초등학교 교사들의 원자력에 대한 이해와 인식 분석

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the understanding and the perceptions on nuclear energy of elementary school teachers as a base of establishing direction for nuclear energy education in schools. We conducted a survey with 193 elementary school teachers in Korea. The research results were as follows. First, most elementary school teachers lack a understanding of nuclear energy. There were not statistically differences on the level of understanding on nuclear energy by gender, by age, and by career. Second, elementary school teachers have more negative images than positive images on nuclear energy over all. However, they have positive perceptions on nuclear power in terms of the environment-friendly extent, of economic feasibility, and of sharing information. Third, it was founded that more than 70% teachers got the information about nuclear energy through mass media, while nuclear energy education was not enacted in schools. The important thing is that the reliability of information through mass media was relatively low, which can increase unnecessary anxiety and negative perceptions about nuclear energy. Because of this tendency, teachers have the negative images of nuclear energy, even though they perceived the various advantages of nuclear energy. Based on these results, education implications were discussed in terms of energy (or nuclear energy) education in schools and of teacher education.