• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.19-37
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• 2007

In this study of the relative effectiveness of constructivist and non-constructivist approaches to shadow activity for young children, 59 children in two kindergarten classes were assigned to constructivist or non constructivist conditions. Each group participated in 12 units covering shadow search, shadow making, changing shadow size, changing shadow position, and shadow disappearance. Analysis of covariance of differences between the mean scores of the two groups on the posttests of shadow concepts and scientific attitudes revealed that the children in the constructivist group performed better than the children in the non-constructivist group. This confirms the constructivist approach to shadow activities as good science activities for young children by promoting their active experimentation using reasoning about light to foster spatio-causal relations construction.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.87-109
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• 2003

This paper aims to review the overall development of constructivist approaches in science education research from two different perspectives, that is a summary of the past development in science education in general and a report of the outline of a recent research project on students' physics misconceptions in particular. In the summary of the past development of constructivist science education the introduction of constructivism as well as its psychological and philosophical backgrounds are briefly reported. Then main findings of the researches of constructivist approach are discussed in terms of the features of students' misconceptions, of the ways of effective conceptual change, of the implications toward school science education, and of the criticisms given to the constructivist approach. In the report of a recent development in addition to its background necessity and implications, the research structure and the format of the data analysis of the study on the map of students' physics misconceptions are presented. It is particularly emphasized that the practical informations and suggestions for actual teaching of school science, such as the database(DB) of students' misconceptions and teaching guides, are of most practical and effective values in order to maximize the advantage of the constructivist approach to science education.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.271-283
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• 2001

The purpose of this article was to clarify the meaning of constructivist teaching and to improve methods related to constructivist teaching. As a theory of learning, constructivism is serving as the basis for many of the current reforms in education. Many educators, however, misconceive what constructivist teaching means. The application of Piagetian theory to early childhood education was reviewed and analyzed. This article provides the overarching principles of constructivist teaching in early childhood classrooms with emphasis on illumination of the misconception. It postulates that constructivist teachers find their own autonomously selected ways to integrate the principles of constructivist teaching.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.13-35
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• 2012

This study investigated the contents and methods of science education classes based on the largely constructivist approach of pre-service early childhood teachers. The subjects of this study consisted of 8 junior students from the Early Childhood department and for reference data, reflective journals, interviews, activity planning sheets, recordings of trial lessons, and lesson analysis were used. The results of this study were as follows. First, changes in key points and contents for children science education were found, and reflective journals, interviews, activity planning sheets, recording of trial lessons, and lesson analysis clearly supported these results. Second, the actual changes in the constructivist approach to children's science education had a great impact upon the individual characters of the pre-service early childhood teachers. However, with the study period being limited to only one semester, it was found that the potential of this study to lead to any practical changes was simlilarly limited.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.43-53
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• 1998

The National Health Promotion Law passed in 1995 was a milestone for initiating a national health promotion program in Korea, and government officers and health professionals are working on how to approach health promotion issues. The purpose of this study was to analyse methods and use of constructivist paradigm in health promotion and education. The health promotion area needs community empowerment, building community partnerships, and community capacity. To meet these health promotion requirements health promotion workforce should be trained through professional preparation programs that contains communication skills, group process skills, and management of programs in advanced countries such as the United States and Australia. Skills and responsibilities of those who are in charge of providing health promotion services have not yet been clearly defined in Korea because the area of health promotion is a multi-academic field, and needs a different approach, constructivist approach. Constructivist paradigm requires relativism, reasoning skills, collaborating, and motivation. These components are needed for community empowerment. Constructivism also has been applied to the field of education. Problem-based education, outcome-based education, performance-based education came from the constructivism. These educational methods are student-centered method. As the modernizing society becomes more complicated, traditional or conventional teacher-centered education cannot meet the needs of students. Students need to learn skills necessary to make healthy decisions with individual value system. So these interactive, self-learning methods can serve much more to the learner. Constructivist educational methods can be applied to educational programs in computers, too. To expand and differentiate the area of health education and health promotion from other health related fields, it is crucial to devote efforts in application and development of constructivist methods.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.141-156
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• 2011

