• Title/Summary/Keyword: test of scientific hypothesis

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A Comparative Study on Scientific Reasoning Skills in Korean and the US College Students (한국과 미국 대학생들의 과학적 추론 능력에 대한 비교 연구)

  • Jeon, Woo-Soo;Kwon, Yong-Ju;Lawson, Anton E.
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.117-127
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    • 1999
  • The present study investigated Korean and the US college students' scientific reasoning skills involving hypothesis-testing skills and tested the hypothesis that hypothesis-testing skills are more advanced ones than other scientific reasoning skills investigated in this study. Seven hundred and seventy-four(774) Korean and five hundred and sixty-eight(568) the US students were sampled in university level. The Test of Scientific Reasoning was used as a scientific reasoning test. The test is consisted of two conservational reasoning, two proportional reasoning, one pendulum, two probability reasoning, two controlling variable, one correlational reasoning, and two hypothesis-testing reasoning tasks. Korean students showed a significant higher score in proportional and probability reasoning tasks than the US students. However, the Korean showed a significant lower score in conservation and correlation reasoning tasks than their American counterparts. Further, Korean and the US college students showed a notably poor performance in hypothesis-testing skills comparing with other scientific reasoning skills, which supported the hypothesis that hypothesis-testing skills are more advanced ones than other scientific reasoning skills. In addition, the Korean showed a severe deficiency in candle-burning task which required the skill that students have to design a scientific test-procedure to test theoretical hypotheses. This study also discussed on the educational implications of the results of the present study.

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EEG Correlation Patterns of Hypothesis-Generating in Undergraduate Students' Generation of Scientific Knowledge

  • Kwon, Yong-Ju;Jeong, Jin-Su;Jin, Seung-Hyun
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.722-730
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    • 2004
  • The purpose of this study was to test the notion that the inter-individual difference in hypothesis-generating is presumably detected by differentiating subjects' EEG correlation patterns of the prefrontal lobes. To test the notion of the inter-individual difference by EEG analysis, eight healthy undergraduate volunteers' EEG signals on the prefrontal lobes were recorded during hypothesis-generating and resting with eyes-closed condition. Their EEG signals were analyzed by time durations and transformed into correlation patterns. The results showed that subjects' EEG correlation patterns during hypothesis-generating were significantly different among individuals. In addition, the EEG correlation patterns were decreased during hypothesis-generating thinking. Furthermore, subject's EEG correlation showed a fluctuationpattern through-out hypothesis-generating, which is presumably caused by the difference of subjects' thinking activities in hypothesis-generating. This study also suggests a possibility that student's scientific thinking ability and the difficulty of scientific knowledge generating may be measured by the analysis of subject's EEG correlation pattern of the prefrontal lobes.

Development of a Descriptive Paper Test Item and a Counting Formula for Evaluating Elementary School Students' Scientific Hypothesis Generating Ability (초등학생의 과학적 가설생성능력 평가를 위한 서술형 지필과제 및 가설생성능력지수 산출식의 개발)

  • Jo, Eun Byul;Shin, Dong Hoon
    • Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.137-149
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    • 2016
  • The purpose of this study is to develop a descriptive paper test item which can evaluate elementary school students' HGA (scientific Hypothesis Generating Ability) and to propose a counting formula that can easily assess student's HGA objectively and quantitatively. To make the test item can possibly evaluate all the students from 6th graders to 3rd graders, the 'rabbit's ear' item is developed. Developed test item was distributed to four different elementary schools in Seoul. Total 280 students who were in the 6th grade solved the item. All the students' reponses to the item were analyzed. Based on the analyzed data evaluation factors and evaluation criteria are extracted to design a Hypothesis Generating ability Quotient (HGQ). As the result 'Explican's Degree of Likeness' and 'Hypothesis' Degree of Explanation' are chosen as evaluation factors. Also precedent evaluation criteria were renewed. At first, Explican's Degree of Likeness evaluation criterion was turned four levels into three levels and each content of evaluation criterion is also modified. Secondly, new evaluation factor 'Hypothesis' Degree of Explanation' was developed as combined three different evaluation criteria, 'level of explican', 'number of explican' and 'structure of explican'. This evaluation factor was designed to assess how the suggested hypothesis can elaborately explain the cause of one phenomenon. Newly designed evaluation factors and evaluation criteria can assess HGA more in detail and reduce the scoring discordant through the markers. Lastly, Developed counting formula is much more simple than precedent Kwon's equation for evaluating the Hypothesis Explanation Quotient. So it could help easily distinguish one student's scientific hypothesis generating ability.

