In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of the effects of presenting a rubric and fact patterns corresponding to each grading standard. 95 eighth-grade students were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 classrooms, each of which corresponded to an experimental condition. The participants studied mathematics for 5 sessions: at the end of the first day and the third day, the teacher gave a test on that day's lecture. The feedback methods for the test results varied according to each classroom's experimental condition: the rubric condition, the rubric plus fact pattern condition, or the comment-only condition. The results showed that students who received the rubric were more likely to consider that the purpose of the test was to show improvement than those who did not receive the rubric, and the rubric influenced intrinsic motivation, learning strategies, and test scores through values of a test. In addition, the results of this study suggested that informed assessment had an important role in values of test change. The results also revealed that fact patterns had no effect on the dependent variables.

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In order to examine the teaching method of arithmetic word problems, we created investigation problem for first graders based on Riley's classification and analyzed the relation between the drawings and the formula for solution which the subjects drew in the problem solving process of word problems. As a result, it was found that, in order to answer arithmetic word problems correctly, comprehension of relation was required in problems of CHANGE 1 (a+b=x) and 2 (a-b=x), and comprehension of unknown value was required in problems of CHANGE 3 (a+x=b), 4 (a-x=b), 5 (x+a=b) and 6 (x-a=b), where a and b denote known values and x denotes unknown value. These findings suggested that it is important in instruction of arithmetic word problems to make problem structure grasped after clarifying the relation and the unknown value.

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The purpose of this article is to investigate the structure of Bridge Learning and its relationship to "approach to learning" and "future-present life connection". In this study, we analyzed a questionnaire survey of 547 students from private universities. The structure of learning bridging includes links between out-of-class activities and in-class studies, between different classes, and between past, present and future studies. Bridge Learning has significant positive correlation with "deep approach to learning" and "daily action connecting future life". We conclude that there is a complex interrelationship between the three variables (learning bridging, "deep approach to learning" and "daily action connecting future life") of student learning and so it is important for learning support to consider this relationship.

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In this paper, we developed a Web-based course portfolio program. A course portfolio is the systematic documentation and analysis of the design and implementation of a course, and student learning. Our program, spanning more than one semester, consisted of course portfolio templates, a workbook of the program, and a peer review process. Three university teachers conducted a trial of our program's effectiveness, and they confirmed that the course portfolio helped promote reflection on their own teaching and had the potentials to improve their course design.

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This paper reports on the design and evaluation of an education framework for embedded systems architects (ESAs) based on an intensive retreat method and project-based learning (PBL). This framework was designed for engineers who have more than 3 years of practical experience. Between 2008 and 2010, we conducted the Embedded Systems Architect Development program, with a total of 59 prospective ESAs. The beneficial effects of the program have been confirmed by observation and feedback from the program participants. The results indicated that the intensive retreat method and diverse community promoted learning, that, the two-stage PBL model functioned well, and that this program encouraged the development of an ESA mindset.

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The growing number of cases with juveniles committing cybercrimes has led to an increase in the necessity of information ethics education to teach "information ethics" and an "appreciation of, and compliance with the law." However, it is difficult for juveniles to understand highly abstract concepts, such as copyrights, which they have little connection with in their everyday lives. This study analyzed effective and efficient teaching methodologies for teaching such abstract concepts. The teaching methodologies for information ethics education were defined and classified into three types: 1) teaching material focused on "material" based lessons; 2) personal experience focused on "experience" based lessons; and 3) lessons based on "both styles" that used both teaching materials as well as hands on experiences. Trial lessons were done with fifth and sixth grade students from K Elementary School in Saitama Prefecture to compare the effectiveness of these three teaching methodologies. The result indicated that lessons using "both" styles were the most effective in having the students understand abstract concepts because they were able to understand their experiences through the process of putting them into words using the provided teaching materials. Moreover, this study showed that when compared to other teaching methodologies, the method of using "both styles" nurtures a desire to take part in an information society.

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The purpose of this study is to illustrate the process of how teachers perform the tasks they created for the Organization Development of schools. In recent years, the study of Organization Development of schools started in Japan (e.g., Sako 2006). In this area of study, however, the processes involved with teachers perform tasks related to grades and classrooms is not explained clearly enough. This study was conducted with respect to Organizational Development in private elementary and junior high schools. This is practical research that tries to reveal the relationship between how teachers create and perform their tasks. I observed the following points: (1) if teachers gain a "Clear Image of Practice for School Goals (CIPSG)", they undertake action for their tasks; (2) if teachers' CIPSG are modified (M-CIPSG), their task performances are modified; and (3) task performance, continuation, and modification are influenced by being aware of the school's educational goals.

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This study examined the learning effects of active manipulation in teaching practice using three types of multi-view astronomical teaching equipment. The results revealed that the level of comprehension of the instructional content was the same for active learning and passive learning, whereas the scores of an application test on the waxing and waning of the moon considering direction and time, which were not taught in class, improved more after active learning. The results of subjective evaluation demonstrated that the students who learned passively were more eager to learn about the waxing and waning of the moon than were students who learned actively. Further, the results suggested that the difference in the groups' understanding had influenced their interest in the teaching equipment.

