In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for “self-regulated learning”. This is a type of learning in which children try to actively engage in learning or take a metacognitive view of their learning and decide on the direction of their next learning path. In this study, we focus on classroom action research as a key research method for reciprocating theory and practice, and aim to plan lessons that realize “self-regulated learning” in science from the perspective of evaluative judgment (Tai et al., 2018). Therefore, the purpose of this study is (1) to devise ways for children to use evaluative judgment, focusing on the five perspectives of evaluative judgment (Fitzgerald et al., 2021), and (2) to clarify the effects of evaluative judgment on self-regulated learning in science, focusing on the effects of evaluative judgment on self-regulated learning (Panadero et al., 2019). In order to share the perspective that allows children to make evaluative judgment, we created Figure 2, which includes the following five points: “1. What I understood, what I did not understand, and how I learned”, “2. What I learned from friends and teachers”, “3. What I noticed, and what I thought about myself”, “4. What has changed in my thinking compared to before the class?”, “5. Questions, things I would like to investigate, and things to do next”. These five points informed my lesson on the “relationship between plant growth and water” in the Grade 6 practice class. Results of our subsequent analysis indicated that: (1) Patterns in Table 4 show evaluative judgment of children in elementary school science problem-solving activities, and (2) Incorporating evaluative judgment into elementary school science classes positively affects children’s self-regulated learning (Table 4); for example, understanding in the forethought stage, thinking based on experimental results in the performance stage, and prospects for subsequent learning path(s) in the self-reflection stage were all enhanced. Results of our analysis further indicated that: (3) Evaluative judgment promotes the subprocesses of forethought, performance and the self-reflection stages in the self-regulated learning cycle, as well as the relationships between the stages and the cycle as a whole.

This action research project is a case study of lower secondary school science class, with the aim of obtaining suggestions on lesson design that promotes creative understanding of the “Nature of Science (NOS).” “Nature of Science (NOS)” is here understood to refer to the epistemological knowledge of science, focusing on “what science is” and “scientific activity”. In this study, the following three points were established as a means of promoting creative understanding of NOS: First, the “learning context approach,” places the history of science at the center of the curriculum and promotes awareness of NOS through learning about the research methods used by predecessors as well as the background in which scientific theories and principles were discovered. Second, teachers and learners engage in scientific inquiry that clarifies scientific theories and principles that have been discovered by referring to the views and ideas of earlier philosophers. Such an “inquiry process approach” promotes awareness of NOS in relation to those prior inquiry processes. Third, the teachers present a framework for capturing NOS and set up opportunities for students to reflect on their awareness of NOS during class time. The results of our study confirmed that the participants were able to compare what they were aware of regarding NOS from the two approaches, and to construct their thoughts and acquire scientific knowledge while integrating these two approaches. In addition, the opportunity to reflect on what they were aware of regarding NOS encouraged them to acquire a perspective to continuously keep NOS in mind and to think about comparing what they learned from the two approaches. On the other hand, the students showed a tendency to value awareness prompted by the inquiry process approach more than the learning context approach, which is more likely to influence their construction of ideas about NOS.

Problems in the problem-solving process can be found in reviewing experimental plans with the aim of enhancing the experiments’ effectiveness as well as reviewing the discussion in the experiments in elementary school science. One strategy to solve these pointed issues could be to apply the engineering design process (EDP) used in STEM education in Tennessee, USA, step by step in each grade. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of EDP in teaching materials from Kindergarten to Grade Five in Tennessee, focusing on their developmental stages. The results of our analyses revealed the following three points: first, each of the final stages of EDP differs according to grades in STEM education in Tennessee; second, EDP is consistent with the problem-solving process of identifying a problem and drawing conclusions through observation and experimentation; third, the “Improve” stage of EDP is intended to create a better design based on experimental results, and, further, foster such reflections as whether the new design actually works better. In Japan, when the “Improve” stage of EDP is introduced into the problem-solving process in elementary science lessons in stages according to the progression of each grade, pupils might be able to revise two points in the problem-solving process: better modification of experimental methods and, moreover, better modification of their own ideas, which will lead pupils to have better ideas of their own. This suggests that the introduction of a step-by-step process of EDP, with the “Improve” stage, into elementary Science lessons in Japan can help improve pupils’ experimental design and problem-solving skills while fostering reflection and improvement.

The purpose of this study was to measure the cognitive aspects of students’ “Inquiry Skills” and to clarify the current situation regarding the level of such skills. To this end, we created survey questions modified and restructured from TIPS II and T-BIPS for Japanese lower secondary school students, administered the surveys, and analyzed them. The results revealed the following two main points: 1) Correlation analysis between each skill revealed that “hypothesis” and “control of variables” showed the highest correlation, followed by “experiment” and “hypothesis,” “data interpretation” and “experiment,” “experiment” and “control of variables,” and finally “data interpretation” and “hypothesis,” in that order, showing a moderate correlation. This indicated a strong correlation among the integrated inquiry skills overall. 2) Cluster analysis was used to categorize the students’ response tendencies, according to five groups with distinct characteristics. The first cluster was defined as “moderately deficient in ‘observation’ and ‘graphing,’” the second cluster as “highly deficient in all skills,” the third cluster as “minimally deficient in all skills,” the fourth cluster as “moderately deficient in ‘prediction,’” and the fifth cluster as “highly deficient in ‘prediction’”. In addition, we interpreted the current state of these “Inquiry Skills” for each group and examined how instruction should be tailored to the actual current state of each group for more effective learning outcomes.

