Jinwoong Song

Patterns of Linguistic Communication in Teaching and Learning Science: A case study of Korean middle school science classes

The purpose of this study is to investigate patterns of linguistic communication in learning and teaching science and to find out how the formation of each pattern was related with the classroom, particularly in Korean middle school context. For this, we observed science classes in three middle schools in Seoul and collected data during lessons through audiotape and videotape recording. From the analysis of the data in three cases, nine patterns of spoken or written communication in learning and teaching science were found, and the features of each pattern and the context were discussed in detail. These results provided us with rich information of linguistic communication dealing with scientific topics appearing in Korean school science classes. We argue that those patterns appear to implicitly reflect the unique contexts of science classes in Korea. ‘The optimization in teacher behaviour’, which refers to the conceptualization of teachers’ efforts to take advantage of the given classroom context, is suggested as one of the main causes that made each pattern occur.

A New Method of Understanding Learning in Science Centers: Context Diagrams of Learning Experiences

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to develop a new method for analyzing learning experiences in science centers and to explore the methods applicability. The authors have developed a tool, context diagram of learning experience (CoDiLE), that allows them to illustrate the relationship between a visitors learning with a science exhibit and the various contextual factors present in the science center. CoDiLE illustrates contextual factors within three context categories (personal, sociocultural, and physical) that may affect a visitors learning with science exhibits and shows how the contextual factors are linked to each other and to cognitive or affective learning. CoDiLEs applicability was explored through case studies of 3 middle-school students who visited 3 science centers in Seoul, Korea. The case study showed that contextual factors could affect learning either positively or negatively depending on the links that they made with other factors. In addition, distinctive patterns of contextual factors and links among factors for each student were identified. CoDiLE appears to be a useful method to investigate an individuals learning processes associated with contextual factors within a science center.

Yet Another Paradigm Shift?: From Minds-on to Hearts-on

Since science was first taught in schools, maybe during the 18th century, school science education has experienced many substantial changes in its goals and nature over the period. The historical changes are usually referred to by some key terms, like, mechanics` institutes, object lessons, heuristics, general science, inquiry, STS, misconceptions. To characterize these changes, science educators frequently use some slogan-like analogies, referring to parts of the human body to indicate the movement of science education during a particular period of time: for example, `Hands-On` for inquiry movement during 1960s-7Os, `Minds-On` for constructivist movement during 1980s-90s. In this paper, we briefly summarize the overall historical development of science education in Britain, then further expand the analogies to cover the overall process, that is, Ears-On → Eyes-On → Hands-On → Minds-On. To illustrate future directions of the 21st century, we propose a new analogy, `Hearts-On`, and also discuss the meanings and implications of a `Hearts-On` analogy by illustrating how this new paradigm can be applied to reflect various current trends of science education, particularly in Korea. In addition, a parallel historical change between school science and science museums & centres is discussed.

The Disparity Between Achievement and Engagement in Students’ Science Learning: A Case of East-Asian Regions

One of most striking features of East Asian students’ science performance in international comparative studies (PISA and TIMSS) is that, despite their very high levels of performance, they consistently show the lowest levels of engagement with science. This is particularly clear in the case of Korean and Japanese students. It is believed that this is not just evident in science but a general trend across school subjects and that this phenomenon is deeply rooted in commonly shared traditions and cultures of countries in the East Asian region.

Unintended knowledge learnt in primary science practical lessons

ABSTRACT This study explored the different kinds of unintended learning in primary school practical science lessons. In this study, unintended learning has been defined as student learning that was found to occur that was not included in the teachers learning objectives for that specific lesson. A total of 22 lessons, taught by five teachers in Korean primary schools with 10- to 12-year-old students, were audio-and video recorded. Pre-lesson interviews with the teachers were conducted to ascertain their intended learning objectives. Students were asked to write short memos after the lesson about what they learnt. Post-lesson interviews with students and teachers were undertaken. What emerged was that there were three types of knowledge that students learnt unintentionally: factual knowledge gained by phenomenon-based reasoning, conceptual knowledge gained by relation- or model-based reasoning, and procedural knowledge acquired by practice. Most unintended learning found in this study fell into the factual knowledge and only a few cases of conceptual knowledge were found. Cases of both explicit procedural knowledge and implicit procedural knowledge were found. This study is significant in that it suggests how unintended learning in practical work can be facilitated as an educative opportunity for meaningful learning by exploring what and how students learnt.

