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The declining interest in science learning, along with students' perception that science is irrelevant to their daily lives, has been identified as a significant issue. This research aimed to help students connect abstract scientific concepts with their personal and everyday experiences. To achieve this, the research utilized the metaphysical principles implied by scientific concepts, a component of Kuhn's paradigm. To replace the abstract term 'metaphysical meanings', the term 'Meaning of Life implied by Scientific Concepts' (MLS) was introduced to make these metaphysical principles more accessible and comprehensible for students. Using MLS, activity sheets were developed and implemented with 57 lower-secondary students. The results showed that students could effectively identify real-life examples of the presented MLS, the number of students who successfully generated MLS increased with additional class sessions, and the content of the MLS expressed by the students was thoughtful and meaningful. Post-activity interviews indicated that students found this approach interesting and helpful for understanding concepts, and teachers were impressed by the quality of the students' work, expressing a desire to implement this approach in their classes. It is concluded that using MLS to connect abstract scientific concepts with students' everyday lives is both feasible and applicable in school science.

The present study aimed to validate a 70-item Korean bilingual version of the Vocabulary Size Test (VST) using Rasch modeling. The goal was to assess the applicability of this Korean version of the VST for Korean learners of English in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context by examining validity evidence based on Messick's framework. Specifically, the study focused on the content, substantive, and external aspects of construct validity. However, the findings provided weak evidence supporting the utility of the VST as a measure of receptive vocabulary for Korean EFL learners. The test was deemed too easy and lacked the ability to effectively differentiate among varying levels of second language proficiency, with many test items exhibiting unexpected behavior. Additionally, the VST showed a weak correlation with another measure of second language proficiency. In light of these findings, the study offers specific recommendations for improving the test's validity and usefulness.

The study investigated the relationships between individual and sociocultural factors and students' creativity based on a sociocultural perspective. The participants are 7,324 fifth graders from 242 schools obtained from the Korean Educational Longitudinal Study 2013. Through multilevel modeling, student gender, self-regulation behaviors, academic achievement, extrinsic motivation, and perceived parenting style at level 1, and school characteristics such as teacher's teaching methods, students' relationship with their teacher, and their teacher's academic pressure at level 2 were incorporated. The final model incorporating both level 1 and level 2 variables showed that the most significant variable related to students' creativity was self-regulation, followed by peer attachment, academic achievement, gender, relationship with their parents, academically supportive parenting style, and relationship with the teacher in the order listed. It is assumed that creativity is supported not only by elementary school children's cognitive ability but also by sociability in school, especially with peers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the school-related factors that influence students' global citizenship. To explore both student-level and school-level factors that influence students' global citizenship, we applied a hierarchical linear model using PISA 2018 data from Korea. The results showed that factors related to teacher's GCED practices and school climate can play an important role in fostering students' global citizenship. Based on these findings, we suggest that a whole-school approach is needed to promote the inclusion of GCED-related topics in various school curricula and to integrate GCED values into the overall school culture to enhance students' global citizenship.

In a competition-driven meritocratic learning environment, academic achievement can have a direct effect on self-esteem and self-concept. As such, academic achievement can act as an antecedent to grit and self-esteem. This study examined the longitudinal reciprocal relationships of academic achievement, consistency of interest (CI), perseverance of effort (PE), and self-esteem among fourth-grade and fifth-grade primary school students in South Korea, who were under heavy pressure in a performance-oriented learning environment. Data pertaining to 2,240 students were extracted from the 2018 Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute, and cross-lagged structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the longitudinal relationship between three variables. The results revealed that academic achievement had a statistically significant positive relationship with CI, PE, and self-esteem; CI had a statistically significant positive relationship with PE; and PE had a statistically significant positive relationship with self-esteem through the mediation of academic achievement. In addition, self-esteem demonstrated the highest level of stability, and although CI and PE demonstrated similar levels of stability, CI displayed slightly greater stability compared to PE. Findings from this study suggest the need to support grit and self-esteem among Korean students under pressure in performance-oriented academic environments.

This study analyzed data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study to identify changing patterns in social exclusion among South Korean youth and determine the influencing factors. The study examined 345 youth from 2012 to 2021. A fuzzy set theory and growth mixture model was used to measure social exclusion and identify patterns and the associated factors during this timeframe. The main findings are as follows. First, the social exclusion gap among South Korean youth that emerged a decade ago has continued, with high, middle, and low levels of exclusion identified. Second, the analysis revealed that looking at the demographics, being female, having less education and lower personal and household income increased the likelihood of falling into a relatively higher level of social exclusion. Based on the results, policy recommendations are suggested to mitigate the social exclusion gap among Korean youth.

This study examines the relationship between parental involvement and academic achievement among adolescents and potential mechanisms underlying this relationship. Using data from six waves of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey, this study estimated fixed effects models to account for individual-level heterogeneity. Sobel mediation tests were employed to examine the mediating roles of four aspects of school adjustment, namely: (a) academic engagement; (b) compliance with school rules; (c) positive peer relationships; and (d) positive teacher-student relationships. Results revealed that parental involvement is positively associated with adolescents' academic achievement (b = 0.172). Proposed mechanism variables explain approximately 68.6% of the association, with academic engagement being the most salient pathway. The findings highlight the importance of parental involvement in helping adolescents adjust to school environments and improve their academic performance.

