중등학교 과학 및 지구과학 교과서 조경 수역 및 어장에 관한 오개념 분석

Oceanic fronts, which are areas where sea water with different properties meet in the ocean, play an important role in controlling weather and climate change through air–sea interactions and marine dynamics such as heat and momentum exchange and processes by which properties of sea water are mixed. Such oceanic fronts have long been described in secondary school textbooks with the term ‘Jokyung water zone (JWC hereafter) or oceanic front’, meaning areas where the different currents met, and were related to fishing grounds in the East Sea. However, higher education materials and marine scientists have not used this term for the past few decades; therefore, the appropriateness of the term needs to be analyzed to remove any misconceptions presented. This study analyzed 11 secondary school textbooks (5 middle school textbooks and 6 high school textbooks) based on the revised 2015 curriculum. A survey of 30 secondary school science teachers was also conducted to analyze their awareness of the problems. An analysis of the textbook contents related to the JWC and fishing grounds found several errors and misconceptions that did not correspond with scientific facts. Although the textbooks mainly uses the concept of the JWC to represent the meeting of cold and warm currents, it would be reasonable to replace it with the more comprehensive term ‘oceanic front’, which would indicate an area where different properties of sea water–such as its temperature, salinity, density, and velocity-interact. In the textbooks, seasonal changes in the fishing grounds are linked to seasonal changes in the North Korean Cold Current (NKCC), which moves southwards in winter and northwards in summer; this is the complete opposite of previous scientific knowledge, which describes it strengthening in summer. Fishing grounds are not limited to narrow coastal zones; they are widespread throughout the East Sea. The results of the survey of teachers demonstrated that this misconception has persisted for decades. This study emphasized the importance of using scientific knowledge to correct misconceptions related to the JWC, fishing grounds, and the NKCC and addressed the importance of transferring procedures to the curriculum. It is expected that the conclusions of this study will have an important role on textbook revision and teacher education in the future.