The purpose of this study was to investigate the features of modeling-based abductive reasoning as a disciplinary practice of inquiry in the domain of earth science. The study was based on an undergraduate course of a university of education, Korea, offered for preservice elementary teachers majoring in science as their specialty. The course…

This research examined the importance of empathy, which was regarded as one of the elements that might assist in accelerating the manifestation of group creativity, and studied the actual state of empathic ability of Korean elementary school students. For such, a cognitive and affective empathic ability test was conducted over 228 students that…

In this research, after extracting the pre-inquiries (student-level question) for which students had curiosity in the elementary science and analyzing their correlation with the elementary science curriculum, highly correlated inquiries (meaningful pre-inquiries) were selected and applied in class. After organizing an experiment group and a…

Lack of motivation and of real-world relevance have been identified as reasons for low interest in science among children. Game-based learning and storytelling are prominent methods for generating intrinsic motivation in learning. Real-world relevance requires connecting abstract scientific concepts with the real world. This can be done by…

Despite inquiry-based teaching was introduced and encouraged as significant tool to develop students' scientific knowledge and habits of mind, its implementation has not been well established in science classrooms in Korea. To understand the challenges and difficulties of the practice of inquiry practical work, this study particularly aims to…

To alleviate teachers' reluctance toward practical work, there has been much discussion on teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, teaching materials, and failsafe strategies for practical work. Despite these efforts, practical work is still regarded as a challenging task for many elementary science teachers. To understand the complexity of…

The purpose of this study is to explore children's typically-perceived-situations (TPS) of "floating" and "sinking". TPS refers to the situation rising spontaneously in an individual's mind when they first think of a phenomenon or concept. Data were collected from 148 Year 5 Korean children. As a result of analysing the data…

This study reports on our steps toward achieving a conceptually coherent and empirically validated learning progression for carbon cycling in socio-ecological systems. It describes an iterative process of designing and analyzing assessment and interview data from students in upper elementary through high school. The product of our development…

Compares elementary school science curricula in Japan, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and the Philippines. Tables summarize data for some of these countries concerning general characteristics of the curricular design, general objectives of elementary and secondary science curricula, teaching units covered, and hierarchy of process skills. (CS)

The purpose of this project was to find and make clarifications about the uniqueness and similarities on various aspects of science education programs in Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, and the Philippines that could provide the basic considerations on curriculum development. Included are: (1) an introduction to the research; (2)…

In the Republic of Korea, elementary schools provide compulsory education to children between the ages of six and eleven. Students ages 12-14 attend middle school, and high schools offer three years of upper secondary education to students ages 15-17. This report describes the design of the science education program in South Korea, highlighting…

Many researchers believe that prior knowledge is the single most important variable influencing learning. Learning in the classroom is determined or affected positively or negatively, to some degree, by the knowledge people bring to the classroom. This study was designed to: (1) assess fifth- and eighth-grade Korean students' misconceptions of…