This research centers around an experiment conducted to determine the relative effectiveness of constructivist cooking activities as compared to traditional cooking activities for young children. Forty-six children, aged five years in two kindergarten classes were assigned to a experimental and comparative group. The experimental and comparative group participated in 12 units. The experimental group participated in the constructivist cooking activities, while the comparative group participated in the traditional cooking activities. Analysis of covariance revealed significant differences between the mean scores of the two groups on the posttests for scientific attitudes and creativity, indicating that the children in the experimental group performed significantly better on the tests than the children in the comparative group. The results of this study suggest that such constructivist cooking activities are able to improve the scientific attitudes and creativity of young children.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.340-352
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• 1999

Constructivist theory and teaching science in the social context are a main stream in science education. This study was purposed to introduce the STS in-service program implementing in Chonnam National University. and to analyze the results of the program in terms of changes of teachers' and students' perceptions and attitudes. The major features of the STS in-service program were as follows: teacher-centered. teaching in the social context. emphasis on constructivist approach. development of STS module and implementations. A total of 20 secondary science teachers participated in the in-service program. and filled out two questionnaires. Science Education Reform Inventory and Constructivist Teachings Survey. Three of the 20 teachers were selected to gain information from their implementations of a STS module into their respective classrooms. The students completed two instruments. Constructivist Learning Environment Survey. and Scientific Attitude Survey. The responses from teachers and students are as follows: 1. The participating teachers were very aware of the necessity of reform in science education. and the degree of the perception of the necessity increased after the STS in-service program. 2. The STS program significantly improved constructivist teaching techniques. 3. The perceptions of the students about constructivist learning environments improved significantly after the STS in-service program. 4. Students' scientific attitudes improved significantly through STS approach. The STS in-service program with the above mentioned features was found to be effective in our current school system. and could be implemented successfully if teachers were willing to learn and participate in the reforms of science education.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.29-42
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• 2009

In an experiment to determine the relative effectiveness of poetry activities through constructivist cooking experiences 95 children in three kindergarten classes were assigned to experimental, comparative, and control groups. The experimental group participated in 12-week units of writing poetry after cooking experiences, while the comparative group participated in writing poetry after listening to poetry. Analysis of covariance revealed differences between the mean scores of the three groups on posttests of receptive and expressive language, indicating that the children in the experimental group performed better on the tests than the children in the comparative and control groups. These results suggest that incorporating constructivist cooking into poetry instruction is an effective means of fostering the language development of young children.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.363-371
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• 2012

This study examined the cognitive consequences of constructivist teaching practices on the acquisition and transfer of programming with respect to the design of an instructional context that would encourage students to engage in reflective thought; the cognitive consequences of learning in the constructivist context; and the relation between the social and the individual in the teaching and learning process of programming. Students worked on a variety of programming and design problems in constructivist instructional contexts. The results indicated that between-group differences over repeated measures consistently favored students in reflective instruction. Rather than simple differences on measures, the pattern of mean differences over time conformed to a chain of cognitive consequences regulating the acquisition of programming. The implications of the study and suggestions for future research were discussed.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.521-530
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• 2010

This study aimed to explore how to characterize the earth science inquiry in schools in terms of science teaching interaction and constructivist teaching practice. The constructivist teaching practices were analyzed with Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) in three aspects including (1) student oriented class implementation, (2) subject knowledge and representation, and (3) classroom communication. Fourteen earth science classes were observed and scored with RTOP. The class was evaluated to be transitional stage in terms of constructivist teaching, e.g., moving toward student-centered teaching practice. Especially, Korean teachers tend to lean their classes more on propositional knowledge than procedural knowledge. To interpret science teaching interactions, an earth science teacher with a RTOP top rank was selected. Her class was then videotaped for detailed analysis. I adopted the analytical framework of communicative approaches and discourse patterns among the five aspects of interactions presented by Mortimer and Scott (2003). It was found that this earth science teacher used more authoritative patterns than the dialogic. In addition, she used IRE discourse pattern more frequently. Interestingly, teachers interacted with their students more frequently in the form of repeated (or IRE chain pattern), that is IRFRF (teacher initiation-student response-teacher feedback-student response-teacher feedback) in the context of dialogic communicative approaches, while simple IRE occurred in an authoritative approach. In earth science classrooms, typical interaction may well be constructed in the form of IRFRF chains to allow students free conjectures and abduction.