ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH TRENDS IN KOREA WITH A FOCUS ON CONSTRUCTIVISM

The purpose of this study was to analyze the current science education research trends in Korea and to discuss their significance, with a focus on constructivism. While traditional science education has been grounded on philosophical objectivism, a new paradigm of science education emerged in the late 20C converged on a constructivist theory, reflecting the short comings of science education to meet the needs of the post-industrial society. Constructivism is rooted in philosophical epistemology, which basically has two major traditions based in the psychological and sociological disciplines. However, the constructivist movement in current science education is more heterogeneous. A recent review identified various interpretations of constructivism (R. Matthews, 1994), and Fetherston (1997) has argued that the constructivism as applied to science teaching is undertheorised. Therefore, this lack of common meaning for most constructivist approaches can not contribute significantly to theory development. Furthermore a firm theory could lead to practical reform in science education. However, the Korean situation has not yet been investigated with regard to this problem. Accordingly, the current study analyzed research papers that appeared in the Journal of the Korean Association for Research in Science Education since 1978, which is the most popular and influential Journal published by the Korean Science Education Society. As a result, some hidden meanings concerning constructivism are discussed, the trends of science education research in terms of current themes are identified, and finally some implications and recommendations are suggested with regard to the basis of science education.