Health care in the 21st century has emphasised science and technology-centred practice, which might lead to dehumanisation such that healthcare professionals come to treat patients less like persons and more like objects. A programme of humanities for healthcare professionals has been suggested as a solution to overcome the problem of dehumanisation. The OMNIBUS programme was developed in humanities curriculum for a Catholic nursing programme to foster students to have attributes of a 'Good Samaritan', a model for compassionate professional. This paper describes the effect of a four-year nursing programme with a humanities curriculum on students' compassionate attributes including bioethics awareness, cultural competency, empathy, and spirituality. It was a secondary data analysis using time-series data collected from nursing students. The levels of bioethics awareness and spirituality among the nursing students have improved. They maintained cultural competencies and empathy skills over time. Developing a humanities curriculum can be used as a strategy to teach Christian values to professional students without emphasising religious aspects.

Sensemaking is conceptualized as a trajectory to develop better understanding and is advocated as one of the fundamental practices in science education. However, the field is lacking of a framework to view the prolonged process of sensemaking that starts from a raise of uncertainty of a target phenomenon to a grasping of a better understanding of a target phenomenon. The process requires teachers to recognize the role of scientific uncertainty in different phases of sensemaking and develop responsive instructional supports to help students navigate the uncertainties. With an attention on student scientific uncertainty as a potential driver of the trajectory of sensemaking, this study aims to identify different phases of sensemaking that can be developed with students' scientific uncertainty. This study especially attends to two types of scientific uncertainty - conceptual and epistemic uncertainties. Conceptual uncertainty refers to student struggle of using conceptual understanding (e.g., mastery of content and everyday knowledge) to respond to an encountered phenomenon. Epistemic uncertainty emerges from struggles in using epistemic understanding to generate new ideas. Based on the multiple case study method, we examined sensemaking activities in two Korean science classrooms and one American science classroom and identified three phases of sensemaking: (a) focusing on a driving question related to a target phenomenon; (b) delving into multiple resources to develop plausible explanation(s); and (c) examining the successfulness of the new understanding and concretizing it. Based on the findings, we discuss two emerging themes. First, sensemaking progresses through three distinctive phases driven by students' dynamically evolving scientific uncertainty. Second, attending to both epistemic and conceptual uncertainties can support developing sensemaking coherent with students' view.

Self-efficacy, motivation, and learning strategies are crucial in second/foreign language (L2) acquisition and general learning. However, we are not sure yet the unique or combined contributions of self-efficacy to learning strategies by way of instrumental and integrative motivation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of self-efficacy in learning strategies mediated by instrumental and integrative motivation by developing two hypothetical models and testing these models using structural equation modeling among university students learning English in Korea. Findings indicated that self-efficacy directly as well as indirectly contributed to learning strategies through the mediation of a composite variable of motivation as a whole. However, when instrumental and integrative motivation were mediated separately from each other, only the indirect, not direct, contribution of self-efficacy to learning strategies reached a significant level. In addition, even though the participants were more instrumentally than integratively motivated, it was integrative, not instrumental, motivation that significantly contributed to learning strategies. These findings imply that the effect of strategy instruction could be improved if self-efficacy and motivation are incorporated into instructional approaches.

This study investigated the usage of conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) to support learners in foreign language classrooms. It employed Google Assistant and focused on the interactions between the teacher, learners, and CAI, as well as the teacher's collaboration with CAI. Using social network and content analyses of two 50-minute language classes and group interviews, this study revealed that the teacher and CAI played a significant role during classroom interactions. The teacher employed various talk moves to facilitate interactions between the students and CAI. There were several instances of collaboration between the teacher and CAI during classroom facilitation. This study highlights the implications of the collaboration between human teachers and CAI in classrooms for teaching foreign languages and suggests avenues for future research.

The rapid progression of science and technology has brought both remarkable conveniences and innovations and potential risks to us. To address these risks within science education, this study aims to identify the tendency of students' risk perceptions across different technologies. For this purpose, we developed a survey addressing three key components of risk perception (i.e., risk recognition, risk assessment, and risk management) and the educational need for risk education. 311 responses were collected from elementary, middle, and high school students and statically analyzed. The results indicated that students showed various risk perception patterns depending on the technology. There were significant perception gaps between boys and girls regarding vaccines and antimicrobial technology. It was also found that high school students' perceptions of the benefits of the technologies were higher than elementary and middle school students' perceptions. Based on these findings, we discuss pedagogical implications for risk education in science classrooms.

English-medium instruction (EMI) has been implemented in higher-education institutions around the world. This study examines the states of EMI-related professional development (PD) for Korean science and engineering professors and their perceptions of such programs. Faculty members at the three major science and engineering schools in Korea participated in a questionnaire survey and the follow-up interviews. The results show that the vast majority of them had not participated in pre- or in-service PD programs and had negative attitudes towards certified EMI-related PD programs mainly due to their institution's strong emphasis on their research performance rather than the quality of their teaching. The study offers suggestions for future directions of EMI-related PD at institutions with a similar tendency.

