Eun-Jeong Yu

Investigating Science-Talented Students` Understandings and Meaning Generation about the Earth Systems Based on Their Geological Field Trip Reports

The purpose of this study was to investigate Earth Systems Understandings (Mayer, 1991) and Earth Systems meaning generation reported by science-talented students who participated in a geological field trip. The eight (4 female and 4 male students) field trip reports were randomly selected among all the reports written by twenty eighth-grade students who joined Shiwha-Lake field trip in Korea. The three-step program, including preparation, field trip, and summary, was provided to the students in order to facilitate meaningful learning through outdoor teaming activities. Seven Earth Systems Understandings and thematic types (Keys, 1999) were used to analyze the reports. The results of this study indicated thai aesthetic views and stewardship toward the Earth, which were the most distinguishing characteristics in Earth Systems Education, were reflected on most of the reports. The results also showed that the students tried to represent their understandings in such a type as meaning extension, meaning enhancement, or meaning elaboration. Overall, many students used `knowledge-telling` process with a long list of observations and facts, whereas a few students used higher-order `knowledge-transforming` process by coordinating their findings with interpretations and reasoning in their writings.