• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.144-154
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• 2003

This study investigated the common features of the best practices in the science classroom, which is the core of school education. The underlying assumption of this research is that the fulfillment of school education is possible with substantial instruction of school curricular areas. The substantial learning of any curricular area depends on each classroom lesson. Data from classroom observations in-depth interviews with teachers and a group of students, a collection of instructional materials were used to extract common characteristics of best practices implemented by 10 exemplary secondary-school science teachers. Common features of best science practices were analyzed in terms of (1)reorganization of science content, (2)pedagogical skills, (3)evaluation, and (4)teachers' efforts for professional development. Results indicated that exemplary science teachers adapted curriculum and textbook content according to students' level and learning context, were able to use a variety of instructional methods and strategies, provided cooperative and intellectually challenging learning environment, and improved their instruction based on assessment results. Also, these exemplary teachers not only improved their own classroom practices, but also participated actively in various professional community of science teachers to share their practical knowledge with their colleagues. They took an active role in teachers' in-service education.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.117-127
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• 2003

This qualitative research investigated how to improve preservice and in-service teacher education programs through in-depth interviews with 10 exemplary science teachers. Data from interviews were used to analyze how the teachers perceived current situations of teacher education and what they suggested as an improvement plan. In terms of preservice teacher education, exemplary teachers argued that teacher education programs should (1) ensure the teacher education program's identity and goals, (2) provide preservice teachers with practical knowledge by translating theory into practice, and (3) secure faculty members who majored in science education. In light of in-service education, the teachers contended that (1) teachers should acknowledge the continuing processes of their own professional development, (2) the content and method of in-service training should incorporate teachers' practical needs in the classroom, and (3) the teaching community should implement a clinical supervision to improve their classroom practices. The central role of teacher (re)education in a successful classroom reform is also discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.349-357
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to consider the implications of science experiment in class and to seek a direction for its improvement. For this purpose, Science textbooks, teachers' cognitions, and classroom activities have been analyzed to find out how many and what kind of levels of inquiry elements are included in those. In this study, 22 teachers have participated in the questionnaire to investigate their perception about experiment class, and the two instruction cases in two classes of 9th grade have also been analyzed. Results show that most of the textbooks have included questioning, evidence collecting, explanation of phenomena, and connection with existing scientific knowledge. But the elements of communication and justification have been few. Most levels of the inquiry are teacher-led. Although the teachers thought communication and justification are important, their classroom activities does not coalesce with their thoughts. The students mostly spend their time with connecting evidence, they hardly explain the phenomenon based on the proofs as the results of experiment, and the activities of connection with the existing scientific knowledge, and communication and justification.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.137-173
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• 2021

Research and national standards, such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in the United States, promote the development and implementation of K-12 interdisciplinary curricula integrating the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (STEM+CS). However, little research has explored how teachers provide epistemic support in interdisciplinary contexts or the factors that inform teachers' epistemic support in STEM+CS activities. The goal of this paper is to articulate how interdisciplinary instruction complicates epistemic knowledge and resources needed for teachers' instructional decision-making. Toward these ends, this paper builds upon existing models of teachers' instructional decision-making in individual STEM+CS disciplines to highlight specific challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary approaches on classroom epistemic supports. First, we offer considerations as to how teachers can provide epistemic support for students to engage in disciplinary practices across mathematics, science, engineering, and computer science. We then support these considerations using examples from our studies in elementary classrooms using integrated STEM+CS curriculum materials. We focus on an elementary school context, as elementary teachers necessarily integrate disciplines as part of their teaching practice when enacting NGSS-aligned curricula. Further, we argue that as STEM+CS interdisciplinary curricula in the form of NGSS-aligned, project-based units become more prevalent in elementary settings, careful attention and support needs to be given to help teachers not only engage their students in disciplinary practices across STEM+CS disciplines, but also to understand why and how these disciplinary practices should be used. Implications include recommendations for the design of professional learning experiences and curriculum materials.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.620-636
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to analyze one science teacher's understanding of student argumentation and his explicit teaching strategies for implementing it in the classroom. One middle school science teacher, Mr. Field, and his students of 54 participated in this study. Data were collected through three semi-structured interviews, 60 hours of classroom observations, and two times of students' lab reports for eight weeks. Coding categories were developed describing the teacher's understanding of scientific argumentation and a description of the main teaching strategy, the Claim-Evidence Approach, was introduced. Toulmin's approach was employed to analyze student discourse as responses to see how much of this discourse was argumentative. The results indicated that Mr. Field defined scientific inquiry as the abilities of procedural skills through experimentation and of reasoning skills through argumentation. The Claim-Evidence Approach provided students with opportunities to develop their own claims based on their readings, design the investigation for evidence, and differentiate pieces of evidence from data to support their claims and refute others. During this approach, the teacher's role of scaffolding was critical to shift students' less extensive argumentation to more extensive argumentation through his prompts and questions. The different level of teacher's involvement, his explicit teaching strategy, and the students' scientific knowledge influenced the students' ability to develop and improve argumentation.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.160-175
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• 2004