An Investigation on Models of Making-hypothesis Process by Analysis of Formulating Hypotheses on Repetition Hypothesis Activities in Middle School Students

  • Kim, Young-Shin;Germann, Paul J.
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.731-747
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    • 2004
  • The scientific inquiry enterprise consists of formulating hypotheses, testing hypotheses, evaluating evidence, and revising hypothesis. Scientific inquiry in the science classrooms requires students' background experience and knowledge with the phenomenon in order to ask appropriate questions, identify and define variables operationally, formulate hypotheses, and design clear and complete experiment. The ability to test hypotheses has been postulated to play a central role in cognitive processes. The purpose of this study was to analyze what the change of the quantity and quality of the hypothesis, the rejecting or accepting of the hypothesis, and the use results in the repetitional hypothesis activity experiments. To examine the problems, this study analyzed 5 classes which were designed and administered to 16 students of the 7th grade. The results of this study showed that students preferred the engineering method to scientific method and the quality of a second hypothesis got low. The quality of the hypothesis came to be higher through a repetitional hypothesis and the number of hypothesis was reduced. The results of the experiments did not play central roles in revising hypotheses and accepting or rejecting hypothesis.

The Role of The Prefrontal Lobes in Scientific Reasoning (과학적 추론 능력의 발달에서 전두엽연합령의 역할)

  • Hur, Myoung;Lawson, Anton E.;Kwon, Young-Ju
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.525-540
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    • 1997
  • The present study tested the hypothesis that maturation of the prefrontal lobes is a crucial factor determining the performance of scientific reasoning tasks, Functions of the prefrontal lobes, such as activating relevant information, sequential planning and monitoring, and inhibiting irrelevant information, are related thinking patterns with scientific reasoning. Therefore, we inferred the idea that the prefrontal lobes play an important role in scientific reasoning. To test the hypothesis. the present study investigated a prefrontal lobe patient's task solving procedures in scientific reasoning tasks and the correlation and regression analysis between a test of prefrontal lobe function and two scientific reasoning tasks, The perseverative errors in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test(WCST) was used as a measure of the prefrontal lobe function, The Melinark Type Task and the Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning were used as measures of scientific reasoning abilities. Ages and Group Embedded Figure Test were also used as measures of two alternative hypotheses, general maturation and field independency respectively. The prefrontal lobe patient showed a crucial deficiency in solving scientific reasoning tasks. In the tasks, the patient could not used the reasoning of If... and... then... therefore pattern. In correlation study, the perseveration errors of the WCST showed a significantly negative correlation with two scientific reasoning tasks. Multiple regression study also showed that the perseveration errors measured as a function of the prefrontal lobes have more contribution to scientific reasoning ability than contributions of alternative hypotheses. Therefore, the present study supported the hypothesis that prefrontal lobes play a crucial role in scientific reasoning ability, What function of the prefrontal lobes do play crucial role in scientific reasoning? The present study provided an explanation for the question, which inhibiting ability of the prefrontal lobes is responsible for the scientific reasoning ability, in a part at least. That is, perseverative tendency in task-solving procedures causes a deficiency of an ability to inhibit the wrong information to solve a task. The present study provided a possibility of neuropsychological approach in science education research. The present study also showed an importance of the prefrontal lobe development in the performance of scientific reasoning task.

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Application of the Triple Abduction Model for Improving the Skills of Scientific Hypothesis Generation (과학적 가설의 생성력 향상을 위한 삼원귀추모형의 적용)

  • Jeong, Jin-Su;Won, Hee-Jung;Kwon, Yong-Ju
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.25 no.5
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    • pp.595-602
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    • 2005
  • The purpose of this study was to test effects of the Triple Abduction Model (TAM) for improving the skills of scientific hypothesis generation in science learning. Twenty-six students were selected for the TAM group and 27 others were selected for a traditional group from one high school. Researchers developed and administered 10 TAM and traditional-style activities. The degree of hypothesis explanation was evaluated during the experimental treatment. Each Subjects' ability in scientific hypothesis generation was assessed by the Science Knowledge Generation Test A and B. Test A was used as a protest and B for a posttest. The results of this study revealed that the degree of hypothesis explanation of TAM was significantly higher than the degree of the traditional group, and the mean of the TAM group was equal to the mean of traditional group on the pretest. Additionally, the mean of the TAM group was significantly higher than the mean of the control group on the posttest. Therefore, instruction with TAM was more effective than the instruction using traditionals method for increasing students' hypothesis generation skills.