In order to understand the crystal structure of metals, we developed teaching materials that help explain that the cause of shape changes in shape memory alloys are due to changes in their crystal structure. The developed teaching materials were subsequently used in classroom practice, and the usefulness of the teaching materials was examined. From our analysis of the results, the following three points became clear: 1) Students understood crystal structures more deeply by picking up crystal lattice models and observing them from various angles. 2) Students thought that shape memory alloys were useful as teaching materials because they encountered new phenomena that stimulated their interest and obtained new perspectives for thinking about such shape memory alloys. 3) By using the crystal lattice model, students came to realize that a solid understanding of the crystal structure is important for learning the basic principles of chemistry. These results suggest that the teaching materials developed in this study, which help convey to students that the cause of shape changes in shape memory alloys are due to changes in their crystal structure, are indeed useful for promoting the understanding of crystal structure.

Schools located in cities are surrounded by concrete and asphalt. Here, obtaining and observing strata is challenging owing to the lack of materials such as outcrops as well as the difficulty of securing travel time for field trips. Therefore, in this study, we first attempted to establish a method of observing the strata under a school ground using core samples to develop a teaching method that allows children attending schools in cities to learn about how the land under their schools and homes has formed. Second, we verified the effectiveness of the method, dividing the boring samples into core and partial penetration samples. Penetration samples are extracted broken sediments, so they were easier to use for identifying sediments. Moreover, the differences between strata and the sediments contained within them were unclear for children when using penetration samples. The results demonstrated that the geological properties of core samples are important as teaching materials, but their physical drawbacks must be considered when handling them. This study is the first of its kind to compare the learning effects and ease of handling of both types of core samples as teaching materials.

Critical thinking is an important way of thinking that should be taught in school and fostered throughout all levels of education, but it has been pointed out that critical thinking is not sufficiently developed in the science teaching methods learned by university students who aspire to teach elementary school. In this study, we devised and implemented a teaching method to cultivate critical thinking in science among university students who wish to become elementary school teachers. Specifically, we used a teaching method developed by Nakayama and Kinoshita (2022). After clearly explaining critical thinking in science, we had the students conduct problem-solving learning activities three times, utilizing the “CT (Critical Thinking) Application Sheet,” which describes critical thinking methods, while having them self-evaluate their own thinking. After analyzing the results of the responses to the questionnaire before and after the class and the descriptions on the “CT Application Sheet” used during the class, it became clear that this instructional method was effective in cultivating critical thinking skills such as “reflective thinking” and “sound skepticism”.

This study examined the learning processes of low achievers and the effects on their performance in whole-class learning as compared to that of the small-group cooperation method. We focused on science experiments in elementary school, in which each student was assigned an individual task that could be accomplished by cooperating with others. Two classes in the Fourth Grade, each including thirty students, participated in this study. The students attended science lessons taught by the same teacher. In one class, the teacher used the whole-class cooperation method, whereas in the other class the teacher adopted the small-group method. We analyzed pre- and post-test performance, the number of standing events in the classroom, and the amount of talking among the students. The results of our analysis showed that the performance of low achievers improved significantly in the whole-class cooperation scenario as compared to that of the small-group one. Additionally, the students walked around more often and had more, higher-quality discourse in the former than in the latter. These results, in addition to qualitative analyses of the contents of the communication among students and their post-hoc interviews, suggest that the whole-class cooperation method effectively promotes low achievers’ cooperative learning and enhances their performance in elementary school science experiments.

This study aimed to develop a teaching method to enhance students’ scientific inquiry skills. Under the authors’ devised method, students’ ability to overview the inquiry process, as well as the abilities to reflect upon, evaluate and improve the process, were developed through the deployment of “Monodzukuri” (“making” activity) in science lessons at lower secondary school. In groups, students construct their own hypotheses toward a question, then (1) plan a method to verify the hypothesis by using the watchwords for planning, (2) do “Monodzukuri” based on their plans, (3) record the results of the “Monodzukuri” to discuss it with other groups based on the watchwords for reflecting upon and evaluating the process, and repeat (1) through (3). Verification lessons of the teaching method at a lower secondary school showed statistically significant positive results, confirming the method’s effectiveness in enhancing students’ ability to plan an inquiry process, to verify their hypothesis, and to reflect upon, evaluate, and improve the process.