Sensemaking has been advocated as a core practice of science education to support students in constructing their own understanding through a prolonged trajectory. However, the field lacks a discussion of teaching strategies that can better support students as they develop in the trajectory of sensemaking, which includes four phases: initial engagement with a driving question related to a target phenomenon; identification of incoherence and insufficiency in existing understanding; exploration of multiple resources to help develop plausible explanations; and synthesis of solutions and application of new understanding to interpret the target phenomenon. With the view that students' scientific uncertainty, including conceptual and epistemic uncertainties, can motivate or drive the trajectory of sensemaking coherent with students' understanding, this multiple case study examined how two science teachers, one from South Korea and one from the USA, supported students to navigate their scientific uncertainties to shape a trajectory of sensemaking that is coherent to them. Transcripts of video recordings of classroom discourses and student-created artifacts were analyzed. We identified the dynamic nature of students' scientific uncertainties in the four phases and the teaching strategies in each phase. Three main findings emerged from this study: (1) student uncertainty as a key not only to initiate the trajectory of sensemaking meaningfully but also to continuously develop the trajectory along a coherent pathway, (2) conceptual and epistemic uncertainties having different roles in building different phases of sensemaking, and (3) teaching strategies that support student navigation of scientific uncertainty that drives the trajectory of sensemaking.

In Korea, there are cases where nurses use abusive language while teaching new nurses. Nursing students who observe and experience this kind of violence question themselves if they will be able to perform well in such an environment. This descriptive research study examined the mediating effect of negative emotions and the regulated mediating effect of resilience in the relationship between indirect experiences of violence and career identity. Junior- and senior-year students in the nursing departments of nine universities located in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul were recruited using snowball sampling from August 1st to August 31st, 2021. A total of 254 participants completed the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the SPSS PROCESS macro. The factors that affected career identity were indirect experience of violence ([beta] = -0.1978, p = 0.0001), negative emotions ([beta] = -0.2364, p < 0.0001), and resilience ([beta] = 0.3107, p < 0.0001). Resilience ([beta] = -0.1113, p = 0.0112) had a moderated mediating effect on negative emotions. The index of moderated mediation of negative emotions and resilience was statistically significant at -0.0284 (95% CI [-0.0549, -0.0046]). As a result of this study, when students see a violent situation, they have negative emotions such as fear of making a mistake, and their confidence in nursing performance decreases. In order to avoid this situation, they avoid their career path. In this study, it showed that the greater the resilience, the greater the ability to overcome it. Violence itself needs to be improved, and resilience strengthening programs are needed for children and women exposed to violence.

By looking at the relationship between workplace culture and gender identity, this research examines ways to potentially improve women's satisfaction and perceptions of female workers in this presently disadvantageous work environment in Korea. Drawing from previous criticism for having prioritized inter-group processes over particular social identities, this research uses Social Identity Theory as the main theoretical framework in two studies to structure the factors affecting workplace environment, specifically workplace culture for women and working women's satisfaction with communication. The first study applies intra-group analysis to examine the impact that the gender composition of a school has on gender identity, and it examines the relationship between organizational gender composition and women's perceptions of workplace culture by employing an experiment within a survey, which contains scenarios of an imaginary workplace, to Korean female college students (n = 439). The results demonstrate women attending women's colleges displayed stronger gender identity than those attending co-ed colleges on two dimensions of gender identity: in-group ties and centrality. The second study surveys Korean female workers (n = 171) to examine the same relationships while more deeply looking into the effects of gender composition of the workplace on women's satisfaction with communication. The main finding shows that for a sex-integrated organization, women who attended women's colleges denoted higher communication satisfaction with supervisors and same-sex coworkers than women who attended coed colleges. Implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.

It remains an open question whether second language (L2) learners can process linguistic properties at the syntax-discourse interface. This study examines this issue in the context of the L2 processing of Korean dative sentences under different information structure requirements. Given that discourse constraints associated with information structure tend to manifest more strongly in noncanonical than in canonical structures, we tested whether L2 learners of Korean show sensitivity to such constraints during online processing. In a story-continuation task, both native and nonnative speaker groups showed a strong preference for producing canonical dative patterns, indicating their comparable knowledge of the canonical status of Korean dative sentences. In a self-paced reading task, both groups spent longer reading times when the word order of dative sentences did not follow given-new information structure, but only for the noncanonical and not the canonical structure. These results suggest that L2 processing of dative structures at the syntax-discourse interface relies on the same parsing architecture that guides native-speaker processing.

This paper presents a case study of developing a blended reading program for Korean EFL middle school students using a process drama methodology to generate intrinsic motivation to read, improve reading comprehension and language fluency, and foster twenty-first-century skills such as creativity, communication, and cooperation. For the development of the reading program, a needs analysis was conducted using student questionnaires and diagnostic tests. From results of the needs analysis, sample lessons were designed based on the process drama methodology following its planning principles and strategies. Based on feedback from teachers and students after piloting the sample lessons, the blended reading program was finalized. The proposed blended reading program is expected to help Korean EFL middle school students build a positive attitude toward reading English books and develop reading comprehension, language fluency, and 21st-century core competencies. It will also encourage English teachers to use innovative teaching methods in English education.

