The purpose of this article was to arrange main viewpoints of issues to be discussed regarding proposal of conceptual terms and their transitions of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines) and STEAM (STEM+Arts disciplines) in the U.S. In particular, this study focused on defining each concept of engineering, design and arts, and the necessity of Japanese-oriented STEAM Education to realize Society 5.0 as a viewpoint of levels of integration about each STEM discipline proposed by Vasquez et al. in 2013. In order to realize Society 5.0 and to progress and attain SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), and engineering and design as linkages across Technology, Science, Mathematics, and Arts were built. This article was proposed to overhead views on the relationship of each Japanese-oriented STEAM discipline to make pupils and students develop technologically innovative and governance-able capabilities to assess, make decisions, manage, and usage technological benefits and risks. This paper also suggests the importance of curriculum management to study common concepts, competencies and capabilities regarding SDGs using a cross-subject study approach (multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary) and continuing professional development for each STEAM related subject teacher.

As standby power consumption of home appliances comprises 5.1% of the total household power consumption, it is necessary to reduce the standby power to contribute to an energy-saving society. In junior high school technology education, teaching material concerning standby power is considered to be of great importance, because it is fundamental to consider related environmental load and energy saving. In this study, through the LED photovoltaic effect, we investigated teaching materials that can handle standby power in junior high school technology education to enable the optical sensor circuit to light up automatically when it becomes darker while operating with zero-standby-power. An optical sensor circuit with zero-standby-power consists of a power supply, Pch MOSFET, and resistor as well as light reception and emission LEDs, whereas its operation can be adjusted using a resistor connected in parallel to the light reception LED. Moreover, by using a two-color LED, the integration of light receiving and illuminating LEDs was confirmed to be possible, and its usefulness as a teaching material was realized.

This study investigated the effect of fertilization time and amount on the growth and yield of wheat cultivated in a container using a PET-bottle. I considered that the teaching materials for wheat could be understood as the laws governing the characteristics of biological growth and ecology and the mechanisms of the nurture of living things in technology education. The results showed that grain yield varied with the season and fertilization time, but, in all cases, it increased when increasing the top dry weight. In the yield components, the increasing grain yield was associated with a difference in spike number, number of grains per spike, and thousand grain weight. The thousand grain weight was significantly correlated with the stem brake rate. The stem brake rate tended to increase with late fertilization time. In addition, even if the total amount of fertilizer was doubled, the grain yield did not increase. I considered that wheat cultivation as a teaching material can show that the effect of each fertilization time varied with the growth stage of wheat.

The purpose of this study was to establish a framework for evaluating students' abilities of problem identification and task setting in technology education with a focus on the content “C. Energy Conversion Technology." For this purpose, we compared characters of problem identifying and task setting among 43 awardwinning works of “JSTE Energy Utilization Technology Contest" in 2015–2017 and 76 second-grade students in public junior high school. As a result, it was suggested that the viewpoints of evaluation, such as “Types of Problem," “Extent of Problem," and “Assumed User," were available for the framework of evaluation of students' abilities of problem identifying. Additionally, regarding abilities of task setting, it was shown that seven viewpoints of evaluation, such as “Concreteness of purpose," “Inquiring Purpose," “Innovative ideas," and “Preparation of action," had the possibility to be available for a framework of evaluation.

In this study, we developed a teaching material that allows students to embody circuit design by considering individual differences in LEDs, and we verified the learning effect and evaluated the material through classroom practices. The developed teaching material was an LED flashlight with a voltage boost and constant current circuits that can be driven even when a power supply voltage of 1.5V or less is applied. Using the developed teaching material, we conducted classes incorporating activities for students to embody the design of electric circuits to realize their ideas. The analysis of the worksheets used in the design activities and the questionnaires conducted before and after the verification lesson showed that the proposed material provided the students with more experience in problem solving; it also improved their technological problem solving skills, ingenuity, and creativity.

In this research, we focused on learning to set the parameters of the elements that make up electrical circuits as design learning, and to select the elements that satisfy the intended purpose and conditions that the student envisioned (setting the resistance). However, electricity is invisible, and it is difficult to select elements in the state where knowledge of the concepts of voltage and current have not been acquired. Therefore, we developed a teaching tool that can automatically measure the electrical characteristics of elements required for circuits with an illuminance sensor and determine the required resistance value for the desired operation by simulation. Through class practice using the developed teaching tools, we verified the usefulness of applying design learning of electrical circuits to circuits with an illuminance sensor and the effects of the developed teaching tools.

In this study, to address the obligation to provide computer programming instruction in elementary schools beginning in 2020, such classes were introduced to 30 fifth grade pupils. In these classes, a controlled robot travels in a labyrinth followed by a program that uses Scratch 2.0, a block-type programming tool.

From the analysis of tests on the labyrinths, each student's artwork and impressions of the course before and after the classes were introduced. The student's ability to use programming thinking logically and to combine the programming control structure (sequence, iteration, and selection), was evaluated. It was found that the understanding of selection improved compared with previous classes, in which the controlled robots were not utilized as teaching tools. Moreover, the study revealed that most pupils were interested in computer programming learning. Therefore, computer programming classes using controlled robots are considered to be helpful in the development of students' abilities to logically employ programming thinking.

In engineering design, the design review consists of four elements (product plan and concept, and design specifications and design information). This allows designers to share information and check on production limitations, making design review an important part of the design process. We implemented lessons introducing engineering design methods in technology classes at a junior high school. We found that students were able to approach projects as engineers, specifically in setting of aims and goals, learning and developing new ideas, recording information, examining functions, and improving the product.

In the new high school curriculum, under the influence of the social changes caused by Society 5.0, the learning content of data science has been included in “Information II." Recently, learning about data science has become important to future life in society. Therefore, this study proposes a teaching process that uses LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 and Python to study the machine learning mechanism that derives an appropriate solution based on collected data. Specifically, its purpose is not only to teach algorithms and programs but also to understand the usefulness of machine learning through experiential learning. To confirm these effects, we used the teaching materials in training of information faculty members and evaluated them. The results confirmed that the proposed teaching process had a certain effect on experiential learning of machine learning.