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Recently, the severe disparity between the academic abilities demanded by higher education and the basic academic abilities that students actually possess has come to be regarded as a major problem. This situation is increasing the need for learning support for students outside of a formal classroom setting. As a result, both in Japan and abroad, the practice of peer tutoring has been garnering considerable attention. This study involved the establishment of a learning support organization, mainly managed by students themselves, called the "Meta Learning Lab." This space was to be devoted to peer tutoring activities geared towards meta-learning ("learning how to learn") by students. To that end, at the preparatory stage we implemented tutor training and designed the learning space, and then implemented the actual peer tutoring. The tutors were encouraged not to provide the answers to problems, but instead, by questioning the learners, seek to facilitate discovery by the learners of problems with their own methods of learning. The result of this tutoring, as the learners themselves testified, was heightened meta-cognition of their own learning methods on the part of the students, as well as enhancement of their desire to learn.

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This study examined the practice and function of Program FD, which aims to give substance to educational programs and improve educational issues in Niigata University. Based on the university's framework of four educational target domains, the teaching staff in each educational program implemented Program FD by re-examining the objectives and re-orienting its curriculum map from the perspective of reallocating individual courses. As a result, the teaching staff's common understanding of the objectives was promoted in the course of reallocating and weighting the courses with these objectives. Moreover, the re-orientation of the curriculum map functioned as a framework for rendering the coherence and alignment of the curriculum visible. The results suggest that the use of Program FD may be a concrete approach to supporting continuous curriculum improvement. Finally, we discussed issues relating to the future development of Program FD, which is expected to be implemented in daily educational activities.

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The present study assessed peer response orientation among students of a university writing course utilizing peer response sessions. An original questionnaire survey was conducted at the time of the initial and the final class. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified 3 factors affecting peer response orientation: peer response affinity, reluctance to disclose opinions and discomfort in accepting opinions. Peer response affinity was significantly higher and reluctance to disclose opinions and discomfort in accepting opinions were significantly lower at the final class than at the initial class. However, students with low peer response affinity or high discomfort in accepting opinions gave significantly lower evaluations of peer responses compared to other students. Conversely, the results of a writing competency test revealed significantly higher writing scores after the course regardless of peer response affinity, reluctance to disclose opinions and discomfort in accepting opinions.

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The psychological burden of a passenger whose train schedule is disrupted can be reduced by not only improving and expanding hardware support but also promoting live announcements made by the station staff and conductors concerning the resumption of train services (Yamauchi 2009). However, since predictive information may change or the information may be incomplete, many station staffs and conductors are apprehensive of making announcements concerning the resumption of services as soon as possible. We developed training material in order to reduce this apprehension of station staffs and conductors. Furthermore, we attempted to improve the announcements providing information regarding suspended train services. Railway employees watched a training DVD that we developed during their job training, following which they answered a questionnaire. The results indicated that many employees were interested in the training material, and they gave a high rating for its comprehensibility. Furthermore, the results of another questionnaire conducted one month after watching the DVD showed that the recommended behavior of the group that watched the DVD improved by 13.2 points, as compared to the group that did not watch it. Furthermore, the results helped us identify effective methods for choosing suitable results of survey or experiment on which the training material is based and for explaining appropriately the contents of training material.

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We developed a PC-based Chinese language learning system Dig for LL (Language Laboratory) classroom in Waseda University, which achieved more effective learning than ever (Wu and Yang, 2003). Due to the increasing number of students, a more effective method using rich multimedia and not limited to the LL classroom is required. In this paper, we propose a mobile application suite for the smartphone & tablet to make a smart Chinese learning classroom a reality. This system features: 1) Communication functions for interactive lectures, 2) rich learning materials for smartphone & tablet, 3) a Chinese IME which requires Pinyin to be precisely specified and offers prompt advice on frequent patterns of spelling mistakes. The effectiveness is shown through an 8-week experiment in a traditional classroom.

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In this study, we performed clinical observation training utilizing Clickers in a graduate school for teachers, and investigated the effectiveness of students' learning. As a result, we clarified three effects of this learning. First, the students acquired "intentional observation." Second, the students being able to autonomously recognize failure in "acquiring individual consistency." Then, for the third point, the students being able to become interested in the points of view of others, since utilizing Clicker makes simultaneous visualization from the points of view of several observers possible. Additionally, we also found that these learning effects were affected by the attributes of the student's number of years of teaching experience.

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This paper presents a study on the potential of ubiquitous language learning environments that utilize the benefits of mobile devices such as smartphones with global positioning system (GPS) functions. Recent research has emphasized the importance of taking account of informal learning - learning that happens outside the classroom, in students' everyday lives, when designing learning environments. The learning environment proposed in this study connects classroom learning with learners' real-life experiences, supported by smartphones, which detect the learners' location and supply them with multimedia content that matches their real-time situation. The paper provides insight into the concept, implementation, and evaluation of the project.

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