• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.675-686
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• 2004

The enhancement of the quality of the teaching practice is a major factor in securing better schooling opportunities for students. In this article, initial teacher preparation of secondary school Earth science teachers, in-service science teacher education, and improving teacher policy are discussed. Data from in-depth interviews with exemplary science teachers were used to explore how to improve the quality of science teacher education in Korea. In terms of preservice teacher education, most exemplary teachers contended that teacher education programs should provide preservice teachers with practical knowledge by translating theory into practice. Their suggestions for how to improve in-service education are also discussed. Regarding directions of improving teacher policy in Korea, the teachers proposed an alternative teacher-promotion structure that incorporates the master-teacher position. Implications for introducing action research courses into teacher (re)education programs are also discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.201-212
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• 2007

This study examined the influences of current education programs for preservice chemistry teachers upon preservice science teachers' self-images as science teachers by using Draw-A-Science-Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT-C). Seventy-two juniors and fifty-three seniors were selected from the department of chemistry education or department of science education (chemistry major) in three colleges of education. DASTT-C was administered to the juniors before having science education courses, and to the seniors before and after teaching practices. The results revealed that preservice science teachers' self-images as science teachers were more ‘teacher-centered' than ‘student-centered'. Only a few preservice science teachers exhibited ‘student-centered' images after having science education courses including the contents on constructivism. The self-images of some preservice science teachers even changed from ‘student-centered' to ‘teacher-centered' after having teaching practices. Many preservice science teachers answered that the main factors affected to their self-images as science teachers were prior teaching-learning experiences and/or the lim itations in the real situations. Educational implications of these findings are discussed.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.61-70
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• 2011

In this study, we examined the types and the characteristics of elementary school teachers' strategies for coping with critical incidents in science classes. Teachers' epistemological beliefs about science were then investigated on the bases of the types of their coping strategies. The teachers (N=107) in 23 elementary schools were asked to respond to an open-ended question about the critical incidents they had experienced in science classes and how to cope with them. Seven types of coping strategies were identified as follows: avoiding, reinterpretation, adjusting, prevaricating, justifying, exploring, and explaining. Among them, adjusting and justifying were the major strategies. In order to classify teachers' epistemological beliefs about science, their coping strategies were grouped into four categories such as transferring facts, constructing facts, transferring meanings, and constructing meanings. The results indicated that most teachers still possessed traditional epistemological beliefs about science. The potential of critical incidents as a probe for revealing teachers' epistemological beliefs about science is discussed.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.437-451
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• 2013

This study was conducted as a part of the project to establish professional development system(PDS) for teachers in Korea. This study aimed to provide a case of running a professional learning community(PLC) of teachers in science education based on the collaboration of a national university of education and its affiliated elementary school, in search of learning by participants and implications for professional development of teachers as well as for science teaching in elementary schools. Teachers and researchers who participated in the PLC were able to accumulate meaningful experiences through 11 rounds of meetings. It was not easy to secure enough time for meetings, but they were able to boost their self-confidence for science teaching and enhance the quality of lessons through these gatherings. Participating teachers had a chance to share instructional design, planning, strategies and practices, which include cases of guiding free-choice research activities among students, thereby to be motivated for improved science teaching for the future. The researcher participating in this PLC was also able to understand the identity of an elementary school, especially the affiliated school, and identify the reality and difficulties related to science teaching in schools. Experiences of participating in PLC are expected to help improve the quality of science teaching in affiliated elementary school and pre-service teacher education of the university.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.407-418
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to survey the problem of teachers' narrative reporting of children's science learning in elementary school report cards. For the purposes of this study, a questionnaire, comprised of 6 questions and an analysis tool (Cronbach's $\alpha=.70$) were developed to categorize the answers. The survey was conducted by 53 teachers, who are currently taking 5th ade in elementary school, and the results are as follows: First, they interpreted the same content of report cards in a variety of different ways. Second, they exhibited a number of different principles and criteria in terms of preparing the content of narrative report cards. Third, they experienced difficulties in preparing narrative report cards on science teaming which required explanation of complete processes. Fourth, most teachers surveyed answered that the content of their narrative reports on science learning did not communicate specifically the students' achievement and further studies. Fifth, the activities related to preparing the content of the science learning on narrative reports was widely perceived to be useless for teachers' professional development. Finally, teachers made a number of alternative proposals to overcome the current, perceived problems of teachers' narrative reporting for children's science learning in report cards. Based on the results of this analysis, alternative forms and content of narrative reports on science learning were discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.572-581
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• 2000

