Yeon-A Son

Understanding Galileo’s Inquiries About the Law of Inertia

The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of the role of abstraction and idealization in Galileo’s scientific inquiries about the law of inertia, which occupies an important position in the history of science. We argue that although the terms “abstraction” and “idealization” are variously described in the recent literature, the concepts must be adopted to highlight important epistemological problems. In particular, we illustrate the importance of abstraction and idealization for the formation of the law of inertia by establishing a distinction between two types of entities: quasi-ideal entities and idealized entities. These theoretical laws should therefore be justified, using deduction and induction, through quasi-idealized entities based on data from the everyday world.

The Development of Environmental Education Policy and Programs in Korea: Promoting Sustainable Development in School Environmental Education

The Ministry of Environment started to implement School EE Model programs in primary and secondary schools, incorporating EE into regular subjects and co-curricular activities through the use of previously developed EE-related materials. These curriculum changes were extended during the fourth and fifth national curricula by including guidelines for EE. Now there is a separate EE subject in secondary schools along with co-curricular activities related to EE programs across all school years. In addition, non-governmental Organisations, involved with EE programs in schools and environmental civic groups, have been actively involved in EE through the provision of programs for young people. In this chapter, we will discuss the current sustainable EE programs within and outside of schools in Korea. These formal and informal sustainable EE programs have been developed separately but now are linked together for school EE programs. The detailed EE programs in schools and outside of schools will be illustrated with examples.

The Study of Koreans’ View of Nature

Science is an activity based on the wonders of what happens in nature. The process of theorizing and organizing natural phenomena is affected by views of nature. Koreans’ view of nature was discussed by analyzing literature, mythology, folk tales, and proverbs.