While metadiscourse use has been well-attended in second language (L2) writing research, relatively less effort has been made in documenting changing patterns of metadiscourse use among L2 writers. The present study addressed this gap by probing a diachronic change of interactive metadiscourse in research articles published in "English Teaching" across a span of 40 years. Using the corpus of 931 articles written by Korean L2 writers, we examined whether, and to what extent, interactive metadiscourse use in academic writing had changed over time. Our findings revealed an overall increase in the frequency of interactive resources mainly driven by a significant increase of evidentials. The observed pattern of change in interactives suggests that academic discourse within the applied linguistics community in Korea is becoming more persuasive and reader-oriented over time, consistent with Hyland and Jiang (2018) who reported a dramatic rise in interactive metadiscourse in the global discourse community of applied linguistics.

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.

This study investigated how student-centered learning affects first-year college students' perceptions of and construction of investment in English learning. After finishing two reading assignments using a student-centered approach, 50 students completed open-ended written surveys, and 15 students participated in open-ended interviews. Thematic analysis of the data, which consisted primarily of the translated interview transcripts and secondarily of the survey responses, showed that initially the students recognized the importance of learning English but had ambivalent attitudes towards the language. However, after completing the student-centered reading assignments, they expressed self-confidence, a sense of accomplishment, and a will to learn, which helped them to concretely construct their investment in English learning. These findings indicate the positive impact of student-centered learning on students' perceptions of English and their construction of investment in learning the language, highlighting its importance in helping students, particularly as an alternative to exam-driven instructional approaches common in Korea's environment of English fever and similar contexts.

Video technology has the potential to improve opportunities for students to benefit from feedback that is essential for learning. However, previous studies have all dealt with videos of tutors, rather than videos of students' performances. This study explores whether video technology contributes to the quality of feedback on students' oral language performance and investigates how language teachers perceive contemporary technology regarding student education. Participants in the study were eight incumbent teachers involved in language education. The interview data suggested that the teachers seemed to be very positive about using video technology as a tool for feedback. The technology not only allowed for evidence-based accounts which served to enrich the quality of feedback, but also enabled them to highlight specific aspects of oral performances and create feedback that is conducive to understanding. The findings of this study showed that technology-enhanced evidence-based feedback will be able to provide an important supplement to written feedback, adding one more mode for an effective feedback process.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) aims to provide comparative data on 15-year-olds' academic performance and well-being. The purpose of the current study is to explore and compare the variables that predict the reading literacy and life satisfaction of U.S. and South Korean students. The random forest algorithm, which is a machine learning approach, was applied to PISA 2018 data (4,677 U.S. students and 6,650 South Korean students) to explore and select the key variables among 305 variables that predict reading literacy and life satisfaction. In each random forest analysis, one for the U.S. and another for South Korea, 23 variables were derived as key variables in students' reading literacy. In addition, 23 variables in the U.S. and 26 variables in South Korea were derived as important variables for students' life satisfaction. The multilevel analysis revealed that various student-, teacher- or school-related key variables derived from the random forest were statistically related to either U.S. and/or South Korean students' reading literacy and/or life satisfaction. The current study proposes to use a machine learning approach to examine international large-scale data for an international comparison. The implications of the current study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The need to support those teaching in English-medium instruction (EMI) classrooms is becoming increasingly acknowledged, and faculty professional development (PD) is recognised as an important element of that support. This study, a replication and localisation of an international study by Macaro et al. (2020. "English Medium Instruction in Higher Education: Teacher Perspectives on Professional Development and Certification." "International Journal of Applied Linguistics" 30 (1): 144-157), investigates the experiences and attitudes of faculty members teaching in EMI programmes in South Korea and Japan towards EMI related PD and certification. Survey findings (South Korea n = 234, Japan n = 92) indicate that few faculty members have experience with pre-service PD, and that EMI-related in-service PD is rare in South Korea but on the rise in Japan. Preferences for PD and attitudes towards certification differed between the two populations sampled, and there are indications that the disciplinary and language backgrounds of the professors may influence this. This highlights the need for local, context-appropriate approaches to supporting faculty in EMI programmes.

Online self-learning became widespread after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and during this period, learners' self-leadership became an important measure of their competency. This study aims to verify the validity and reliability of the tool by translating the Abbreviated Self-Leadership Questionnaire (ASLQ) into Korean. Through web-based surveys, 286 nursing students from two university nursing colleges participated in the study. Cronbach's a, correlation, and confirmatory factor analyses were used to verify the nine-item ASLQ. The factor loading values ranged from 0.378 to 0.892. The ASLQ model fit had a comparative fit index of 0.944, root mean square error of approximation of 0.093, and standardized root mean residual of 0.069. The ASLQ showed a statistically significant positive correlation with the original self-leadership, emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy questionnaires. Additionally, structural, convergent, and criterion validity were also evident. The reliability of the ASLQ was 0.846 for Cronbach's a (the three sub-dimensions were 0.836, 0.732, and 0.734). This study verified the validity and reliability of the ASLQ and confirmed that it could be used to measure the self-leadership of nursing students at a time when self-leadership is crucial.

This study aims to examine whether recent educational attempts to prepare students for the future can open up the future, using South Korea's 'high school credit system' as an example. To provide differentiated instruction that recognizes differences and maximizes students' potential, the Korean government recently launched a 'high school credit system.' The primary goal of this system is to assist students in identifying their strengths and interests, selecting courses for them to pursue, and following their plans independently. The system appears to respect each student's unique personality and value the self-dominance of the liberating subject. Ironically, however, it expects students to map their lives according to 'given' or molar identitarian categories for self-formation, thereby representing already constructed life forms. It subjugates students' potential by linking subjective formation to society's dominant codes and deploying the forged self within existing social structures. To avoid limiting students' potential, it is essential to refrain from defining 'the self' as a given and fixed construct and restricting education solely to courses that match its current characteristics. Education for a future should promote a flexible educational journey that accommodates changes in interests and passions as they evolve over time.