A Study on Null Hypothesis and Alternative Hypothesis, Reduction to Absurdity and Application of Bayesian Statistics in Korean Medicine Otolaryngology (임상연구방법론에서 귀무가설과 대립가설, 귀류법에 대한 고찰과 한방이비인후과에서 베이지안 통계학의 활용)

  • Nam, Seung-Pyo;Bae, Jae-Min;Kwon, Kang
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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    • v.32 no.4
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    • pp.41-61
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    • 2019
  • Background : The current medical statistics used in clinical research are the results of Fisher's significance test and the Neyman-Pearson hypothesis test, which were combined by psychologists. Also, in the philosophical background, it is related to Popper's falsificationism based hypothesis-deductive method and reduction to absurdity. Objectives : This study was designed to find complementary and alternative methods of null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis used for the clinical research methodology of Korean medicine otolaryngology. Methods : The body of this paper was divided into seven part. These are historical background, hypothesis test, hypothesis test method used in the design of clinical study, falsificationism and reduction to absurdity, problem and alternative method of the Neyman-Pearson hypothesis test, diagnosis example of sinusitis differentiation syndromes by Bayesian statistics. Through this process, we found out problems of frequentist statistics and suggested alternative methods. Result & Conclusion : As a solution to the problems of the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis, there are effects size, confidence interval, Bayesian statistics and Lakatos methodology of scientific research programmes.

An Analysis of the Experimental Designs Suggested by Students for Testing Scientific Hypotheses (과학적 가설 검증을 위한 학생들의 실험 설계 내용 분석)

  • Park, Jong-Won
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.200-213
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    • 2003
  • This study is one of the successive studies for investigating students' processes of generating and evaluating scientific hypothesis. In this study, I analyzed the characteristics of students' experimental design to test whether the given hypotheses were correct or not. As results, it was found that (1) 3 components (experimental method, prediction of the result of experiment, evaluation of hypothesis) were needed to complete description of the experimental design, (2) students tried to test hypothesis considered as being correct as well as hypothesis considered as being false by students, (3) student tried to confirm hypothesis, which was considered as being correct, based on theoretical approach rather than experimental approach, (4) students' experimental design could be classified as two types, that is, direct experimental testing and comparative experimental design, and the latter could be classified as two subtypes; positive comparative one and negative comparative one, (5) students showed tendency to design positive comparative experiment when they considered hypothesis as being correct, and vise versa, (6) students preferred the prediction which could confirm the hypothesis when they considered the hypothesis as being correct, and vise versa, (7) many students rejected contradicting prediction even though they did not actually conduct experiment yet.

A Test of the Confirming Abduction Model: How Do Students Confirm Their Hypotheses During the Process of Scientific Hypothesis-Generation?

  • Jeong, Jin-Su;Kwon, Yong-Ju
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.120-125
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    • 2007
  • The purpose of the present study was to test the validity of the confirming abduction model (CAM). CAM is a process model which explains how reasoners confirm their hypothetical explicans. To test this model, 154 8th grade students were sampled from one middle school in Korea. Three types of vapor condensation hypothesis confirming tests were developed and administered to the subjects. The results of this study revealed that student confidence increased when hypothetical explicans were borrowed into experienced phenomena from questioning phenomena. These results validated CAM. According to CAM, the process. of confirming hypothetical explican is as follows: representing a questioning phenomenon, representing an experienced phenomenon that is similar to the questioning phenomenon, representing the hypothetical explican of the questioning phenomenon, comparing the questioning phenomenon with the experienced phenomenon, and borrowing the hypothetical explican as the hypothetical explican of the experienced phenomenon from the hypothetical explican of the questioning phenomenon. This study also discussed the implications of these findings for teaching and learning in science education.

The Study on the influence of MBL Exhibition Class on the Eelementary school students' Academic Achievement, Scientific Research Abilities and Affective Characters (MBL 시범 수업이 초등학생의 학업성취도, 과학탐구능력 및 정의적 특성에 미치는 영향)

  • Heo, Eun-Young;Yoo, Pkyoung-Kil
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.36-46
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    • 2010
  • The purpose of this study is to find out the influence of MBL Exhibition Class on the Elementary School students' academic achievement, scientific research abilities and affective characters. For the purpose, three classes were sampled in the 5th grade of an elementary school. Among the three classes, two were designated as the comparative classes consisted of 68 students and the other was the experimental class, 33 students. The comparative classes were given lessens according to the content presented in the textbook of 7th Education Curriculum and the experimental class was given re-built lessons with using MBL machines. Before and after giving lessons, students of both classes took a test for science academic achievement. And also the scientific research abilities and affective characters were examined. The conclusions from this study is as follows. First, according to the result of science academic achievement test after giving lessons, the mean of the experimental class was higher than that of the comparative classes meaningfully. Second, scientific research abilities of the experimental class was shown higher than that of the comparative classes meaningfully. Specially, basic research abilities were improved very meaningfully and only hypothesis-building ability was improved among integrated research abilities. Third, it doesn't seem that MBL exhibition class is effective on affective characters(interest, attitudes).

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