• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2006

The language and the gestures of a teacher, generally, have a great influence on the effect of a lesson. This is because subject content is transferred to students by teachers' language and gestures. In the science lessons which focus on experiments, the language and gestures of both students and teachers will help the learning of scientific content. However, the role of gestures, despite its importance, has rarely been investigated in science education research. The role of gestures of students and teachers is a much needed area of study. This study investigated the gestures observed in the experimental process performed by students who participated in a science exploration activity. Students' gestures play an essential role in the successful performance of the experiment. and they could function as a process of solving the contradictory situation. In addition, the demonstration and the communication of gestures should be performed very cautiously. There were a number of implications for the long-standing problem of the relation between the understanding of science concepts and the performance of experiments.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.957-969
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• 2002

Theoretical benefits and research findings on the use of Microcomputer-based Laboratory (MBL) are considered for using MBL in a way that will be of benefit to students and teachers, and discussed as a whole for further synthesis, including the formulation of a research agenda for future consensus-based action. Based on the findings obtained from a comprehensive review of the literature, using a systematic approach, the uses of MBL were compared and contrasted for advancing understanding of the teaching and learning processes in science and mathematics. A number of benefits were proposed by MBL developers but not investigated by educational researchers. A few research studies considered the following practical aspects raised by classroom science teachers: technical problems of MBL equipment; inaccuracy or incompleteness of presentation; efficient ways for handling class time with MBL instruction; and development of MBL curriculum materials for their own instruction. This lack of research related to the use of MBL in science classrooms resulted in educational research that was neither respected nor utilized by science teachers. Setting a research agenda based on the theoretical benefits and research findings is necessary for the effective use of MBL in science classrooms can help to maximize the prospects for successful school improvement projects while minimizing the innovation-related frustrations of individuals.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.201-209
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for evaluating quality of the web site about elementary science education. Eight experienced specialists (three elementary science education specialists and five elementary school teachers engaging) in elementary science education verified content validity twice. The evaluation criteria for elementary school science were considering aspects of the characteristic and the quality of web site. The evaluation criteria can be categorized as being in five areas, fifty-seven items. The five areas were a purpose, a credibility, an efficiency, a data-type, an interactivity. Four web sites were analyzed for the subject of this study. Evaluators were nine elementary school teachers, who were educated in the use of instrument. The developed evaluation instrument in this study is considered valid and reliable. The content validity is 91.1%, and the reliability has a Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ of .82. The developed evaluation instrument in this study will verify the quality of web site, provide teachers and students with efficient information about elementary science education. In addition it suggests guidelines about design and devise web site to instructional developer or subject-matter expert.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.115-127
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• 2012

This is a survey research which investigated perceptions of 85 elementary and secondary school science teachers on inter-disciplinary teaching in general. It is expected that the results of this survey will help to find out the necessity, the appropriate time, the proper approach and the obstacles of inter-disciplinary education. Results indicated that 49.5% of the teachers were aware of inter-disciplinary teaching and 61.2% of the teachers agreed with the necessity of implementing inter-disciplinary strategy. However, considering difficulties in objective assessment and burdens of college entrance exam preparation, they responded that inter-disciplinary teaching could be more appropriate and feasible to be implemented for lower graders at elementary schools than secondary school students. Of the answers to the integrated approaches, 57.6% of teachers chose the theme-based approach, and 16.5% chose the problem-based approach. When they chose the theme-based approach, they stated the reason of educational readiness. On the other hand, when they chose the problem-based approach, they stated the reason of educational obligation which assumes that a problem solving needs inter-disciplinary approach. The teachers also selected 'lack of knowledge on other subjects' and 'lack of time to prepare teaching materials' as major predicaments in implementing inter-disciplinary approach. This suggests that there needs a clear and specific teaching strategy along with a guidance to teaching materials for inter-disciplinary teaching.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.1489-1501
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to search for effective strategies on teaching open-inquiry by comparing students' and teachers' recognition of its difficulties and helpful strategies. This study focused on the cases of science high school students and their teachers, who carried out open-inquiry to participate in KYPT. This research was conducted through participant observation, questionnaires, and interviews. The research findings were as follows: students stated that planning and doing experiments were the most difficult parts, whereas teachers viewed that their students had difficulties in analyzing data and making a conclusion. With respect to the effective strategy, students stated that they gained many ideas from peer discussions although they have had to carry out their individual tasks. On the contrary, teachers thought that reference materials and the discussions with teachers were most helpful. There were clear differences between students' and their teachers' recognition toward open-inquiry and the gap needs to be closed. Consequently, it would be useful to guide students to form teams and to spend more time in peer discussions especially when doing experiments and to encourage teachers to understand students' actual difficulties and needs.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.721-741
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• 2010