This study examined elementary school students’ understanding of “results” (statements of observations obtained through observing and experimenting) and “discussion” ( statements of inferences obtained through reasoning from observations) in scientific inquiry. A combination of a paper-pencil test and face-to-face interviews with 192 students from two elementary schools was employed. The results revealed that most students understood that observations encompass factual statements or descriptions obtained through observing, while inferences comprise statements about opinions or personal ideas with explanations based on observations. Although students could easily distinguish between inferences and observations when presented with statements, identifying inferences was more difficult for them than identifying observations. Differentiation strategies between observations and inferences varied among students, with some emphasizing the acts of observation and measurement in the observational and experimental activities, while others focused on the linguistic aspect of the expressions at the end of sentences. Moreover, students with prior related scientific knowledge tended to perceive statements of inferences as objective facts, prioritizing content knowledge perspectives. Students recognized that both observations and inferences could be fallible and acknowledged the need for objectivity when constructing observations. Some students recognized that both observations and inferences could be fallible and acknowledged the need for the objectivity of the statements of inferences when constructing observations. The reproducibility of observations was also noted. However, when attempting to mentally draw inferences from observations, students struggled to articulate a cohesive argument soundly connecting observations to inferences. Instead, they answered only the statement of inferences without referring to the statement of observations. The study’s findings suggest implications for science teaching and learning, emphasizing the importance of explicitly teaching the nature of observations and inferences in scientific inquiry and promoting argumentation that effectively connects observations to inferences.

The purpose of this study was to develop an instructional method to foster students’ ability to find variables in question-setting situations. We designed an instructional method that focuses on comparing multiple phenomena and organizing causal relationships among variables. We examined the effectiveness of the instructional method using a two-group pre- and posttest design. The results of a six-month trial with 74 children in the third grade of elementary school showed that the experimental group significantly improved their scores in finding variables, positively indicating the effectiveness of the intervention. The results of the qualitative analysis suggest that the success was attributable to the teacher providing the children with explicit procedures for finding the variables, and having them represent the variables in a way that separated cause and effect, which contributed to the relatively enhanced ability among the students in the experimental group.

The objective of this study was to formulate a lesson plan to be taught to elementary school children to develop their critical thinking skills by making use of teaching materials in elementary school science, and to verify its positive effects. To achieve this purpose, we devised a task for the students involving the connection of capacitors to stimulate their critical thinking. We developed a lesson to encourage the growth of children’s critical thinking skills and measured this growth with a worksheet. To confirm the effectiveness of the developed lesson, it was administered in conjunction with the “Usage of Electricity” themed unit in a sixth-grade elementary school science class. From the results of our analysis of the data collected from the questionnaire and worksheet, we found that the lesson we developed was indeed effective in fostering an attitude of seeking more productive solutions and of thinking more reflectively among elementary school science students.

Green Sustainable Chemistry (GSC) refers to the concept of pursuing chemistry that is friendly to humans and the environment while supporting the development of a sustainable society. In the field of chemistry education, “micro-scale experiments”, which are designed to reduce the consumption of reagents, are one of the key components in the development of teaching materials based on GSC principles. The authors, therefore, designed an experimental teaching program on the theme of “aromas” and investigated the reaction conditions for the synthesis of esters, which are typical examples of organic compounds with aromas. In the experimental class, esters were first synthesized safely using a solid acid catalyst. Then, the students were asked to describe and compare the smells of various fragrances used in their daily lives. The students were also taught that most of these aromas are supplied via chemical synthesis, which has less impact on the environment. Analysis of the students’ comments showed that they were highly satisfied with the experiment. Through smelling various fragrances, the students became more aware of the natural and living environment.

Feldspar is a mineral family name that includes several solid solution series composed mainly of aluminosilicates. The solid solution name of potassium feldspar (or orthoclase) (KAlSi3O8:Or) - albite (NaAlSi3O8:Ab) is alkali feldspar. In the classification of igneous rocks proposed by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), “alkali feldspar” is used instead of “potassium feldspar.” On the other hand, in Japan, the solid solution name of potassium feldspar, albite, has been known as “potassium feldspar (or orthoclase)” in geology textbooks for upper secondary school students since the Heisei era (1989–), and these terms as used in textbooks have not as yet been fully examined. In this study, we investigated textbooks from the Meiji to Heisei era (from 1968 to the present) to clarify changes in the treatment of the term “potassium feldspar (or orthoclase).” From our investigations, we found that “potassium feldspar” has been conventionally used since the early Meiji Era and, with some changes, the term continues to be widely used to this day. The concept of a solid solution has been described in upper secondary school Earth Science textbooks since the early Heisei era (1989–), and the term “potassium feldspar,” ordinarily indicating the outer edge component of the solid solution, has been used in place of the mineral name “alkali feldspar,” which indicates the solid solution. To inline with conventional international usage and the classification system of IUGS, the term “alkali feldspar” should be considered to replace “potassium feldspar” in Japanese Science textbooks.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of classes designed to encourage the “pursuit of the better solutions” in elementary school science with the aim of fostering the development of students’ critical thinking skills. The practice classes incorporated the elements of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education and required students to design a car with an automatic braking system. To test the effectiveness of the lesson design in the classroom, we conducted an elementary school science lesson based on the unit on electricity usage for sixth-grade students. The students’ questionnaire responses and class worksheets indicated that our classes incorporating the new lesson design positively affected the students’ attitudes toward the “pursuit of better solutions” and successfully fostered the development of their critical thinking skills.