• Title/Summary/Keyword: Explanation

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Definition of Scientific Hypothesis: A Generalization or a Causal Explanation?

  • Jeong, Jin-Su;Kwon, Yong-Ju
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.26 no.5
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    • pp.637-645
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    • 2006
  • This study reviewed and discussed the nature of scientific hypothesis described in philosophy, the philosophy of science, science, and science education. In these descriptions, a hypothesis was defined as one of five types: hypothesis as an assumption, hypothesis as a prediction, hypothesis as a tentative explanation, hypothesis as a tentative law, and hypothesis as a tentative causal explanation. Most scholars agreed that a hypothesis is a proposition or a set of propositions proposed as an explanation for an observed situation. In this view, a hypothesis is a possible answer to or an explanation of a question that accounts for all the observed facts. Also, it is a statement that explains why things happen in nature or an explanation for an observation that can be tested. In the five types of hypothesis meanings, a tentative explanation includes a tentative law and a tentative causal explanation. However, tentative laws are not explanation but description which are general statements drawn from specific experiences by way of a process known as induction. A number of studies also have distinguished hypothesis from assumption, tentative explanation, tentative law, and prediction. Therefore, a hypothesis is concluded to be a proposition or a set of propositions proposed as a tentative causal explanation for an observed situation.

Elementary School Teachers' Scientific Explanation to Support Students' Inquiry: Focusing on 5th and 6th Grade Earth Science Curriculum (학생들의 탐구 학습을 돕기 위한 교사의 과학적 개념 설명 방식: 초등학교 5, 6학년 지구과학 영역을 중심으로)

  • Suh, Ye-Won;Kho, Hyeon-Duk;Park, Kyeong-Won
    • Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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    • v.28 no.2
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    • pp.161-177
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    • 2009
  • This study aims to explore how teachers construct scientific explanation during instructional practices to help students' scientific inquiry. Before investigating teachers' classroom practices, elementary school science curriculum was examined to identify scientific concepts, particularly in earth science. Then, a total of six teachers' scientific explanation in actual teaching practices was analysed focusing on a) explanation of scientific concepts; b) rationale for scientific explanation; c) connection between scientific explanation and everyday explanation. The findings are as follows. First, the science curriculum provides $1{\sim}2$ main scientific concepts per unit, which are mostly appeared in the unit title. Those concepts and sub-concepts are not explicitly described but embedded in students' inquiry activities. Second, the teachers explain scientific concepts and discuss the rationale behind the scientific explanation, but rarely connect scientific explanation to everyday explanation. Also, the level of scientific explanations is low remaining level 1 or 2, not reaching 3, the highest level. Based on the results, the study suggests a) teachers need to provide explicit and clear explanations about scientific concepts; b) teachers are required to connect scientific explanation and everyday explanation; c) the level of teachers scientific explanation should be elevated by using an evidence, reasoning and claim, the components of scientific explanation as well as introducing new scientific concepts and inquiry activities.

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A Study on the Explanation Scheme using Problem Solving Primitives

  • Lee, Gye Sung
    • International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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    • v.7 no.3
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    • pp.158-165
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    • 2019
  • Knowledge based system includes tools for constructing, testing, validating and refining the system along with user interfaces. An important issue in the design of a complete knowledge based system is the ability to produce explanations. Explanations are not just a series of rules involved in reasoning track. More detailed and explicit form of explanations is required not only for reliable reasoning but also for maintainability of the knowledge based system. This requires the explanation mechanisms to extend from knowledge oriented analysis to task oriented explanations. The explicit modeling of problem solving structures is suggested for explanation generation as well as for efficient and effective reasoning. Unlike other explanation scheme such as feedback explanation, the detailed, smaller and explicit representation of problem solving constructs can provide the system with capability of quality explanation. As a key step to development for explanation scheme, the problem solving methods are broken down into a finer grained problem solving primitives. The system records all the steps with problem solving primitives and knowledge involved in the reasoning. These are used to validate the conclusion of the consultation through explanations. The system provides user interfaces and uses specific templates for generating explanation text.

