• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.68-85
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to understand science teaching experiences of elementary school teachers who taught the system thinking-based science inquiry class. The phenomenological methods were applied to analyze four elementary teachers' meaningful experiences. The four step methods of phenomenological experience research proposed by Giorgi (1985) and interview questions developed by Seidman (1998) and Schuman (1982) were used in order to collect qualitative data. The major findings of this study were as follows: First, teachers intentionally tried to ask divergent thinking questions which promoted the system thinking in classes. The teachers used divergent thinking questions to promote their students' thinking activities and to induce students' system thinking. In addition, the receptive mood created by teachers and interactive environments had a positive effect on promoting system thinking skills. Second, teachers remarked lack of teaching and learning materials and difficulties in selecting themes of their classes in order to teach the system thinking-based science inquiry class effectively. In addition, it was very difficult for teachers to evaluate the contents and processes of students' learning correctly because there were little evaluative tools and methods readily available. The findings indicated that there were some limitations in maximizing the effects of system thinking-based science inquiry instruction due to elementary students' inappropriate process skills of inquiry activities. Findings of this study revealed significant insights about elementary school teachers' experiences regarding the system thinking-based science class.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1084-1096
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• 2010

In this study, class criticism by elementary school teachers was analyzed on the subject of science classes by beginner teachers. And then the viewpoints and characteristics of the class criticism were investigated. Teachers for class criticism consisted of six members, including two each of low- and high-career teachers. The viewpoints were analyzed in comparison with all the teachers. The subject of class criticism was 'Activity of leaves in plants', which is in the seventh unit of the science textbook for fifth grade elementary students of the first semester. The result of this study was as follows. Teachers criticized the science class mainly with three codes of viewpoints: motivation, inquiry focused on student, and summary of the results, where viewpoints consisted of 18 codes. They criticized the class by factors on a standard checklist and their criticism was characterized by partial situation and context. Low-career teachers criticized the class with the viewpoint in sympathy with the beginner teachers and criticized the class with the viewpoint of recollecting their teaching experience as beginners. While high-career teachers criticized the class mainly overall situations rather than specific matters. The result of this study can be used as basic data for a program of professional development and teacher education for science classes.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.162-174
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate the types of questions raised by pre-service elementary teachers when planning a science class utilizing smart technology and the characteristics of their lesson plans. For this purpose, lesson plans and questions written by the 96 pre-service teachers were collected. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: (1) Pre-service teachers used simulation apps, information offering apps, clicker evaluation apps, astronomical observation apps. Simulation apps and clicker evaluation apps were used the most in the introduction stage of the class, simulation apps in the development stage, and clicker evaluation apps in the finishing stage. (2) In the lesson plans, the activities that elementary school students use smart technology showed more than those used by teachers, and its characteristics were more prominent in the development stage of the class. (3) As for the content type of smart technology, experience type was the highest, followed by tool type and resource type. In comparison, there were relatively few interaction support types and learning opportunity extensions. (4) There were many cases in which pre-service teachers replaced elementary school students with virtual experiences using experience type instead of providing opportunities to experiment or experience directly. (5) Pre-service teachers asked various questions while planning science class utilizing smart technology, and a total of 25 question types appeared in 7 categories.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.329-341
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of instructional strategies using the process of procedural thinking in elementary science classes on students' computational thinking and creative problem solving ability. For this purpose, instructional strategies using the process of procedural thinking for science class were developed and applied. The objects of this study were 6th graders from an experimental class (29 students) and a comparative class (29 students) at S elementary school in Gimpo City. The results of the study are as follows: First, as a result of examining the difference in the computational thinking ability between experimental group and comparative group, the experimental group scored higher than the comparative group, but there was no statistically significant difference. Second, the creative problem solving ability of the experimental group after applying this program was higher, and statistically significant differences were observed (p < .05).

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.754-770
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• 2022