This study explores Vietnamese marriage-migrant mothers' changing attitudes toward heritage language (HL) education in South Korea through narratives collected in an interview setting over a period of four years. The findings show that while the mothers placed some value on HL education, they initially prioritized Korean at home because they viewed it as key to their children's academic success in Korea. However, the mothers' perceptions of the value of their native language changed over time, influenced by their increasing awareness of the benefits of bilingualism, their imagined bilingual communities, Korea's increasingly competitive job market, and their children's social and academic experiences in school. Over time, the mothers came to view their minority language as an asset rather than a deficit and thus chose to invest in developing their children's HL skills to position them as potentially valuable bilingual workers in both Korean and transnational contexts. The participants' narratives reflect their view of the minority HL as primarily a socioeconomic resource rather than an identity resource, while the longitudinal study highlights the dynamism and changing nature of language ideologies in relation to HL maintenance.

This study compared undergraduate students' learning gains attained through student-led discussions with those acquired through teacher-led discussions in students who had previously engaged in a different learning activity. A total of 305 undergraduate students participated in the study. It was found that prediscussion activities yielded differential student outcomes depending on the applied combination. Self-study groups achieved higher scores through student-led discussions, whereas, lecture groups attained better scores through teacher-led discussions. To substantiate the joint effect, we attempted to elucidate students' outcomes through moment-by-moment analyses of cognitive-behavioral engagement observed during discussions. Students assigned to the self-study and student-led discussion groups displayed consistently high engagement throughout their discussions, however, the engagement dropped sharply in teacher-led discussion. Meanwhile, student engagement increased over time in the teacher-led discussion group after the class listened to a lecture. The results of moderated mediation analysis showed that discussion formats moderated by prediscussion activity affected students' cognitive-behavioral engagement, which led to their learning. Therefore, our findings contribute to a new perspective of engagement as a student learning in discussions and imply that teachers can induce students' engagement leading to superior learning outcome by combining appropriate instructional strategies and classroom discussion.

In response to becoming a more multicultural society, the South Korean Ministry of Education has implemented a multicultural education policy since 2006 by promoting English as key for young learners' communicative competence in a global world. Despite numerous previous studies on government-led curriculum and textbooks for English as a foreign language (EFL) across many countries, little attention has been given to the cultural and linguistic aspects of primary-level EFL textbooks. Within the framework of intercultural communicative competence (ICC), this study investigated multicultural understandings, social values, and beliefs embedded in the reading passages of five Korean Grade 6 EFL textbooks. By employing multimodal content analysis, it also scrutinized what messages and meanings are constructed with semiotic devices and the extent of the textbooks to foster EFL students' ICC. Findings revealed that the textbooks (re)produce national pride and otherness and promote the idea of English for a White global world. The lack of interactive communication events in diverse settings was also found problematic in developing students' new identities as global citizens. The study argues for critical approaches to multicultural education and intercultural development in EFL education by reconceptualizing English as a mediator for developing intercultural contact with diverse others.

Purpose: This study draws on the author's experiences building rapport through online chat for data collection for the author's doctoral dissertation. The author contacted ten Korean women via online chat to recruit and faced the most challenging situation; building rapport. As the Millennial generation is known as being tech-savvy or digital natives, the author actively used emoticons (pictorial representations of facial expressions using characters) with potential interviewees and completed ten interviews. Therefore, this paper offers a new qualitative interviewing method in feminist research. Design/methodology/approach: The paper briefly reviews the works of literature on interviewing women on sensitive topics and building rapport before the interview. Then, the author introduced using emoticons to create rapport during the data collection process and how a non-traditional approach positively impacts the interviewer and interviewee before, during and even after the interview. Findings: Women participants' responses and behaviors differed after building a rapport through an online chat. They were willing to share their personal stories and memories with the interviewer even though the interviewer did not ask. Research limitations/implications: This study provides a stepping stone for developing an account of the new qualitative methodological approach, specifically feminist qualitative research. Originality/value: Few studies have described how qualitative researchers create a rapport in virtual space, specifically using emoticons. Also, this study suggests a new methodological approach since nonverbal communication in online chat is inevitable when interviewing people in qualitative research.

The purpose of this study is multifold: First, to develop an educational program using artificial intelligence (AI) in middle school free semester system of South Korea. Second, to verify the program's effectiveness, the study clarified the definition of AI and AI education and considered their meaning in technology education. This study used three steps: preparation, development, and improvement. In the preparation step, this study set the theme and purpose of the AI program and selected the free semester activity type "theme selection activity." After analyzing the technology curriculum and extracting AI-related elements in the development step, this study laid out the program for 16 h of class time. In the improvement step, to augment the program's validity, the researcher revised and supplemented it as a whole through expert consultation. This research differentiated the developed program from the AI education program of other subjects and specialized it, focusing on the specificity of technology education. The study emphasized the social impact of the latest technology, ethics of AI, physical computing using AI, and technological problem-solving activity using AI. The final developed program was applied to the students, and students participated in a pretest and posttest. The study used the PATT and AI competency test tools. The PATT results showed a significant increase in the mean of both constructs in "interest in technology" and "career aspirations in technology." In AI competency, the mean of two constructs increased significantly in "social impact of AI" and "AI performance." In particular, "AI performance" showed the largest increase. There was no statistically significant change in "interaction with AI." The study results confirmed that the developed AI program was effective in technology education and career exploration, which is the primary purpose of the free semester. In addition, it was possible to confirm the technology educational value of the AI education program centered on technological problem-solving. These research results have implications for bringing AI into technology education.