The Instruction Explanation Obligation - Focusing on Cases - (지도설명의무 - 판례 경향을 중심으로 -)

  • Lee, Jung Sun
    • The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.143-172
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    • 2013
  • In order to achieve the purpose of treatment for patients by a doctor, the instruction explanation obligation, which means that he should give patients the description in more details to prepare for postoperative sequelae or complications, is common with the advice explanation obligation as a doctor should ex-plain some information to patients. Since the advice explanation obligation is the benefit and protection of the law for self determination right, but the instruction explanation obligation is one for the integrity of body and life, one can be distinct from the other. Judgments giving the instruction on the concept of instruction explanation obligation, specific methods of implementation and a range of compensation for damage are recently being made by courts at all levels including the Supreme Court. It is the time to systematize them. The contents which have been mainly discussed so far include the essence of above mentioned instruction explanation obligation. However, when the tendency of practice is considered, the efforts are required to admit the organic relevance between instruction explanation obligation and advice explanation obligation and to explain the relationship without any contradiction. For whereabouts of li-ability of proof, patients theoretically demonstrate the failure to implement it. However, when the theoretical consistency is maintained, it is likely to fail the intent to recognize the instruction explanation obligation and it may ask patients to prove something impossible to be proven. Thus, these things should be considered. Moreover, as the instruction explanation obligation is associated with medicine instruction obligation of a pharmacist and the coverage is being extended, it is the time to require the systematic study on the theoretical limit.

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Analysis of Types of Explanation on Osmosis Concept in Chemistry and Biology Textbooks (화학과 생물 교과서에서 삼투 개념에 관한 설명 유형 분석)

  • Ko, Young-Hwan;Kang, Dae-Hun;Park, Dong-Joe;Kim, Dong-Uk;Paik, Seoung-Hey
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.683-695
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    • 2002
  • In this study, we analyzed types of explanation on osmosis concept that were represented in chemistry and biology textbooks of high school and college. There were 5 types of explanation on osmosis concept. The types of explanation were diffusion of solvent, collision, hydration, equilibrium of concentration and screen of holes. Last two types of explanation were classified into misconceptions. The various types of explanation on osmosis concept might cause to have be a reason that students had many misconceptions and to feel difficult to learn about osmosis concept. Many of textbooks is accord to types of concept explanation and figure explanation on osmosis but some is not.

The Relationships between the Patterns of Elementary School Teachers' Explanations and the Patterns of Elementary School Students' Questions on Scientific Phenomena (과학 현상에 대한 초등학생들의 의문 유형과 초등교사들의 설명 유형과의 관계)

  • Shin, Dong-Hoon
    • Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.149-160
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    • 2007
  • This study was conducted to investigate the relationships between the patterns of elementary school teachers' explanations and the patterns of students' questions types on scientific phenomena. for the purposes of this study, we collected questions related to scientific phenomena from 255 $3rd{\sim}6th$ students in 2 elementary schools. Classifying the students' questions collected, 20 representative questions for each type were selected. Data regarding teachers' scientific explanation from 62 teachers of 3 elementary schools were also collected. The results of the analysis of the questions for each science field show that the students in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades have the most questions regarding biology, and those in the 6th grade have more questions regarding earth science. Regarding question types, object exploration questions and explican exploration questions formed the majority. Moreover, the higher the students' grades, a decrease in the number of conjectural questions and an increase in the number of causal questions were observed. As a result of the analysis of the teachers' explanation, the following explanation types could be discerned; conjecture, hypothesis, prediction, teleological explanation, information given to feed exploration questions, as well as verification and information supply fer verification purposes. There were 4 kinds of relationships between question types and explanation types. One was the explanation fitting to each question type, a second was the explanation with additional content than the question required, a third was where the explanation was inappropriate to the question, and a forth was where the teacher responded that they "don't know." This study, investigating the relationships between questioning as a scientific inquiry process and explanation, will help to promote discussion regarding science classes in elementary school.

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The Combined Effects of Metalinguistic Explanation and Self-Correction on Improving EFL Writing Accuracy

  • Kim, Bu-Ja
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.83-104
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    • 2009
  • This study examined whether self-correction or metalinguistic explanation might make a difference in the ability to accurately write two English grammatical structures when learners received indirect teacher feedback in the form of underlining target errors in a Korean EFL college classroom. With the goal of helping low-proficiency students improve their ability to accurately write sentences including nonfinite present participial relative clauses and present participial constructions, four groups were formed: a group which received indirect feedback, a group which received indirect feedback and metalinguistic explanation, a group which received indirect feedback and self-corrected errors, and a group which received indirect feedback and self-corrected errors after receiving metalinguistic explanation. The results showed that the effects of either metalinguistic explanation or self-correction integrated with indirect feedback on learners' ability to accurately write the target structures were not meaningful, while the combined effects of metalinguistic explanation and self-correction were statistically significant.

