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Postulating that academic papers can positively impact the actual teaching practices of science teachers, this study analysed the process of understanding and utilising academic papers by science teachers to teach scientific creativity in their schools. The 45–hour graduate course of three science teachers was explored to identify the difficulties teachers encountered in trying to understand academic papers and to discover how to solve these difficulties. Second, which aspects should be considered when developing teaching materials for scientific creativity to be used in schools were analysed. A transformation model of an academic paper was proposed to understand this process, and the results were organised accordingly. According to this model, it was emphasized to translate academic papers from a general and abstract state to a local and concrete state. Therefore, the role of science educators as knowledge translators was discussed for more practical and effective use of academic papers in school. This study is expected to contribute to research-based teaching by linking academic research with teaching practice. Keywords: case study, research-based teaching, scientific creativity, teacher’s learning process, teaching plan

This research examined theory-based teaching processes of science teachers to understand the mechanism by which theory and practice were connected. Four science teachers desgined lesson plans by applying the empirical-abductive learning cycle (EALC) model and modified lesson plans through a collaborative interview with the researcher. Data were obtained from lesson plans and interviews. Using the constant comparison method with open coding, data were analyzed to find out obstacles or facilitators acted in the process of applying the EALC model to design lesson plans and reveal the path through which theory and practice were connected. As a result, it was found that perceptive prejudice about the role and necessity of the EALC model was the main obstacle. The collaboration process helped teachers understand the EALC model clearly and deeply. The development of this cognitive understanding changed their prejudice about the EALC model and led them to reflect their teaching practices with the eyes of theory. Through this process, a separated state between theory and practice was developed to a connected state. With the belief that it is a good starting point for coordination between theory and practice, further studies are proposed. Keywords: abductive thinking, lesson plan, learning cycle, hypothesis generation, theory-based teaching

Scientific evidence-based reasoning has been recognized as a form of reasoning that characterizes scientific thinking. This study questioned what scientific evidence means in the various types of scientific activities; that is, this study explored the nature of scientific evidence (NOSE). To do this, previous studies were examined to understand how scientific evidence was analyzed, evaluated, and utilized during the scientific activities of scientists or students in scientific or everyday situations. Through this process, seven statements were identified to describe the NOSE. This study explains these seven NOSE statements, constructs a process of scientific evidence-based reasoning as a structured form by reflecting these seven statements comprehensively, and discusses the practical implications for teaching science in schools. Finally, the limitations of this study are discussed, and possible directions for future studies are suggested. It is believed that the list of NOSE characteristics can provide a starting point for further elucidation and discussion of scientific evidence and helping students’ science learning in more authentic ways. Keywords: evidence evaluation, evidence-based reasoning, evidence-based response, idea-based response, scientific evidence

Teachers’ and parents’ perceptions of scientific creativity are assumed to be an important environmental factor for scientific creativity, so this research surveyed their perceptions of the behavioral characteristics of scientific creativity and compared their perceptions to those of students. This is achieved with a list of behavioral characteristics of creative physicists during their growth period. For this survey, 48 science teachers, 112 parents, and 145 science gifted students participated. Out of the 30 items of the list, they selected 10 items that were considered important indicators to become creative scientists in the future, and they ranked them according to their importance. The results showed that the three groups all perceived ‘conducting experiments, asking questions, thinking logically to solve difficult problems, and sharing ideas’ as important for scientific creativity. For the items that were perceived to be less important, it was discussed why these items might be necessary for scientific creativity. Comparative result showed that parents gave more importance to learning-related aspects, teachers to thinking-related aspects, and students to activities such as making and experimenting. This research showed the behavioral characteristics that should be encouraged to improve students’ scientific creativity at school and at home. Keywords: behavioral characteristics, creativity perception, creative environment, scientific creativity

Even though experimental design (ED) in open inquiry is important for more authentic scientific inquiry, it is not easy for students. The objective of this research was to identify factors considered important in students' ED and explore how to utilize it to improve students’ ED. To achieve the objective, in the first step, eighteen middle-school students in a gifted center participated in this study voluntarily. They were asked to design experimental procedures without any guidelines or help. Students’ EDs were analyzed qualitatively to extract difficulties that students experienced when designing experimental procedures. Based on analysis results, 17 factors were identified as factors to be considered for students’ ED and structured in a form of checklist. In the second step, the checklist was provided to 50 students in the gifted center as guidelines for their ED. They were then asked to design experimental procedures. Comparing scores of these students’ ED with those of the control group, it was found that these factors were significantly effective for improving students’ ED with high effect size. In conclusion, results of this research suggest that effective teaching strategy for students’ ED in scientific open inquiry can be obtained based on analysis about their difficulties in ED. Keywords: checklist, experimental design, gifted education, scientific open inquiry.