Background: The development of learning attitudes during middle school transition and adaptation is critical, as shown by Self-Determination Theory (SDT). However, the development of adolescents' learning attitudes throughout middle school and the impact of parenting styles on this development remains largely unexplored. Objective: This research aimed to examine the development of adolescents' learning attitudes in South Korean middle school students, and the role of parenting styles in shaping these attitudes, applying the Self-Determination Theory framework and using longitudinal data. Method: Data was sourced from the Korea Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018 (KCYPS 2018), involving a national sample of 2,590 7th grade students. A Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) was employed to determine developmental trajectories and assess the impact of parenting styles on latent profile memberships, taking into account other covariates. Results: The analysis revealed three latent learning attitude profiles: Helpless, General, and Engaged. It showed a general tendency for learning attitude profiles to regress towards the General profile over time, but also a likelihood of consolidation. Significantly, autonomy-supportive and coercive parenting styles had a substantial influence on profile membership probabilities, though their effects varied in nuances. Conclusions: The findings indicate that while the autonomy-supportive parenting style fosters General or Engaged profiles among middle school students, curbing coercive parenting styles is necessary for developing the Engaged profile. In light of the timing and learning attitude profile, personalized and specific interventions in family and educational contexts are recommended.

Purpose: This study analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the electoral mechanism of local education superintendents in South Korea, draws conclusions and makes suggestions for future reforms. Design/methodology/approach: The research method of this study included document analysis and interviews. Document analysis was used to collect and analyze the relevant official documents of education superintendents across countries. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four professors and two superintendents. Findings: The results of the interviews indicate the following: 1) Korean stakeholders are getting more familiar with the direct election of superintendents, as the interviews indicate a more mature direct election system due to previous experience and public officials taking direct election into account; 2) The direct election of superintendents has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include increasing the participation of the general public in education, and the disadvantages include conflict between the central government and local superintendents belonging to different political parties. However, the current system is likely to be retained; 3) The superintendent systems in various countries differ due to their respective traditions and social contexts. However, the authors can always learn lessons and implications from foreign countries if the authors compare their education systems with their foreign counterparts. Research limitations/implications: As far research limitations, although this was a small study, it shows the importance of collecting multiple stakeholders' views on the direct election of education superintendents as a basis for future reform of education management. Practical implications: The Korean system for electing superintendents provides a good model for other countries reflecting on the educational autonomy and accountabilities of their own systems. Social implications: The direct election of superintendents provides an example of professionalism, independence and political neutrality in education that other countries can learn from. The separation of general and educational administration in Korea through direct elections protects educational activities from political influence. Originality/value: In terms of originality/value, this study adds a new perspective to the debate about whether the general public should directly elect education superintendents, as well as to the literature on local education management.

Teachers' accountability has arisen to swiftly respond to changes in teaching and learning in the time of COVID-19. Many researchers and educators have responded to the inquiry for envisioning teacher education during the pandemic; however, there is a dearth of research on preservice teachers' envisioning of English language teaching (ELT). Drawing upon the sociocultural perspectives of teachers and teaching, therefore, this qualitative study provided a glimpse of EFL preservice teachers' envisioning of ELT through their perceptions, experiences, and reflections regarding the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. Thirty-five EFL preservice teachers in South Korea participated in this study. Data included interviews, observations, fieldnotes, and argumentative essays written by the participants. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The study revealed three major findings. First, the participants perceived and envisioned ELT with emphasis on human interactions, task-based teaching, individualization, and technology use. Second, the participants indicated that teachers should play a major role to ensure effective language teaching. Third, the participants stated that preservice teachers need to be well-prepared in teacher education for the post COVID-19 era. These findings suggest that teacher education should consider the needs and prospects of preservice teachers in the uncertain circumstances of the post-pandemic era.

Background: Adolescents are considered to be vulnerable to particulate matter (PM). This study aims to develop and verify the effectiveness of the "school-based education program for coping with particulate matter (SEPC_PM)." This program was designed by employing the health belief model. Methods: High school students between the ages of 15 and 18 in South Korea participated in the program. This study employed a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. A total of 113 students participated in the study; of these, 56 students participated in the intervention group, and 57 in the control group. The intervention group received 8 intervention sessions the SEPC_PM over the course of 4 weeks. Results: After the completion of the program, the intervention group's knowledge about PM showed a statistically significant increase (t = 4.79, p < 0.001). The practice of engaging in health-managing behaviors to protect against PM also showed statistically significant improvement in the intervention group, with the greatest progress in practicing precaution when outdoors (t = 2.22, p = 0.029). No statistically significant changes were observed regarding other dependent variables. However, a subdomain of the variable of perceived self-efficacy for engaging in health-managing behaviors to protect against PM (degree of body cleansing after returning home) demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the intervention group (t = 1.99, p = 0.049). Conclusions: The SEPC_PM may be proposed for incorporation into regular high school curricula to improve students' health by encouraging them to take necessary actions against PM.