For teachers, noticing refers to paying attention to something, indicating they interpret it and how they are willing to react to it in the context of their own instruction. Analysis of noticing features enables us to understand the overall characteristics of the teacher's lesson design, practice, and reflection, which are core agents in the educational design and implementation. This can also be taken to be the basis of education design for competency reinforcement for teachers. Therefore, in this study, the characteristics of noticing shown in teachers' reflections after class design and demonstration were identified. For this purpose, the self-reflection journals of 106 elementary pre-service teachers enrolled in the College of Education in Gangwon-do were analyzed. In particular, the journals were gathered that were written after the demonstration dealing with the change of gas volume by temperature in science class. After designing a noticing analysis frame consisting of the five dimensions 'agent', 'stage', 'topic', 'focus', and 'stance', the frequency and ratio of noticing by each dimension's components were derived. The frequency and ratio of noticing for the dimension of 'focus' were analyzed for the dimensions of 'stage' and 'topic'. The results of the study were as follows. For the dimension of 'agent', the frequency of teacher and student was the highest, and for the dimension of 'stage', inquiry activity was the highest. For the 'topic' dimension, class design according to the teaching strategy appeared most frequently, and in the 'focus' dimension, the cases that did not specify the goal of the class and the competencies to be achieved by the students appeared most frequently. In the 'stance' dimension, description showed the highest frequency. From the analysis of how the 'focus' changes according to the 'stage' and 'topic', it was found that a characteristic focus appeared for each component of the dimension. From these results, the implications of the noticing characteristics of pre-service teachers for the design and implementation of teacher education were discussed.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.158-169
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• 2024

This study investigated the effects of climate change project learning on elementary students' attitudes toward climate change and environmental literacy. Climate change project learning was conducted on 174 sixth-grade elementary school students in a metropolitan city (77 male, 97 female), after which their perceptions and attitudes toward climate change and environmental literacy were assessed. The climate change project learning had a positive effect on the students' perceptions and attitudes toward climate change, which was surmised because of the climate change content sharing and discussions during the project learning. The climate change project learning also had a positive effect on the students' environmental literacy, especially their environmental attitudes, values, and behavior; however, there were no statistically significant changes found for environmental sensitivity. This study highlights the educational effects and implications of environmentally focused climate change projectbased education for elementary school students.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.136-147
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• 2024

It has recently be emphasized in science education that lessons that can develop "scientific participation and action" should be implemented to scientifically recognize various problems and respond to them as well as risks that occur in real life. This study aims to analyze the characteristics of scientific participation and action lessons as perceived by the preservice primary school teachers. To do that, the researchers collected and analyzed the lesson plans designed by the preservice teachers based on the achievement standard related to noise for grades 3-4 in 2022 revised science curriculum. Focusing on the stages of "problem recognition," "data collection and analysis," and "implementation and sharing," the results identity the four main characteristics as problem-solving activity, inquiry activity, investigative activity, and activity that encourages practical actions. The two or three features were found to be combinated in a lesson depending on its context. In some cases, only one feature was seen in a lesson. Based on the results, educational implications were discussed in terms of the teaching and learning methods and teacher education for implementing scientific participation and action.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.389-403
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• 2015

The goal of this study were to look into the elementary school teacher's experience in the self-review of science class and analyze the changes of reflection level revealed in it. This study was a qualitative example research where two elementary school teachers participated and performed self-review via reflective writings regarding their science classes. Both teachers showed changes in aspect and frequency of review to a certain extend by reflective writings based on their class experience and the educational settings they are at. They all revealed a high level of changes on reflection by the feedback from the class reviews. Affirmative changes of cognition on science class and the perception of factors affecting the practice of the class such as understanding students, class observation of the peer teachers et al. contributed to the elevation of reflection level by continuously adjusting and complementing the practical knowledge through the reflection during or after the class.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.68 no.4
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• pp.221-234
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Argument-based Inquiry approach on elementary school students' critical thinking in elementary school science class. For this purpose, 23 students from two 5th grade elementary school classes in a metropolitan city were selected. One class (11 students) was assigned as the experimental group which Argument-based inquiry approach on 10 topics were applied. To determine the impact of Argument-based Inquiry approach on critical thinking, we analyzed the results of critical thinking tests before and after class and recordings of the discussion process of students in the experimental group. As a result of the critical thinking analysis, the average score of the experimental group in the deduction section was statistically and significantly higher than that of the comparative group. And as a result of analysis of recordings of the discussion process, students used deductive reasoning more often than inductive reasoning, and their use of this reasoning increased significantly at the claim·evidence stage.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.66-79
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• 2022

This study attempts to find out how science classes using VR content affect students' scientific attitudes and spatial senses. For 4th and 5th graders of an elementary school, a comparative class and an experimental class were set up for each grade, and a total of 11 classes were conducted for each grade. Before and after class treatment, pre- and post-tests were conducted on scientific attitudes and spatial sensations, and interviews with students were conducted during class. After all the classes for the research unit were completed, a survey was conducted to find out the changes in students' perceptions. As results of this study show, it was found that science classes applying virtual reality (VR) content have positive effects on students' scientific attitudes and spatial ability.