This study examined the knowledge and practices of scientific inquiry displayed by three student teachers and two beginning teachers at secondary levels. Observations using the instrument of OTOP designed by the research team of OCEPT (Oregon Collaborative for Excellent in the Preparation of Teachers) generalized similar teaching strategies of scientific inquiry between student and beginning teachers, such as using group work for students' first hand experience, using concrete materials for experimentation or visual tools for demonstration, using questions for factual knowledge mainly without opportunities to understand how scientific knowledge is constructed. Those scientific inquiry activities were very confirmative ones to follow the steps without opportunities of understanding nature of science or nature of scientific inquiry. However, all participants in this study hold knowledge of scientific inquiry envisioned by the National Science Education Standards [NSES] (NRC, 1996), where students identify their hypothesis, use critical and logical thinking, and consider alternative explanations through argumentation as well as experimentation. An inconsistent relationship between participating teachers knowledge and practices about scientific inquiry resulted from their lack of pedagogy skills of implementing it in the classroom. Providing opportunities for these teachers to reflect on their beliefs and practices about scientific inquiry was recommended for the future study. Furthermore, increasing college faculty interest in new teaching approaches for upgrading the content knowledge of student teachers and beginning teachers was recommended as a solution, since those teachers showed evidence of influence by college faculties at universities in their pedagogy skills.

• Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.16-33
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• 2019

The increasing size and complexity of modern construction projects demands mature capabilities of onsite personnel with regard to recognizing unsafe situations. Construction safety training is paper or computer-based and suffers from a distinct gap between the classroom training environment and real-world construction sites; even trained personnel can find it difficult to recognize many of the potential safety hazards at their jobsites even after receiving construction safety training. Immersive technologies can overcome the current limitations in construction safety training by reducing the gap between the classroom and a real construction environment. This research developed and tested a new Augmented Reality (AR)-based assessment tool to evaluate the hazard recognition skills of students majoring in construction management as part of a construction safety course. The quantitative and qualitative results of this research confirmed that AR-based assessment can become a very effective assessment tool to evaluate safety knowledge and skills in a construction safety course, outperforming both paper and computer-based assessment methods. The students preferred AR-based assessment because it provides a realistic visual context for real world safety hazards.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.315-329
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics and the relationships of PCK components of elementary school teacher in the chapter of electric circuit unit. The subjects of this study were two teachers serving as main teachers in the 5th grade and data were collected through qualitative research methods such as questionnaires for teachers, classroom observations and teacher interviews. The collected data were transcribed and then analyzed. Results of analysis showed that teacher A thought that science was a class to explore and study the principles of nature phenomena and scientific knowledge by themselves In addition, teacher A helped students to understand the content by using strategies of analogy. The teacher B conveyed the contents of text without any reconstruction. But teacher B understood the standards of curriculum, and didn't want to teach students over the standards. Based on the analysis, we could conclude that PCK is formed on the basis of knowledge and belief about curriculum and knowledge and belief about learners.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.404-417
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• 2015

It is important for student to participate in classroom actively in order to raise effeciveness of education. In this study, we have considered the science textbooks as major factor which influence to participation in the science class, and aimed to find the problems of current sicence textbooks as tool to promote students' participation, and the improvement method. The questionnaire which include the questions to ask requirements for and problems of science textbooks for learner-centered instruction was developed, and then 99 science teachers and 821 students answered the questionnaire. As a result, students responded that current science textbooks lacked explanation, had many of difficult words and complex sentences, and were uninteresting. Teachers responded that current science textbooks had large in quantity, were written knowledge centered, and lacked of link with real life, and of story. To conclude, science textbooks revitalizing the students' participation had to strengthen the link with real life, increase students' activities, use words and sentences appropriate level for students, strengthen storyline, and provide sufficient chances to check the students' understanding by themselves.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.450-458
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• 2012

This study explored ways to implement a competencies-based curriculum in schools by reviewing exemplary cases that have introduced Key Competencies (KCs) in the school science curriculum. Since the OECD redefined key competencies as 'what people should know and do in order to lead a successful life in a well-functioning society', many countries have emphasized the use of a competencies-based curriculum. Foreign and domestic classroom cases, which have used a competencies-based curriculum in science teaching, were collected and analyzed. Through open-ended interviews with teachers and principals, we investigated changes of teachers' professional knowledge and practice that were evident as a result of the implementation of competencies-based curriculum in science class. Foreign science teachers suggested ways to relate competencies-based curriculum and science curriculum including maintaining a balance between competencies-based curriculum and content-based curriculum. They also integrated KCs into all subject-based curriculums, gave priority to KCs over subject matter knowledge, and developed KCs through teaching science contents that students wanted to learn. On the other hand, Korean science teachers suggested reconstructing competencies-based curriculum by extracting common attributes from the existing subject areas. They also made KCs realized through content teaching, and developed various KCs within science contexts. Implications of the competencies-based curriculum for science teaching and learning were discussed at the end.