The purpose of developing CLS is to enhance the teacher's capacity to deal with the growing needs of the individual learners. What distinguishes CLS from the previously developed such tool is it's direct reference to constructivist principles of learning. The items were structured to accommodate the various aspects of constructivist learning directly extracted from theory and other researches. Student's score on the CLS will provide teacher with a presage about the learning preferences of the students, which can be utilized tor felicitous lesson designing. Additionally, CLS is convenient for classroom use because of appropriate length. The sample included 601 students from four schools with almost equal gender presentation from Tokyo area. Finally, 18 items are selected for the final version of CLS through factor analysis, reliability and validity standards. Factors emerged are Active Involvement (AI), Collaboration (C), and Self-responsibility (SR). Each of the factors contains six items. Independence of each factor was demonstrated by low inter-factor correlation but strong correlation between each factor and total scale confirmed the overall coherence of the scale. The validity was established by using the nominative method, which avoided the isolation from the situation, context and environmental elements bearing significant impact on the learning process.

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This paper describes an analysis of pronunciation problems in Japanese utterances by Korean speakers, and evaluation methods of a CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) system for teaching Japanese pronunciation to Korean speakers. To develop a CALL system, the pronunciation problems of Koreans must be understood. Firstly, Japanese utterances by adult Korean speakers were evaluated by Japanese native speakers. Then, the Japanese pronunciation problems of Korean speakers were analyzed. Finally, evaluation methods were developed. Speech recognition technology was used to compare Japanese utterances by a learner with that by a native speaker. With the proposed methods, intelligibility scores which indicate the similarity between the learner's speech and the Japanese native's speech are automatically calculated.

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The use of virtual environments has made possible improvements over the representation of large-scale spaces using conventional visual media. The virtual environment used for the research reported here employs the technique of displaying panoramic images in a cylindrical form. Combining use of photographic images with ease of construction, this environment has high potential for effective use in educational applications. As a step toward realizing this potential, research reported here has three objectives: 1) to explore its suitability as an educational environment from the perspective of the user's spatial orientation; 2) by analyzing the navigation process to discover user characteristics and issues; and 3) to analyze factors in the environment's spatial structure that lead to users' losing their way. To achieve these objectives, we constructed a virtual park, then asked the elementary school students used as experimental subjects to follow prescribed routes and to find a bench inside the park. Based on the results of these experiments, we propose improvements that address the issues identified.

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Mizuno (2000) devised a spaced learning method, the Low-First Method, based on psychological findings related to spacing effects, for learning simple nonhierarchical materials and demonstrated its effectiveness in a CAI system. Then Mizuno (2001) modified it to be adaptive to individual differences of memory span, verified its effectiveness, and called it the Modified Low-First Method. However, in an evaluation survey (Mizuno, 2002b), a CAI system with the Modified Low-First Method was evaluated badly with respect to its facility of learning because it was hard for learners to monitor their progress. So, in this study, an experiment and a survey were conducted to demonstrate the validity of appending a multimedia mastery feedback device to the CAI system with the Modified Low-First Method to enable them to monitor their progress. The results indicated that mastery feedback enhanced not only the effectiveness and time-efficiency of the CAI system but also the evaluation of facility of learning as well as learners' motivation. Finally, the relationships between mastery feedback and metacognition and between multimedia and motivation are discussed.

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In this study, juniors in a preservice teacher education program developed portfolios showing the process of creating and refining lesson plans while they interacted through a CSCL environment with seniors who had practice teaching experience and with graduate students, some of whom were in-service teachers. Analysis revealed that this learning process was effective for prompting more reflective practice and for producing better lesson plans. It was also found that interaction with the graduate students had markedly greater beneficial effects on the lesson plans than interaction with other juniors and seniors. The results show that developing a portfolio while interacting with different grade students can be an effective learning method in preservice teacher education programs.

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This study focuses upon undergraduate students' learning about astronomy while using a bulletin board system in a course. We analyzed students' messages to the bulletin board qualitatively and developed schematic representations tor interactions among members and for knowledge changes by individuals. A schematic analysis showed a process of collaborative construction of knowledge. This qualitative analysis confirmed that changes in individuals' knowledge were influenced by the interactions among members. Collaborative learning in the context of using the bulletin board system may enhance the undergraduate students' understanding of disciplinary knowledge in the domain of astronomy.

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This Technical Information analyzes the learners' responses to information ambience at distant lectures from a Japanese university to a Malaysia university. The inspection results suggest that these responses depend on attributes of the learners. The group of graduate students and faculty members in the faculty of engineering evaluated the distant lecture as a good means of acquiring information and knowledge directly from experts around the world. However the group of undergraduates in the faculty of management requested more direct interactions between the lecturer and learners. Furthermore, the investigation of the affecting factors of information ambience suggests the intellectual levels of the learners are a significant attribute of their responses.

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