This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of pre-service elementary teachers' understanding about scientific inquiry in terms of designing exploration and reasoning that is used to formulate explanations based on evidence. The research context was an open inquiry with using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) template in which participant students were not provided with inquiry questions. As data, lab. 39 pre-service elementary teachers participated in this study while taking their science methods course. Analyses of the reports were framed by the cognitive processes of inquiry (Chinn and Malhotra, 2002) and each report was coded and analyzed by the framework of inquiry (Tytler and Peterson, 2004). Results showed that groups' works that utilized the SWH template encouraged the participants to interact each other about scientific inquiry. They came up with more relevant and testable questions for their scientific inquiry. It implicates that children will be able to have chances of testing their own questions more properly by using the SWH template in science classes just as the participants did in this study. The use of the SWH template would help pre-service teachers to teach appropriately how to test inquiry questions to their students in the future. Discussion was made to figure out the characteristics or Korean pre-service elementary teachers' understanding about scientific inquiry.

This study aimed to explore how to characterize the earth science inquiry in schools in terms of science teaching interaction and constructivist teaching practice. The constructivist teaching practices were analyzed with Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) in three aspects including (1) student oriented class implementation, (2) subject knowledge and representation, and (3) classroom communication. Fourteen earth science classes were observed and scored with RTOP. The class was evaluated to be transitional stage in terms of constructivist teaching, e.g., moving toward student-centered teaching practice. Especially, Korean teachers tend to lean their classes more on propositional knowledge than procedural knowledge. To interpret science teaching interactions, an earth science teacher with a RTOP top rank was selected. Her class was then videotaped for detailed analysis. I adopted the analytical framework of communicative approaches and discourse patterns among the five aspects of interactions presented by Mortimer and Scott (2003). It was found that this earth science teacher used more authoritative patterns than the dialogic. In addition, she used IRE discourse pattern more frequently. Interestingly, teachers interacted with their students more frequently in the form of repeated (or IRE chain pattern), that is IRFRF (teacher initiation-student response-teacher feedback-student response-teacher feedback) in the context of dialogic communicative approaches, while simple IRE occurred in an authoritative approach. In earth science classrooms, typical interaction may well be constructed in the form of IRFRF chains to allow students free conjectures and abduction.

This study intended to find evidence of changes in teacher beliefs of teaching and learning and a case of infusing research experiences in teaching modules since their research participation. As part of this study, twenty three science and math teachers in Korea were provided with science research labs and field experiences in the University of Iowa for three weeks. The research units that teachers participated in for three weeks covered seven fields of subjects such as: geology, astronomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, and environmental engineering. In the course of this study, the effectiveness of science research participation program was explored in terms of changing teacher beliefs and their production of teaching modules based on their research. This study especially focused on identifying changes of beliefs on science teaching and learning after participating in the research. A case study of a participant teacher was also conducted by comparing descriptively teaching modules before and after experiencing the program. It was found that the program affected the new modules and the research experiences affected participants' beliefs toward student centeredness.

과학연구를 하는 방법은 매우 다양하다. 과학영재아들로 하여금 본연의 과학연구능력을 개발하고 구현하도록 하는 목적을 달성한다는 것은 이미 알려진 영재교육의 목표이다. 여기서 과학연구능력이라고 할 때 과학연구의 요소는 무엇인가 살펴볼 필요가 생기며 하나의 과학연구가 존재하기 보다는 다양한 연구밥법이 공존한다는 입장이 더 설득력이 있다. 본 연구는 연구능력의 다양한 측면과 특성을 알아보는 탐색연구이며 더 세부적으로 들어가서 과학과정 능력 중 실험설계능력에 초점을 맞추었다. 물론 연구능력이라고 할 때에는 문제발견, 과학지식, 자아통찰 등 다양한 영역이 포함된다. 본 연구에서는 실험설계능력을 보기 위해 1990년 Fowler가 개발한 Diet Cola Test를 국내의 학생들이 사용할 수 있도록 번안하여 사용하였다. 전국 과학영재교육 프로그램에 참여하는 학생 중 총 705명의 초등학교 3학년에서 고등학교 1학년 학생들이 연구대상이 되었으며 과학교육분야에서의 문제중심학습과 창의적 사고력이라는 부분에 초점을 맞추어 연구자료를 해석하였다.