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A Cross-Sectional Study of Students' Conceptions on Evolution and Characteristics of Concept Formation about It in Terms of the Subjects: Human, Animals and Plants (설명대상에 따른 학생들의 진화 개념과 진화 개념 형성의 특성에 관한 횡단 연구)

  • Ha, Min-Su;Lee, Jun-Ki;Cha, Hee-Young
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.26 no.7
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    • pp.813-825
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    • 2006
  • The purpose of this study was to identify students' conceptions and their conceptualization traits in terms of the explanation of subjects: human, animals, and plants. A questionnaire was specially developed to make sure students' conceptions of evolution, students' explanation patterns with the five evolutionary explanations: creationism, internal will explanation, theological explanations, use and disuse explanation and natural selection after mutation and perceived ideas of evolution in terms of the genetic characters of human, animals and plants. 1,540 elementary, middle and high school students participated in responding to the questions. The data was collected and analyzed cross-sectionally by age. Results showed that students' evolutionary explanations were different among each subject: human, animals and plants. Students had concentrated with more 'theological explanations' than 'internal will explanation' and 'use and disuse explanation' about plant evolution. 'Natural selection after mutation explanation' was less represented in explaining human characters. This result showed that the anthropocentric thoughts had influenced students' evolution conceptions. Accordingly, as student's age, 'theological explanation' and 'internal will explanation' became least used in explaining the theory of creation. 'Use and disuse explanation' attained more representation in their explanation. In addition, the diversity of students' evolutionary explanations was getting less attention as age increases. Among youngers, 'theological explanation', 'internal will explanation' and 'use and disuse explanation' showed an even number of responses. The elders responded with more 'use and disuse explanation'. This result let us infer that 'use and disuse explanation' was strongly adhered to by student cognitive structures. Many students recognized that evolution was a kind of scientific hypothesis with little evidence. They have had a little interest in evolution and conceptualized it through informal educational sources. This study mentions that to teach evolution more effectively, teachers should make 'use and disuse explanation' adhere strongly to students' cognitive structure.

The Effect of Word Frequency on Noun Definitions (단어빈도가 명사정의하기에 미치는 효과)

  • Lee, Chan-Jong
    • The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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    • v.27 no.6
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    • pp.303-308
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    • 2008
  • The purpose of the present study is to investigate that word frequency has significant influence on noun definitions in Korean. The experimental group was 80 students from Elementary school, Middle school, High school and University. They rated familiarity and wrote definitions for nouns. Noun definitions were analyzed with semantic categories such as "use/purpose," "description," "association/relation," "partial explanation," "explanation," "error," "partial explanation-attribute," "partial explanation-specific class," "partial explanation-nonspecific class," "explanation-specific class," "explanation-nonspecific class." As a result, they showed familiarity for high-frequency nouns. "EXPL" categories that use class terms or critical attributes were used more frequently in definitions of high-frequency nouns compared with low-frequency nouns. They increased with age and errors decreased with age. Word frequency had a significant influence on noun definitions.

Patients' Perception of and Satisfaction on Therapeutic-diets at Hospitals in Busan (부산지역 일부 병원 입원환자의 치료식에 대한 인식 및 급식만족도)

  • Yi, Jeong-Ryeh;Shin, Eun-Soo;Lyu, Eun-Soon
    • Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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    • v.15 no.4
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    • pp.383-396
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    • 2009
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the inpatients' perception of therapeutic-diets and of explanation about those diets provided by hospitals and satisfaction on therapeutic-diets at hospitals in Busan. The subjects consisted of 155 inpatients at five hospitals, which all had over 400 beds. The research was performed through the interviewing process using questionnaires. Seventy five percent of patients had received an explanation for their therapeutic-diet and 57.4% of respondents were given a manual that explained the reason for the therapeutic-diet. The professionals who explained the therapeutic-diet was 61.7% dietitians and 25.6% doctors. 59.4% of the patients considered the dietitian to be suitable for explaining the diet and 25.6% patients believed the doctor to be suitable for explaining the diet. In terms of the patients' perception of the therapeutic-diet explanation, 74.5% of the patients understood very well, 78.9% of them perceived this explanation as very important, and 67.5% of them were satisfied. On a scale of 5.00 for therapeutic-diet satisfaction, the average scores were 2.95 for meal characteristics and 3.06 for service characteristics. The items that scored low in therapeutic-diet satisfaction were taste, seasoning and appearance of meals, provision of selective menu and consideration of personal preference. In terms of the perception of understanding the therapeutic-diet, patients who were provided a manual and an explanation gave high scores to 'taste', 'variety of diet', 'meeting opportunity with dietitians', and 'prompt dealing with meal complications'. There was a significant (p<0.05) positive correlation between satisfaction for the explanation of the therapeutic-diet and the degree of perceived benefits of the explanation to the nutrition-management and the satisfaction on the therapeutic-diet satisfaction. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that hospitals should increase support for explaining the therapeutic-diet by dietitians and develop menus based on the patients' preference and the taste of the meal.

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