Trends in HPS/NOS Research in Korean Science Education

The recent National Science Curriculum of Korea highlights the promotion of students’ scientific literacy, which requires an understanding of HPS and NOS, for rational and scientific decision-making in everyday contexts. This chapter reports the results of the analyses of the current situation and recent changes of HPS and NOS in the practice of science education, such as school science curriculum, science textbooks, preservice, and in-service teacher education for primary and secondary school science in Korea. In addition, based on the results, this chapter describes the features of HPS- and NOS-related science education and gives some implications for future research and practice of Korean science education.

How to compare the social foundations of science culture: A trial with five cities in Korea.

Though there have been several indicator systems to monitor the status quo of science and technology and of scientific literacy, few are especially designed for science culture, especially for its social dimension. Furthermore there is little agreement on how to measure it. In a previous study, an indicator system, SCI (Science Culture Indicators), had been developed to monitor the status quo of the science culture of a nation at both individual and social dimensions. The purpose of this study was to explore a practical way to measure and compare local cities’ social foundation of science culture by revising and standardizing the social dimension of SCI and by applying it to five metropolitan cities in Korea. Despite some limits, the results of this study appear not only to reflect the cities’ current situations but also to show the strength and weakness of their social foundation of science culture.

John Tyndall(1820-1894), Who Brought Physics and the Public Together

The developments of science education until the middle of the 20th century were often driven by personal ideas and achievements of some influential individual scientists (e.g. T. H. Huxley, H. E. Armstrong. L. Hogben, J. Conant). while that of the 2nd half of the 20th century can be characterized as collective efforts through various research grou ps of science educators (e.g. PSSC, HPP, Nuffield, SATIS). In this respect, John Tyndall(1820-1894), a physicist of the Victorian England best known as Tyndalls Effect, can be considered as one of the great scientists who made a big influence on science teaching and the popularization of science before science secured its place in school curricula. Tyndall worked as a research scientist at the Royal Institution of London, where various lectures and demonstrations of physical sciences were regularly performed for general public, and he was particularly famous for his fascinating physics demonstrations. In this study, we summarize his activities and achievements as a teacher as well as a popularizer of physics, illustrate some of his famous demonstrations and his ideas concerning physics teaching and discuss their implications to todays physics education.

Experimental science: Joseph Priestley’s influence in the infrastructure of the seventeenth-century science education

Abstract This paper discusses the emergence of science education in the seventeenth century with the influences of Joseph Priestley on the Dissenting Academies. Primarily, this paper analyses Priestley’s ideas from some of his letters to scientists during his time and his ideas from his books Miscellaneous Observations Relating to Education (1778) and the Essay on a Course of Liberal Education for Civil and Active Life (1765). As an expository essay, analysis shows that the inclusion of experimental science education dates back from the Dissenting Academies when they explicitly aligned science education for practical life. With Priestley’s advocacy on experimental learning in science, his idea of hands-on science education encouraged other dissenters to seek and understand the changing natural world. His advocacy states that knowledge and understanding of the natural world builds the foundation for rationally evaluating the developments derived from permissible scientific theories. Not setting aside religious studies, Priestley promoted a radical education which ended the restrictions to the privileged and powerful few so that it opened up the access of learning for everyone whose capacity may range from scientific, religious, political, or educational propensities.

A case study on the formation and sharing process of science classroom norms

ABSTRACT The teaching and learning of science in school are influenced by various factors, including both individual factors, such as member beliefs, and social factors, such as the power structure of the class. To understand this complex context affected by various factors in schools, we investigated the formation and sharing process of science classroom norms in connection with these factors. By examining the developmental process of science classroom norms, we identified how the norms were realized, shared, and internalized among the members. We collected data through classroom observations and interviews focusing on two elementary science classrooms in Korea. From these data, factors influencing norm formation were extracted and developed as stories about norm establishment. The results indicate that every science classroom norm was established, shared, and internalized differently according to the values ingrained in the norms, the agent of norm formation, and the members’ understanding about the norm itself. The desirable norms originating from values in science education, such as having an inquiring mind, were not established spontaneously by students, but were instead established through well-organized norm networks to encourage concrete practice. Educational implications were discussed in terms of the practice of school science inquiry, cultural studies, and value-oriented education.