The purpose of this study was to develop an invention instruction program based on the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) for preservice invention teachers and test the effects of the program on teachers' creativity beliefs, creativity, and invention teaching self-efficacy. The subjects of this study were preservice teachers who were enrolled in a four-week (eight sessions) TRIZ invention course at a university in South Korea. A quasi-experimental method was used to incorporate TRIZ instructional strategies into an invention course that taught invention principles and hands-on activities. Results showed that the TRIZ instructional method significantly increased creativity beliefs, creativity, and invention teaching self-efficacy in preservice teachers. Interestingly, the TRIZ program had different effects on subdimensions of creativity. Results of the study suggest that TRIZ is an effective instructional method that can be used to increase teachers' creativity, change their beliefs about creativity, and boost confidence in their invention teaching ability. Limitations and suggestions for future study are also discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine L2 learners' perceived writing anxiety and the usefulness of freewriting in improving L2 writing fluency. Seventeen L1-Korean preservice English teachers enrolled in a teacher education program at a university participated. An L2 writing anxiety survey, 170 freewritings, and 17 reflective writings were analyzed. The participants showed a moderate level of L2 writing anxiety, mostly due to a lack of confidence. Across 10 freewriting practice sessions, participants' words per minute gradually increased, with high and low fluency groups showing a similar upward trend. Participants' written reflections revealed that they perceived the freewriting practice useful in boosting confidence and improving skills. Expressing ideas freely without concern for accuracy alleviated their L2 writing anxiety most. Participants reported they had difficulty writing in English continuously for several minutes, and disliked absence of teacher feedback.

Software (SW) is one of the key technologies in modern society, and its importance is receiving the attention of the educational community. In addition, Computational Thinking (CT) has been studied in fields of various education such as computer science, science, mathematics, and technology. The prominence of computer science education has increased in K-12 South Korean schools with the effect of the 2015 Revised National Curriculum and the National Plan for Activating Software Education. In addition, there are active efforts to include CT in science, technology, and mathematics classrooms. Therefore, this study aims to review prior studies on CT in science and mathematics education. The results of this study are as follows: (1) CT in science and mathematics education has a different conceptual approach than CT in computer education. Science education is mostly about problemsolving activities using computers, and mathematics education mostly utilizes the 'abstraction' related approach. (2) The key to improving CT in both subjects is to implement practical experience in science and mathematics education. Variables of interest in prior studies were scientific and mathematical problem-solving skills, the attitude of subjects, and creativity. (3) CT education in science and mathematics education has used a convergence education approach (STEAM education).

Due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, more older people are exposed to Information Technology(IT) in their daily lives. However, due to the lack of digital literacy capabilities of the elderly, it is difficult to use digital devices, making it difficult to live. Therefore, this paper outlined the impact of the digital divide on daily life and the ability of the elderly to use digital information. Through this, we propose an educational program that combines IT and humanities to improve digital literacy in the elderly. IT and humanities do not seem to match, but the convergence of the two is essential. Hardware and software, technology and technology, technology and design are being combined. Accordingly, technology and humanities can combine competency is becoming more critical. Therefore, the educational program proposed in this thesis combines a decision tree with a game and allows the elderly to acquire IT knowledge while playing a game naturally. This educational program was conducted for 23 older adults in their 60s in J city, South Korea. The average satisfaction of the study participants in education was 4.13(±0.65). In addition, the post-test mean of the recognition area in digital literacy was 3.02(±0.64) (p<0.05), and the post-test mean of the behavior area in digital literacy was 3.67(±0.59) (p<0.01), which was statistically significant compared to the pre-test.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the various characteristics of teacher's question to find out whether teachers who teach STEAM classes are conducting effective classes that can stimulate creativity and improve problem-solving skills. For the purpose of the study, the video recording data of the 8th hour of the STEAM class by two special education teachers and the teaching/learning process plan of the class were collected. Then, researchers and research assistants transcribed all verbal interactions that appeared in class and the researcher read the transcription data line by line and analyzed the type of questions. The results of the study are as follows. First, when examining the questions that appeared in the STEAM class of special school teachers for students with intellectual disabilities by question type, closed questions including cognitive & memorial questions and convergent thinking question were very high, and open-ended questions including divergent thinking questions and evaluative thinking questions were relatively low. Second, the stage of STEAM class was divided into introduction, development, and wrap-up stages, and as a result of analyzing the degree of use of question by special school teacher for students with intellectual disabilities according to each stage, the question was used a lot in the order of development, introduction, and wrap-up stage. By analyzing teachers' question in the operation of STEAM classes, it will be possible to prepare basic data for improving science classes using STEAM education in special schools for students with intellectual disabilities.

