In this study, we investigated the effects of individualized learning adapted to students' conceptions using smart devices in science instruction upon students' conceptual understanding, the retention of conception, achievement, learning motivation, enjoyment of science lessons, and perception about individualized learning using smart devices. Four seventh-grade classes at a coed middle school in Seoul were assigned to a control group and a treatment group. Students were taught about molecular motions for seven class periods. Two-way ANCOVA results revealed that the scores of a conception test, the retention of the conception test, a learning motivation test, and an enjoyment of science lessons test for the treatment group were significantly higher than those for the control group. Although the score of the treatment group was higher than that of the control group in the achievement test, the difference was not statistically significant. Students' perceptions about individualized learning using smart devices were also found to be positive.

Elementary children, hoping for jobs in science/engineering(Sci/Eng) or medicine(Med), were surveyed on the reasons for jobs, science/math preferences, interests in science, and science aspirations. For 3rd grade boys, twice more students picked Sci/Eng than Med choices. However, for 6th grade boys, the numbers of Sci/Eng and Med became close. The ratios of girls with Sci/Eng in 3rd and 6th grade did not differ much. The 6th graders chosing Med was 1.4 times bigger than 3rd graders for both boys and girls. For students with Sci/Eng, the most important reason for a job was that he/she liked it. For Med, helping others was as much important as doing what he/she liked. Science preference were the highest in the Sci/Eng group. The Med group came next with the non-science group being last. Math preferences were lower than the science preferences. Therefore, children need to be guided to increase the preferences for math as well as for science to keep the Sci/Eng and Med career choices. The interests in science and the science aspirations show similar patterns. The 3rd graders showed higher value than the 6th graders, the boys higher than girls, and the Sci/Eng group highest, the Med the second and non-science group the last. Science aspirations were higher than the interests only for the Sci/Eng group, while it was lower than the interests in all other groups. This implies that science aspirations might have bigger influence on getting a career in Sci/Eng than interest does.

This study investigated the changes in teaching professionalism of beginning science-gifted education teachers through mentoring in the aspects of pedagogical content knowledge. We selected two beginning teachers whose teaching careers in science-gifted education were less than five years. The teachers planed, performed and reflected on science instructions for secondary science-gifted students through mentoring during nine class hours over three times respectively. We observed their instructions and analyzed the taped videos, the materials, the transcripts for in-depth interviews with mentees, and discussions between mentor and mentee, researcher's field notes by using the constant comparative method. This study revealed that the mentoring, although there were many limitations, positively changed the mentees' practical knowledge about the curriculum for science-gifted education, the instructional strategies for science-gifted education, the assessment in science-gifted education, the science-gifted students, and the science content. These results suggest that the mentoring will be useful in improving the teaching professionalism of beginning science-gifted education teachers and provide meaningful implications in finding the ways to use it effectively in science-gifted education.