Hyun-Jun Cho

An Analysis of 10th Grade Students' Understanding of Concepts about the Plates' Motions according to the Level of Spatial Ability

Seongsan High School, Daegu 704-934, KoreaAbstract: The purpose of this study was to compare 10th grade students’ understanding of concepts about the plates’motions depending on the different spatial ability. Based on previous studies and literature reviews, two instruments wereselected and used in this study. The Spatial Perception Test developed in Korean Testing Center was applied to measurestudents’ spatial ability. Another instrument for testing students’ understandings of plates’ motions consists of a total of 10items. The instruments were distributed to 118 students who were 10th graders in metropolitan city. The results are asfollows: First, a correlation coefficient between conceptual understanding of plates’ motions and spatial ability was r=0.439(p< .01). It indicates that conceptual plates’ motions and spatial ability have a moderate relationship. The students weredivided into two groups (high and low) by spatial ability. The independent t-test was performed and reveals that thestatistically significant difference between high and low groups. On the other hand, the 6 students (3 higher spatial abilitystudents and 3 lowers) were selected and interviewed individually to find the differences in their understanding of theconcept of plates’ motions. The findings from interviews indicate that most students recognized about concepts of trenchand ocean ridge, a rise and drop of the mantle, and divergent and convergent boundaries. However, students hadmisconceptions about section of trench and ocean ridge. In addition, the students who had higher spatial ability knew themore proper concepts about the creation and extinction of plate, crustal movements, and bottom of the ocean extension,whereas the students who had the lower spatial ability had misconceptions.Keywords: plates’ motion, spatial ability, misconception요약: 이 연구의 목적은 10학년 학생들의 공간능력의 차이에 따라 판의 운동과 관련된 개념 이해가 어떻게 다른지 알아보는 데 있다. 이를 위하여 공간능력과 판의 운동 관련 개념 검사 도구를 선정·개발하였다. 공간능력 검사는 KTC에서 개발한 적성종합 검사지 20문항을 사용하였다. 또 다른 검사지는 판의 운동과 관련된 개념을 묻는 것으로 총 10문항으로 구성되었다. 검사지들은 광역시 소재 10학년 학생 118명에게 투입하여 상관관계를 분석하였고, 공간능력 검사점수를 통해 공간능력이 높은 집단과 낮은 집단으로 구분하여 두 집단 간의 판의 운동 관련 개념 이해 정도 차이를 분석하였다. 또한 공간능력 점수가 높은 학생 3명과 낮은 학생 3명을 표집하여 반구조화된 면담을 실시하였다. 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 공간능력 점수와 판의 운동 개념 성취도의 상관관계를 분석한 결과, 상관계수 r=0.439 (p< .01)로 둘 사이에는 보통 수준의 상관관계가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 공간능력 검사 점수에 따라 상·하 두 집단으로

An Analysis of Earth Science Vocabularies Used in the 10th Grade Science Textbooks

The purposes of this study were to analyze the level of Earth science vocabularies in the 10th grade textbooks with the Science Word Analysis (SWA) program and to investigate the vocabularies selected by the 10th grade students as difficult ones. For this purpose, we extracted the Earth science vocabularies from eleven textbooks, and classified into scientific and non-scientific vocabularies with the SWA program based on the standard Korean language dictionary. In addition, we investigated the difficulty of each vocabulary by surveying five hundred sixty students with a questionnaire. Results showed that the frequency of the scientific vocabularies that were beyond the designated level was the largest among any other levels in all textbooks. Most of the vocabularies selected by students as difficult ones to understand were classified into out of the level. From these results, it were suggested that the students` cognitive level should be considered when developing science textbooks and difficult vocabularies should be replaced with easy ones without a change of meaning.

The Development of the Analytic Coding Frames on the Abductive Reasoning in Scientific Inquiry

The purpose of this study was to identify the scientists` abductive reasoning in three stages of hypothetical-deductive inquiry process; generating hypothesis, designing, and interpreting data and to suggest new analytic coding frames on abductive reasoning in each of the stages. For this purpose, the interview protocols collected through in-depth interviews with eight scientists were analyzed by the early frame with sub-elements derived from the literature reviews. The need of a new frame of analysis beyond the previously established elements arose from the result of this analysis because the processes of abductive reasoning were found in all three stages. Based on scientists` interview data, this study then designed a new frame of analytic coding frames on the abductive reasoning in each of the stages. The content validity index from four experts was 0.90, and these frames showed a good fit to analyze the scientists` real process of abduction in three stages of hypothetical-deductive inquiry process.

An Analysis of Undergraduate Students` Mental Models on the Mechanism of the Moon Craters Formation

The purpose of this study was to investigate information sources and types of reasoning that non-astronomy major undergraduate students used to build their mental models on the mechanism of the Moon craters formation. In-depth interview was used to collect qualitative data, and the questions for the interview were developed through an analytical induction method. We interviewed four students individually by using Seidman`s interview step. The findings revealed that the participants built nonscientific mental models, and yet they held a consistent explanatory framework. The students explained that the crater was made by the fall of a meteorite. They all suggested a similar shape of meteorite even though their drawings about the shape of craters and its related to variables were different from one another. The information sources that the participants used fur their explanatory frameworks were varied, i.e., daily experiences, subject knowledges, and intuition. In addition, they used causal reasoning, intuitional reasoning, knowledge based reasoning, and analogical reasoning.