Elementary School Students' Views on the Nature of Science

과학의 본성에 대한 초등학생들의 견해

  • Published : 2002.12.30

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary school students' views on the nature of science and to compare their views by gender. Participants were 159 sixth graders in Seoul. An instrument consisting of five multiple-choice items were developed on the bases of previous studies. At the end of each item, students were also asked to write their reason in details for selecting a specific option. The results indicated that the students' views on the nature of science, on the whole, were neither accurate nor adequate from the viewpoints of modern epistemology. On comparing their views by gender, however, no significant differences were found except the item concerning the 'nature of model'.

이 연구에서는 과학의 본성에 대한 초등학생들의 견해를 조사하고, 성에 따른 견해 차이를 비교했다. 연구 대상은 서울시에 소재한 초등학교 6학년 학생 159명이었다. 검사 도구는 선행 연구에 기초하여 개발한 5개의 선다형 문항으로 구성했고, 각 문항마다 특정한 답지를 선택한 이유를 구체적으로 서술하도록 했다. 현대 인식론의 관점에서 볼 때, 전반적으로 초등학생들은 과학의 본성에 대해 부정확하고 부적절한 견해를 지니고 있었다. 성에 따라 과학의 본성에 대한 견해를 비교한 결과, '모델의 성질'에 관한 문항을 제외하고는 유의미한 차이가 나타나지 않았다.

Keywords

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