2009 Volume 49 Issue 3 Pages 45-53
In order to identify the characteristics of "applied science"-related teaching materials in Japan's secondary science curriculum, the author analyzed upper secondary chemistry textbooks and teachers' guides published between 1951 and 2003. In these educational resources, he focused on the descriptions of "medical supplies": one of the emerging sciences. According to the results of the analysis, the proportion of "medical supplies" descriptions in relation to all of the descriptions in the textbooks had decreased from 1951, and begun to increase in 1999. "Medical supplies"-related teaching materials in the abovementioned past sixty-two year period have varied; however, the same materials have frequently been used. Further, textbook editors and authors might have selected teaching materials related to "medical supplies" to explain medicinal action, the development of organic chemistry, the history of the chemical industry, and the relevance of chemistry learned at schools to real life situations. Moreover, descriptions of "medical supplies" in upper secondary chemistry textbooks could be divided into seven types, including chemotherapy, chemical structure, and the effectiveness of medical supplies.
