• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.445-453
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• 2015

In 2005, descriptive assessment was introduced to increase students’ higher mental ability like problem-solving ability and creativity. Every year the ratio of descriptive assessment increases and it is regarded as an alternative evaluation to a multiple-choice item which measures simplicity knowledge. Externally the descriptive assessment took a root in school, but we can’t say definitely that it meets its original goal. In this paper, science descriptive assessment items of 5 middle schools in Gyeonggi-do were analysed; examiners was interviewed about how well they understood the characteristic of the assessment items. According to the analysis, characteristic of the items are ① unequal distribution of unit, ② difference of item’s type by unit, and ③ disappearance of measuring higher mental ability. It is considered that there are several factors of these characteristic - the lack of teachers’ ability to make assessment item; understanding of assessment instrument. These factors can be explained by the lack of assessment expertise. So the society’s effort is needed to raise teacher’s ability for the descriptive assessment.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.314-328
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• 1996

This study investigated the literature about science process skills' evaluation to analyse transition of evaluation objectives before and after a Scholastic Ability Test for College Entrance. In the literature survey the researcher established a 3 dimensional science assessment framework with X axis as science concept, Y axis as science process skills and Z axis as problem context. In order to analysis and compare each items the researcher selected 210 items from the 1st to the 7th trials and 138 items from the 1st to 4th Scholastic Ability Test for College Entrance and sampled 2873 science achievement test items from 10 high schools. In accordance with this taxonomy the researcher analysed and compared science process skills item forms. The following results were drawn : The items were evenly distributed in all the four areas(Earth Science, Biology, Physics and Chemistry) of the science concept domain, but they were heavily concentrated on data analysis and drawing a conclusion in science process domain. In the domain of problem context school context was the majority. In spite of distribution like this the ratio on science process skills measurement items and science achievement test items was increased after the Scholastic Ability Test for College Entrance was given. Also the ratio on item expression type was increased. Item form was almost 5 options selection type in the national level test. Although there were 4 options selection type, 5 options selection type, short answer type, essay type in school level test, rising from 33.1% to 65.5% on 5 options selection type is exhibited. This study showed that the school level item form was better various than the nation level. This point like this is the evidence for the improvement toward the science process skills test and influenced by Scholastic Ability Test for College Entrance. The ratio on the item which joined with the 3 axes had a mean of 99.3% in nation level test and mean 44.9% in school achievement test level. But the ratio in the school achievement test level increased after the Scholastic Ability Test for College Entrance was given. In view of this study we must furthermore study the item types which can evaluate valjdately science process skill's five stage each and evaluation method by the high school students' problem solving patterns and features in scientific inquiry on all science process skills elements.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.988-1001
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• 2010

The purpose of this research was to investigate how the peer review activity of lab report in the problem-solving experiment effected on the description ability and the quality improvement. The students who were taking the general chemistry experiment course were the subjects for this study. They finished lab reports and received peer review from their peers more than two times. The students who got feedback answered on peer review, revised their reports, and subsequently, completed final reports. The result showed that peer review affected the qualitative improvement of the lab report, specially in the process of 'designing experiment' and 'drawing conclusion and evaluation'. Students could organize their thoughts through writing lab reports. During this process, peer review activities provided the opportunity of self-examination and the way for viewing as objective standpoint. Moreover, the activities established communication fields for exchanging mutual opinions and learning.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to examine how online knowledge-based search service is being used by students in science education. Reviewing information and summarizing data are important parts in scientific inquiry. As more and more information is available online, how to review and summarize online information for scientific inquiry also becomes an issue. In this study, we examined one of the popular online knowledge-based search services to see what kinds of information in secondary school chemistry are mostly sought and how reliable those information could be. The result indicated that users mostly seek scientific explanations and problem solving but about 30% of provided information appeared to be incorrect. It implicates that it is necessary to pay attention for teaching students how to obtain, evaluate, and communicate online information in science education to enhance students' ability for scientific inquiry.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.61-77
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to analyze the items that were used in entrance examination for science gifted education center for middle school students by using content analysis and classical item analysis. In content analysis, objective type items exhibited mathematics and physics were dominant. Science giftedness & creativity items were dominant. And essay type items consisted of physics items, have evaluated creative problem solving ability. Item difficulty and discrimination index, on the whole, were appropriate. Comparing with objective type, essay type has higher discrimination index. In correlation analysis between total score and score of each type of items, total score has the highest correlation with essay type items and science giftedness & creativity. It was recommended that mathematics, physics and chemistry items with focusing giftedness & creativity could give some implications for future selection methods of science gifted education center.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.283-290
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• 2004

The purpose of this study were to develop of courseware using scaffolding strategy and to investigate the effect of courseware instruction upon students' conceptual understanding and affective domain including effort and self-checking. 10th grade students in the experimental and control groups were selected from high school at Cheongwon-gun in Chungbuk, and taught about chemical reaction rate for 3 class hours. The students in the experimental group studied individually through courseware using scaffolding strategy and worksheet and teacher-centered expository lesson was used in the control group. Prior to the instructions, test specification for problem-solving assessment (TSPSA) was administered and the scores of the previous science achievement test were obtained. After the instructions, the posttest on conceptual understanding and TSPSA were administered. Results of this study revealed that the mean score of the experimental group in the conceptual understanding test was similar to that of the control group at statistically significant level. This result implies that the courseware using scaffolding strategy could be a tool of the individualized instruction. The experimental group improved significantly better in three components of the TSPSA such as effort, self-checking, and cognitive strategy. From this result, it is considered that learners' self regulation is improved by being taken over responsibility of learning. So, it is suggested that instruction using scaffolding strategy is needed in science class to improve self-leading learning ability.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.291-305
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to survey the perceptions of the elementary school teachers on the smallscale chemistry(SSC) following its training session. The teachers participating in the survey were 266 teachers in the Gyeongnam province. They were given a questionnaire that focused on the nine areas of the SSC: Needs for the teacher training and its application, its benefits, issues of safety and danger as well as treatment of environmental pollution, its economic efficiency and the development of investigative skills. The designed questionnaire was checked by an authority, and the responses to each question were tallied and analyzed. The results are as follows. The biggest problems of the traditional experimental methods as rated by the teachers were, in the order of importance, the preparation time, the legal liability of teachers for the safety and accidents, financial issues, disposal of the experimental wastes and the lack of relevant data. Since most of the teachers had not experienced the SSC lab programs in the field, they responded positively to the questions of need for its introduction and training. The implementation of the experimental SSC lab programs should proceed in the following order: introduction into the textbook, teacher training program, after-school education and the invitation of instructors. The most useful materials for the SSC program were CDs, videos, books and various printed materials, in that order. The responses regarding benefits of the SSC program included its simplicity, convenience, time savings, diversity, qualitative and quantitative aspects, integration into the regular class and use of toys. In particular, the teachers mentioned the increased safety due to the small amount of experimental reagents needed and the durability of plastic instruments. The familarity from the use of everyday tools as well as easy access to and the low-cost of the instruments were other important benefits. The teachers in general rated the educational content of the program highly, but many also found it to be average. Some pointed out the lack of sufficient discussion due to the individual or pair groupings as a potential shortcoming. The potential for development of problem solving ability and improvement of skills was rated positively. The number of teacher who rated the development of creativity positively was just over the half. As for the area of improving investigative skills, many found its assessment difficult and confusing because of the lack of its systemic definition and categorization. Based on the findings of this study, I would like to recommend the application and a wider dissemination of the small-scale chemistry lab program into the elementary school science curriculum.