• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.37-50
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study was to develop the quality of the textbook and to find out reasonable selection and structure by examining and analyzing the cognition of teacher and students on the structure and contents of elementary science textbook in the 7th curriculum. The findings of this study were as follows: First, as a result of the students’ cognition, their interest level of the learning contents was high and the degree of the difficulty of the learning contents was low on the whole. Second, as a result of the teachers’ cognition of contents of the textbook, teachers who taught third graders understood that the third graders have relatively much contents to be studied and the level of the contents of the textbook was high. On the other hand, fourth graders’ teachers recognized that contents to be studied and the level of the contents were appropriate. And they understood that there were much work to be studied in the units which were difficult and there were difference between contents to be studied and the degree of the difficulty in some units such as life or the earth fold. Third, as a result of the teachers' cognition of structure of the textbook. teachers were very affirmative to reduce school hours. They understood that current numbers and scale of the unit were appropriate. Teachers were satisfied with the structure of elementary science textbook in the 7th curriculum on the whole.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.109-117
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study was to examine the questioning styles of $3rd{\sim}6th$ elementary science textbooks in terms of frequency, type, and placement of questions. This paper also sought to analyse and compare the kinds of scientific inquiry processes elicited by the questions in the content domains of textbooks. The instrument used was the Textbook Questioning Strategies Assessment Instrument (TQSAI). The average number of questions per book was 129 and the ratio of questions to sentences was 31.9%. The results were summarized as followings. First, many science textbook questions were used for the purposes of explanation or identifying levels of teaming. Second, process skills were located in each content domain, although it was not affected meaningfully. Third, the number of text question was below 3 in each elementary science class. Therefore, an effective questioning development framework is clearly needed for elementary science instruction.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.149-158
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study was to analyze the analogies used in elementary science textbooks. For this, the analogies were classified into the following criteria : analogy-related contents included in elementary science text-books, types of representation style, and the role of analogy. The results of this study were as follows : the total of analogies was 154 in the 6th and 166 in the 7th curriculum. Most of them were expressed in textbooks and experimental texts. More structural/functional, verbal/pictorial, concrete/concrete, concrete/abstract, simple and enriched analogies were included in the science textbooks of the 7th than those of the 6th. Most of them took the role as an aid to understanding. According to the domain of science content, energy, material, life domains were increased in the 7th than the 6th, with the exception of the earth science domain. The ratio of used analogies in the life domain was higher than the others, and in the material domain it was the lowest. From these results, it can be said that, in order to help students' understanding, further research into the application of analogies is needed.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.525-534
• /
• 2007

Elementary students are tend to depend heavily on visual informations in the cognitive process. Thus, elementary science textbooks provide science contents mostly by inscriptions, the visual materials, with little verbal information in the limited page area. Especially, since the textbooks include many accompanying inscriptions rather than a basic inscription, it is very important to understand the relationships among many inscriptions in teaching and leaning science. Therefore, this study analyzed the status and characteristics of accompanying inscriptions used. in elementary science textbooks, and classified them according to their functions. As results, we found six types of the accompanying inscriptions such as inner part, detail, result, process, emphasis, and explanation. Accompanying inscriptions were used more frequently in the lower grade (3rd and 4th grades) than the higher grade (5th and 6th grades). We discussed the examples of each type in detail, and thus revealed some possible difficulties in understanding inscriptions caused by the inconsistency of the directions of the basic inscription and accompanying inscription, and by the absence of the sign linking the basic and accompanying inscriptions.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.158-169
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study was to analyze the uses of the external representations in the $3{\sim}6th$ grade science textbooks developed under the 7th National Curriculum on the basis of the theories and the research results on learning with the multiple representations. The results showed that the frequencies of the macroscopic external representations were higher than those of the symbolic external representations. The external representations with drawing and/or writing, especially writing, were used more frequently than those without drawing and/or writing. However, the most of the external representations were rarely used according to the principles and/or the theories (e.g., personalization principle, dual coding theory, cognitive load theory, and social constructivism theory) for effective uses of the multiple external representations in the science textbooks. The present study provides the guideline to establish the effective uses of the external representations in the science textbooks that not only meet learners but also teachers.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.549-557
• /
• 2014

In this study, the readability of the texts in the third and the sixth grade science textbooks developed under the 2007 revised science curriculum were analyzed in terms of word and sentence units. In the word unit analyses, the levels of the words in the texts were classified into four categories, 1st to 4th levels. In the sentence unit analyses, the sentences in the texts were classified either a simple sentence or compound/complex sentences, and the average length of the sentences was also calculated. The results indicated that more than 90 percents of the words in the 2007 revised science textbooks were classified as the 1st to the 3rd levels. However, both the kinds and the frequencies of the words in the 2007 revised science textbooks were increased in comparison of those in the 7th science textbooks. In particular, it was found that the increasement in the 3rd grade science textbook was noticeable. The ratio of the compound/complex sentences in the 2007 revised science textbooks were increased in comparison of those in the 7th science textbooks. The average length of the sentences in the 2007 revised science textbooks was also increased.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.476-486
• /
• 2005