There has been a growing need as preservice teachers develop competencies regarding convergence. Focused on a discussion of blended learning before the COVID-19 pandemic versus online learning in the epidemic, we aimed to explore whether preservice teachers' attitudes toward convergence can be influenced by the learning environment. Participants were a total of three hundred preservice teachers who attended the science teaching method courses training their TPACK at a teachers college in South Korea during the 2018 to 2020 academic years (194 in the blended learning group and 106 in the online learning group). Survey data on five subcomponents of attitudes toward convergence were collected at the start and end of the courses and analyzed using ANOVA and ANCOVA. As result, preservice teachers' responses to the attitudes toward convergence in the pretests have a significant difference, whereas the overall scores in the posttests revealed no significant difference in the modalities of learning environments. Consequently, the preservice teachers engaged in the courses enhanced positive attitudes toward convergence regardless of delivery methods either blended learning or online learning. This paper provides evidence that the two teaching modalities of curriculum studies have the potential to foster preservice teachers' attitudes toward convergence. This study supports that the blended and online learning formats of the course were feasible to induce short-term improvements in bias affective domains under the learning environments of science teaching method courses.

To appropriately react to the swift development and changes of technologies these days, the need for creative teaching and learning has been increased. Making learners equip digital literacy of intelligent information has become necessary. This paper focused on three promising technologies that artificial intelligence humanities, forensic science, and digital therapeutics from intelligent information technology. We designed educational programs and applied the programs to 596 elementary and secondary school students in Korea. The objective of these programs was to promote the creativity of learners by using numerous techniques in thinking creatively and exploring newly emerging careers in the fields of intelligent information technology. To find out the educational effect, we tested the study's subjects for their satisfaction with education and their creativity. As a result of the study, the scores regarding the satisfaction of students engaged in the programs was high (M=4.18, SD=0.48), and the score on their creativity was also high (M=4.05, SD=0.38). These educational programs also showed high satisfaction and creativity scores regardless of school level. Accordingly, we suggest that the learning contents and concepts of intelligent information technology might be worthy of being applied across elementary and secondary school practices. From the result that the satisfaction, we found that it was necessary to improve quality of the artificial intelligence humanities program. Also, supplementary and advanced related activities are needed toward enhancing learner motivation and satisfaction.

This study investigated the effects of complex problem-solving activities involving children's literature on students' critical thinking dispositions and English production. Thirty-one sixth-grade students were given lessons over a seven-week period. Various types of data were analyzed qualitatively, and the results of a critical thinking disposition test were analyzed quantitatively. Results were as follows: First, the critical thinking dispositions test revealed positive changes in open-mindedness, independence, objectivity, and inquisitiveness. The highest score was found for open-mindedness. The largest increase in score was for independence and objectivity. Second, changes in critical thinking dispositions enriched children's English production. Open-mindedness helped with spoken language production as it encouraged students to share their opinions freely. Independence was mainly expressed in writing form in which students could question and evaluate the text. Greater objectivity was applied to spoken and written language production as the subjects were able to recognize the importance of evidence. Inquisitiveness affected children's writing as it drove them to write down the results of their own research.

Despite writing and speaking being related activities, their end-products are entirely different. However, previous studies have not shown consistency in terms of grammar use in these two modes. Accordingly, in the present study, I aim to define the syntactic characteristics in these two modes with large-scale data and organized research designs. This study examined 14 indices of syntactic complexity and specific grammar factors in 224 monologues and 139 writings of Korean EFL undergraduates. The results revealed that learners tended to use more finite complement clauses and relative clauses while writing but used because fragments independently and 'and' sentence-initially more frequently while speaking. When compared with previous studies, the characteristics of syntactic complexity of Korean EFL learners, regardless of age, are defined by the use of coordination in speaking and the use of subordination in writing.

This study investigated preservice teachers' perspectives on flipped learning approaches in the EFL context in Korea. Fifteen preservice teachers agreed to participate in this study. Major data sources were focus group and interviews. These sources were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Then, the transcripts were interpreted and analyzed through thematic analysis to explore individuals' thoughts and opinions in depth. Findings revealed that the participants had positive thoughts and attitudes toward flipped learning. They thought that flipped learning increased their autonomy and self-regulation. The participants also addressed several benefits and shortcomings of flipped learning. Implications of research and pedagogy are discussed in the final section of this study.

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly forced us to adapt to a new normal. As schools switched to distance learning, parents experienced increased childcare responsibilities and were thrust into new roles as teachers at home. This unexpected shift to new roles brought extraordinary disruption that becomes more challenging for families living apart, especially Korean families who represent more traditional beliefs. One of these values is to highly regard education. In this study, researchers explore the unique experiences of Korean mothers who were geographically distant from their spouses during the COVID-19 lockdown. Through interviews with the participant mothers with school-age children, researchers explore how the COVID-19 lockdown created changes in childcare and education involvement of Korean mothers.

Based on the quantitative analysis of L2 English texts from Korean undergraduates, the present paper demonstrates the possibility of distinguishing L2 speaking proficiency with differing measures of syntactic complexity in English writing. To this end, 14 measures of complexity were gauged using an L2 Syntactic Analyzer (Lu, 2010) in 89 EFL essays from a learner corpus to find out the best indicators of L2 speaking proficiency. As a result of the normality assumption test, the logistic regression analysis was applied and the model was significant in classification according to L2 proficiency and the classification was correct in 62.9% of the studied cases. Furthermore, it showed that the best predictor of L2 speaking proficiency was the complex nominal per T-unit (CNT). Specifically, upon the acquisition of CNT, EFL learners are 6.4 times more likely to achieve higher proficiency in speaking English. Taken together, this paper suggests that EFL students' quality of writing can be effectively used to distinguish their speaking ability.