Teachers' perceptions about curricular objectives are very important to achieve given educational objectives. This study examined teachers' perceptions about priority and hinderance of science objectives. The national science curriculum stated four areas of objectives: inquiry, knowledge, attitude, and STS. A total of 76 elementary and 217 secondary teachers were responded to questionnaire developed for this study. Non-parametric statistics, such as Friedman test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and chi-square test were used by using SPSS/PC program. Teachers in general ranked the inquiry first among the four areas at their perception on the national curriculum, on themselves, and on their instructions. Elementary teachers ranked inquiry higher than secondary science teachers, while secondary science teachers ranked knowledge higher than elementary teachers. As factors hindering teachers from achiving the objectives, elementary teachers pointed out overcrowded classroom and secondary science teachers pointed out college and university entrance examination respectively.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.544-556
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate the change in beginning science teachers' inquiry-oriented teaching practice through mentoring program. Participants in this study are three mentor teachers and three beginning teachers. The three beginning teachers are middle school science teachers who have less than four years teaching experience. Also three science teachers participated in the program as mentors, who have more than twelve years teaching experience. We collected data such as video recordings of beginning teachers' classes, lesson plans, recordings of one to one mentoring and RTOP class observation reports. Mentor teachers observed and analyzed five classes of each beginning teacher. Before the mentoring program, beginning teachers' teaching methods were more concept-oriented and teacheroriented. They rarely used inquiry-elements including prediction, reasoning, hypothesizing and students were not actively engaged in communicative interactions in a classroom. But during the mentoring program, these teachers recognized and responded to student diversity and encouraged all students to participate in science learning. Beginning teachers' teaching methods have changed to become student-oriented, teachers and students collaborated in pursuit of ideas, and students often initiated new activities relevant to an inquiry. As a result, this mentoring program provided beginning teachers the opportunities to reflect on their own teaching and reform their classes. The results show that school-centered mentoring program is helpful to enhance beginning science teachers' inquiry-oriented teaching ability.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.245-255
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• 2012

The purposes of this research are to analyze preservice elementary teachers' degree of difficulty in classes of seasonal variation and suggest the measures of classes so that preservice elementary teachers can progress classes of seasonal variation effectively. To achieve them, the research was conducted for 90 first graders completing teaching method of elementary science in P university of education from Sep. to Dec. 2012. This research was conducted, based on the results of in-depth interview for 9 preservice elementary teachers who performed classes of seasonal variation, survey on the degree of class difficulty and evaluation of classes on 8 classes theme of Earth sector in elementary science. The results of this research are as follows. The first, preservice elementary teachers had relatively high class difficulty for teaching seasonal variation among the sector of the earth in elementary science. The second, in the evaluation of preservice elementary teachers' classes, the more the subject showed high class difficulty, the more the score of class evaluation was low. The reason is analyzed that high class difficulty reduces teacher's confidence. The third, preservice elementary teachers had insufficient knowledges and concepts which are basically necessary for the classes of seasonal variation. Especially, it was more serious for preservice elementary teachers who didn't learn Earth-science during their high school time. The fourth, it is necessery that concrete and systematical teaching method should be developed so as to improving preservice elementary teachers' teaching method for the classes of seasonal variation.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.267-276
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to explore factors influencing kindergarten teachers' science anxiety. The subjects were 182 kindergarten teachers. The career, educational background, scientific literacy, science-related experience, type of kindergarten, age of classroom students, science supporting environment of kindergarten, and students' interest in science were examined as possible factors affecting teachers' science anxiety. The results showed that the science-related experience, science supporting environment of kindergarten, and students' interest in science were related to the teachers' science anxiety. However, the most important factor influencing kindergarten teachers' science anxiety was science-related experience. These results can be interpreted that positive science experiences affect decreasing teachers' science anxiety

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.219-229
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• 1993

The purpose of this study is to investigate college science students' and science teachers' understanding of chromosomal behavior in the context of cell division. The research problems were as follows: 1. What is the level of college science students' understandings of chromosomal behaviors? 2. What is the level of science teachers' understandings of chromosomal behaviors? 3. What is the level of understanding by grade and major area? The sample consisted of 28 sophomore, 17 junior and 23 senior biology students; and 23 middle school science teachers and 14 high school biology teachers. The instrument of the study was a short answer required paper and pencil test. The results of the study were as follows: 1) About 15 percent of the sample could not count the number of chromosome in a cell in appropriate. 2) Seventy percent of the students, and 80 percent of the teachers identified homologous chromosomes as ones with the similar shape and size, and 30 percent of the whole sample could not pair two homologous chromosomes. 3) About 70 percent of the students and 30 percent of the teachers could not mark corresponding allele on chromosome. 4) Biology major students showed higher understanding of overall chromosomal behaviors than non Biology students. Based upon the results, some implications were made. The major one was a development of a teaching model in which students can improve the ability to connect chromosome theory to mendelian genetics.