The purpose of this study was to compare the biology parts of the elementary school science textbooks of South and North Korea. For this purpose the contents and the names of organism introduced in the textbooks are compared and analyzed. As results of this study, there are a lot of differences in the content and names of organism in the textbooks. Life science in the elemenatry school science of North Korea ($46.9\%$ in 3th grade, $32.7\%$ in 4th grade) is treated more seriously than South Korea. The most part of North Korea textbooks are occupied with the names and values of various organisms, and the using method of them. The common contents of both textbooks are only $8.54\%$ of total contents of elementary school science of South Korea. Also only 39 names of organism are introduced in the both textbooks of South and North Korea. For the science curriculums establishment after unification, it should be the most important efforts to understand the cause of these differences, and to analyze those differences in contents and organisms introduced in the textbooks of South and North Korea.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.200-210
• /
• 2003

This study is focused to characteristics of earth region vocabularies used in 7th curricula science textbooks for 3rd to 6th grades of elementary school. The numbers of earth region vocabularies are generally increased from the lower to the higher grade textbooks, ‘science’ and ‘experiments and observation’. In ‘science’ textbooks, numbers and use frequencies of earth region vocabularies are predominant in astronomy and atmospheric science vocabularies. Meanwhile, in ‘experiment and observation’, domains related with astronomy have relatively more numbers of the vocabularies but domains related with geology have higher use frequencies of those vocabularies relative to domains related with another areas. ‘Strata’ and ‘fossil’ of geology vocabularies, ‘air temperature’ of atmospheric science vocabularies and ‘sun’ and ‘planet’ of astronomy vocabularies are commonly the highest frequent in the use for science textbooks and experiment and observation. In the both books, earth region vocabularies are derived from 70% to 80% words of Chinese, below 10% of pure Korean, and rest of other languages. Additionally, cases of pure Korean vocabularies unpacked from professional nomenclatures, ones without previous explanations and multiple vocabulary applications to same phenomena are observed in the both books. Synthesizing above results, it is suggested that the reconsideration of domains related with each area of earth science and vocabulary uses assigned to above cases is necessary, in possible.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.383-395
• /
• 2006

School science is often criticized as being too remote from both learners' interests and needs and as maintaining scientist-oriented approaches rather than humanistic ones. Although science is mainly taught on the basis of textbooks inside classrooms, the learning of science can not be confined to the boundaries of curriculum and school. Firstly, this paper briefly reviews and characterizes the historical development of science education with a series of analogies, and then suggests a new analogy, a so-called 'Hearts-On' approach to science education which emphasizes the humanistic aspects and the contextual dimension of science education. Secondly, it critically examines how much traditional school science teaching, particularly in physics, is limited in terms of the context of learning (i.e. textbook, laboratory, classroom, local, and global) as well as in terms of the context of the contents (i.e. physical, personal, social, and global). Thirdly, some recent attempts initiated by the author and colleagues are explained as examples of the Hearts-On approach to science education. In particular, a series of community-based science programs led by SNU and the development of a series of books on 'Contextual Physics'(i.e. Body Physics, Wearing Physics, Dining Table Physics, and Sports Physics) are outlined. Finally, the idea of scientific humanism is explored in relation to the context-rich approaches in science education. It is hoped that this paper helps us to reconsider how we can expand the world of science education beyond the boundaries of the curriculum and school and into a more humanistic one.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.539-544
• /
• 1998

The consistency and balance of objectives by objective domains in units, sub-units and instructional units were investigated. The 6th elementary biology curricular teaching guidebooks were analysed. Domains of objectives are cognitive, inquiry process, instrumental skill, creative, affective and STS. Cognitive objectives were most dominant in all units, sub-units and instructional units. But no objective for creative domain were suggested. In unit and sub-unit, proportions of objectives were cognitive, inquiry process, affective, instrumental skill and STS domains in order. Objectives for cognitive and inquiry process domains were more than others in instructional units, Except cognitive and inquiry process domains, objectives for the others were not consistent in all units, sub-units and instructional units. Especially, the percentages of objectives for affective domain decreased in units, sub-units and instructional units orderly. These resulted from teaching objective domains categorized formally, Thus, it is necessary to develope curriculum and textbook to be consistent and balanced with objective domains and reflect upon the characteristics of them.