficacy' of self-understanding and 'goal consciousness' and 'mastery' of change capacity. Based on these results, some implications for self-understanding and change capacity related to science education were discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.103-112
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to investigate secondary science teacher's concepts of good science teaching. To do these, I have developed a questionnaire composed of 32 good teachings on education content, instructional method, instructional environment and atmosphere and assessment categories. 136 secondary science teachers have participated in the questionnaire and were requested to show agreement. Additionally, they were requested to describe the best science teachings that they have experienced. Results are as follows: First, the best science teaching that science teachers thought is a teaching that is in full accord with students' level in education content category, a teaching with an energetic interaction in instructional method category, a teaching in a trustful atmosphere in instructional environment and atmosphere category, a teaching in which students could learn something through a teaching-related assessment in assessment category. Second, secondary science teachers thought that a self-directed learning, a differentiated instruction and a teaching with diverse materials are not important factors in good science teaching. Third, there is a difference between good teaching that secondary science teachers have conceived and good teaching that they have experienced. It shows that science teachers did not precisely understand what good science teaching is. Additionally, I discussed the need of finding a case on good science teachings and a support of an interaction-focused teaching.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.1613-1626
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to develop an effective mentoring program model. In order to develop an effective mentoring program, we identified four elements of mentoring program based on the analysis of secondary science teachers perceptions of in-service science teacher training program and mentoring. For the study, a questionnaire was developed by the authors and it was administrated to 114 secondary science teachers participated in science teacher training program. The interviews were conducted with 14 secondary science teachers. The results of this study are as follows: Most of the secondary science teachers recognized that in-service science teacher training program, which they had taken, positively affected their teaching. However, there are some aspects needed for improvements in the current teacher training program. They wanted to take the opportunities to interact with their colleagues and researchers, sharing their experiences on teaching within the teachers' community, and reflecting on their own teaching. Based on these analysis we suggest four elements for effective mentoring program. These are 'Communication,' 'Reflection for Mentor,' 'Reflection for Mentee,' and 'Evaluation.' In addition, the mentoring program is proposed to consist of four activities such as 'Feedback on teaching', 'Seminar and Workshop', 'Conference', and 'Self-evaluation'.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.267-277
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• 2015

This study explored elementary school teachers' perspectives on science inquiry teaching. First, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to elicit teachers' experiences of their approach to inquiry teaching. These self-reported approaches revealed three conceptions of teaching for inquiry learning in science: 'science process skills-centered' category focused on observing, classifying, measuring, and fair testing; 'generating scientific questions' category focused on students' question-generating; and 'illustrate concept and/or content' category focused on science content demonstration by making use of experimental procedures to obtain expected results. Second, teachers were asked to place 18 activity cards either close to or further from an 'inquiry-based science classroom' card. The relative distances from the activity card to the central classroom card were measured. The teachers perceived that students' activity of 'designing and implementing appropriate procedures' was the most important in supporting an inquiry-based science classroom. Understanding teachers' views has implications for both the enactment of inquiry teaching in the classroom as well as the uptake of new teaching behaviors during professional development.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.277-287
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• 2022

This study aims to investigate the main effects and interaction effects of individual variables on the epistemological beliefs of elementary school science teachers. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on 338 elementary science teachers in the metropolitan area on gender, teaching career, and epistemological beliefs. Epistemological beliefs show significant differences not only in gender and teaching career, but also in the interaction between gender and teaching career. Depending on gender, female teachers are more integrated in knowledge than male teachers, and process is more important than outcome in learning. Depending on the teaching career, it was found that high-career teachers generally value the process rather than the results, as knowledge is integrated and constantly evolving, knowledge is acquired by individual reasoning and justified through external interaction. On the other hand, teachers with low career perceive that efforts are indispensable in learning compared to other groups. Depending on the interaction between gender and teaching career, elementary school teachers believe that the higher the teaching career, the more integrated and constantly evolved, but low-career male teachers believed that learning ability was born with experience, while high-career male teachers value the learning process. Based on this study, it is expected that many training sessions aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning will provide more effective opportunities to develop elementary science teachers' epistemological beliefs, considering teachers' personal characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.539-564
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• 2011

This study examined how elementary teachers perceive and use "problem-posing" as a way to improve students' problem-solving skills in their mathematics classrooms. In the study, a total of 193 teachers in metropolitan areas were surveyed and a subset of 4 teachers were selected for depth-interviews. Results of the study included that teachers did not have a clear understanding of the study included that teachers did not have a clear understanding of the intended meaning of "problem-posing" although many of them have heard about the idea itself. Therefore, "problem-posing" was not fully utilized in their mathematics instructional and assessment. It is suggested that there is a need to develop instructional materials and related professional development of teachers for better instruction of problem-posing in the mathematics classroom.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.1329-1342
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• 2013

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the change of beginning teachers' beliefs about a lesson and that of teaching practice and argument-based inquiry using science writing. Participants were three science teachers (A, B, and C) from different middle schools. Classroom observation and interview data were collected and transcribed for analysis. A Summary Writing test was also administered to examine whether there was an improvement in students' learning. The results indicated that the interaction between the teachers and their students developed, which is concluded as an improvement in the teaching practice. Teacher A and B also reported that teacher-student interaction had improved. Teacher A and C came to understand that argument-based inquiry using science writing classes constituted learner-centered instruction. The result from the Summary Writing Test showed the impact of the changes in teaching practice and in teachers' awareness of students' learning as well as produced meaningfully higher scores than compared groups on the rhetorical structure of all the specific areas in teacher A's school and on the scientific concept at B and C's schools.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.574-588
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• 2011

교사의 과학 탐구 지도에 대한 인식은 실제 수업에서 탐구 지도를 수행하는데 중요한 역할을 할 수 있다. 따라서 교사들이 과학 탐구를 어떻게 인식하는지 이해할 필요가 있다. 이 연구에서는 한국, 싱가포르, 미국 세 국가의 초등교사를 대상으로 과학 탐구 지도에 대한 인식을 조사하였다. 세 국가는 과학교육과정에서 탐구를 강조해 온 역사와 설명 방식이 다르며 전반적인 교육적 상황 또한 상이하다. 총 100명의 초등교사(한국 34, 싱가포르 35, 미국31)를 대상으로 설문을 실시하였으며 설문은 구체적인 교수 상황을 서술하는 교수 시나리오, 이상적인 탐구 수업에 대한 내러티브 쓰기로 구성되었다. 데이터는 외적 기준과 내적 관점 모두에서 분석되었다. 연구 결과 교사들의 과학 탐구 지도에 대한 인식은 전반적으로 전통적 견해에 머무르고 있는 특징을 보였다. 그러나 각 국가의 교육과정에서 탐구가 서술되고 강조된 방식에 따라 차이가 나타나기도 하였다. 이러한 결과가 교사교육에 주는 시사점을 논의하였다.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.261-277
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• 2015

The purposes of this study were to find out what attitude teachers have toward adopting ICT education to educational programs for gifted students, and how ready they are for carrying out ICT education for gifted students. For these purposes, this study surveyed 191 teachers that are currently working for gifted students in various school levels, from elementary schools to junior high and high schools. The major results of this study were as follow: (1) most teachers recognized that enhancing ICT-related capabilites of gifted students is very important, and (2) ICT-related activities in current education programs for gifted students are limited to the basic level, such as web searching for collecting information and making visual presentations using well-known commercial software. Based on the common recognition on the importance of ICT-related capabilites for gifted students, this study suggests that training teachers, as well as employing well-trained teachers, should be the first and most important step for ICT education for gifted students.