우리 나라 중학생들의 과학적 탐구 및 과학의 본성 영역에서의 국제 성취도 분석 = An Analysis of Korean Middle School Students` Achievement of Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science in TIMSS-R

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study was to analyse achievement of `Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science` in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat (TIMSS-R), which was performed in 1999 with 38 nations participating. Korean 8th grade students` achievement of `Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science` was compared to that of other countries and other content areas in science. Average percent correct of items in each subcategory - Scientific Method, Experimental Design, Scientific Measurements, Describing and Interpreting Data - was also analysed. Although `Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science` topics were not included in intended curriculum in Korea, Korean students` average scale score of `Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science` was significantly higher than international average and, in comparison with other science content areas, achievement of that area was relatively high. The reasons could be that the most students studied topics related to `Scientific Inquiry and the Nature of Science` through the implemented curriculum and that the Korean teachers recognized the importance of inquiry. According to the results to analyze subcategories, the average percent correct of Korea were higher than 50% except the `Scientific Measurements` subcategory. However, the international average percent correct were lower than 50%. Especially, the average percent correct of Korea was the highest in `Describing and Interpreting Data` subcategory despite there were many students who were confused at observation, hypothesis and conclusion.