This study was to analyze verbal interactions between teachers and students after observations on teachers' questioning and feedback, students' response types and frequency analysis at middle-school class of average and gifted students. As for the verbal interaction between teachers and students of science class of general students, it was dominant for teachers to utilize questions for summarizing or guiding for textbook contents as they are. They were focused on immediate feedback in a restatement form. The students used simple responses like yes/no in general. The most high frequency of verbal interaction models expressed were in the order of cognitive-memory thinking question-short answer-immediate feedback. On the other hand, teachers of gifted students' science class threw divergent and evaluative thinking questions of open question, such as 'what's the reason?' or 'why is it?' Immediate feedback in explanatory form was mainly provided as well. The level of feedback delay was higher than general class and that of immediate feedback was lower than general class. The students preferred short words or a not-complicated sentence when they replied and their participation was more attentive and positive. Hence, The high frequency of verbal interaction models expressed were in order of cognitive-memory thinking questions－elaborative short answer－delayed feedback.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.501-520
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• 2022

Considering the importance of spatial thinking in the process of learning astronomy, it is necessary to educate pre-service teachers on teaching methods that consider spatial thinking from the teacher training program stage. Accordingly, after providing education on spatial thinking to pre-service science teachers, problems and improvement plans perceived by them were explored for the images and inquiry activities of astronomy textbook units. In this study, spatial thinking in the astronomical domain was defined as the amalgam of the concepts of space, representation tools, and reasoning processes. The juniors attending the University of Education in the metropolitan area were educated on spatial thinking for two weeks in October 2021. They were then asked to voluntarily select one of the astronomy units to analyze problems in the textbooks and present modification plans to address those problems. Finally, 33 cases presented by 22 pre-service science teachers were analyzed, and the results of the study were as follows. Pre-service teachers recognized the problems in textbooks in terms of the concepts of space and reasoning processes, and proposed improvement plans to supplement them. However, in some cases, even if pre-service teachers properly recognized a problem, the improvement plan was not appropriate, or they were not able to analyze the images or inquiry activities in terms of spatial thinking. This study is significant in that it shows that pre-service teachers have the potential to properly reorganize and revise textbooks by participating in teacher training programs on spatial thinking. Furthermore, based on the results of this study, the direction of the teacher training program concerning spatial thinking was discussed.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.170-184
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• 2024

This study focused on the practical research needed to improve elementary school science lesson plans. Specifically, a video clip-based pedagogical reasoning activity that included elementary student misconceptions was presented and the influences of this activity on preservice teachers' science lesson planning were assessed. First, the eight preservice teacher participants were asked to write a lesson plan for a dissolution and solution unit, after which a first semi-structured interview was conducted. Then, the participants participated in a video clip-based pedagogical reasoning activity. Based on the activity results, the participants revised their previously planned lessons, and second semi-structured interviews were conducted. The data from the preservice teachers' lesson plans and interview transcripts were analyzed using a constant comparative method to investigate the lesson plan changes. It was found that after the video clip-based pedagogical reasoning activity, the preservice teacher tightened the activity or changed the material to understand the students' thinking processes. In addition, they supplemented their goals and assessment criteria to accommodate the diverse students' thinking. Some also specified motivational strategies that considered student interests, motivation, and possible misconceptions. However, some preservice teachers still set goals that did not sufficiently account for student misconceptions and some planned the student assessments based only on the learning goals rather than the students' thinking. The few preservice teachers were able to develop motivational strategies that considered interest, motivation, and misconceptions. The preservice teachers claimed that they had difficulty predicting the misconceptions and connecting these to the lesson content. Discussions were then held to assist the preservice teachers to consider possible student misconceptions when planning their lessons.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.301-311
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• 2024

We developed a small-group training program for in-service teachers focused on scientific modeling. We collected the discourses of the teachers who participated in the activity and analyzed them by type. The training program employed a collaborative approach in which a small group completed tasks and produced outputs based on the theme of 'galaxies and the Universe' to enable practical application in classes. Three in-service science teachers participated in the training program. Their discourses were recorded, transcribed, and classified into types based on individual turns and interaction units. The language expressions of the teachers reflected the unique characteristics of the teaching profession, with each participant having preferred language expression types, albeit with a generally low prevalence of specific language expression types across the participants. Differences in discourse characteristics related to the modeling theme, task presentation method, and model types, revealed that variations in the proportion of interaction unit types during the modeling design, build, and evaluation stages were primarily influenced by the teachers' familiarity with the modeling theme. While the task presentation method also influenced interaction types, model types had little impact on the distribution of interaction types. Considering these findings, training programs on modeling for in-service teachers should include a checklist to encourage sufficient interaction between participants as well as propose proper questions that can be effectively addressed through collaboration.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.341-353
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to explore how science teachers' views about physics and biology are different. From a survey of 45 science teachers who majored in physics, this study found that their views about physics were closer to the experts' views than their views about biology. But it seemed that their views about neither physics nor biology were similar to the experts' views. Compared their views about physics with their views about biology in six dimensions, in four dimensions including structure dimension, methodology dimension, validity dimension, and reflective thinking dimension, the scores of the views about physics were higher, in learnability dimension, the scores of the views about biology were higher, and in personal relevance dimension, the scores of the two kinds of views were similar. Specially the their views about physics in learnability dimension were closer to novices'. In addition, science teachers majored in physics seemed to think that compared with biology, physics is coherent, systematic and reasoning, but it is not learnable.