Developing a Teaching Material for Wood Processing by Establishing a Wooden Box Measure for Masu

Abstract

For the present study, we developed a teaching material for technology education in junior high school, which helps students to experientially discern the differences in wood quality among different species. We established a wooden box measure to make masu as the subject of manufacturing; we used four different species (Chamaecyparis obtusa, Magnolia obovata, Cryptomeria japonica, and Fagus sp.) for the side plane. By manufacturing the subject using the Japanese saw and chisel, we quantitatively assessed students' skills. We also evaluated their awareness while processing via text mining. We examined two types of skill acquisition: one is affected by the difference in processability among species; the other is improved through repetitive processing. The text mining revealed that the reflection of works by students changed from the first two species (C. obtusa and M. obovata) to the second two species (C. japonica and Fagus sp.); the former, which is related to the feedback they received about their work, changed to the latter, which entails the differences in wood properties among species. This shift may have occurred because students learn about variations in wood processability by experientially comparing the differences.