Many researchers have reported that there is a significant gap between theory and practice in education. This research sought to contribute to this work by examining the theory/practice gap in secondary school science teaching in South Korea. To do this, a questionnaire was developed to investigate the gap between Korean science teachers’ knowledge about Educational Theories and Teaching Strategies (ETTS) and the usage of it in their science classroom. The questionnaire was administered to 87 science teachers and results showed that even though participants were knowledgeable about many ETTS, only 26% of the teachers reported using it in their teaching. Major reasons reported for this gap in theory and practice were restrictive educational environments that did not support the use of ETTS, irrelevancy and difficulties of ETTS, and students' low interest in learning science. However, teachers’ perception of the importance of ETTS positively affected their usage of ETTS. Implications of the results are discussed, and alternative in-service training program is suggested to activate science teachers’ ETTS what they already know and to guide them to use ETTS in their actual science teaching. Key words: theory-practice gap, science teacher education, secondary science teacher, teaching strategy.

Teaching creativity is one of the major goals of science class. This study examined how much time is necessary to conduct a scientific creativity task requiring fluency in middle schools. To accomplish this, 76 and 45 scientifically gifted and ordinary students respectively generated as many ideas as possible for the creativity task. The results revealed that ordinary students spent, on average, approximately 20 minutes to generate 3.49 ideas per student. However, gifted students concentrated on the task for a longer time (roughly 60 minutes), and consequently generated greater (11.53) and more elaborate ideas. In comparing the ordinary students’ fluency with their school science scores, no relationship was found between them. This indicates that only teaching science cannot guarantee the development of creativity. Therefore, it is concluded that teaching fluency in middle schools is necessary and can possibly encourage creativity, provided that teachers can secure a minimal amount of time required to do so. Finally, the limitations of this study and further studies are discussed. Key words: fluency, gifted education, scientific creativity, teaching creativity.

This study aimed to improve science teaching in a practical way by activating teachers’ potential teaching expertise or professional knowledge. We developed an alternative in-service approach, the Practical On-site Cooperation Model (POCoM), according to the following principles: (1) the “bottom-up” approach, where observed problems in science classes are improved practically and immediately without any pre-determined teaching plan or materials; (2) “cooperation” between researchers and teachers to improve teaching; (3) “naturalistic settings” where various real problems occur in actual teaching and learning situations; and (4) “gradual improvement” rather than revolutionary change. The POCoM was applied with three science teachers, and 24 classes were observed. We found about 65%–96% teaching improvement. The analysis of the cooperation processes and science teaching in classrooms identified seven types of successful improvements and five types of unsatisfactory cases, including their reasons and features. Key words: cooperative model, in-service teacher, observational protocol, professional development, science teaching.

An observational instrument called the KTOP (Korean Teaching Observation Protocol) was developed to analyze science teaching and to identify the components of teaching that need improvement. To diminish the gap between theory and practice in science teaching, the method for developing the KTOP was structured as consisting of three steps: the first version of the KTOP was developed through direct observation of science classes at the first step, revised through literature review with consideration of the Korean national curriculum and comparison with other observational instruments in the second step, and finalized after application to actual teaching context. As a result, the KTOP was determined to consist of 30 items of 10 sub-categories in 4 main categories. The content was validated through 48 teachers’ responses to the questions asking if each indicator of the KTOP is worthwhile to be considered in their teaching. Reliability was obtained by agreement (72~90%) and correlation (r=0.90) among observers’ KTOP scores. Finally, the cases of applying the KTOP to improve science classes and to develop teachers’ expertise through an in-service program were described. Key words: analysis of science teaching, improving science teaching, observational instrument, teacher’s teaching expertise.