This research aimed to clarify the relationship between students' understanding of electric wire connection concepts and the ability to draw physical wiring diagrams in junior high school. A total of 332 students, including 2nd-grade students, who had not yet learned about electricity, and 3rd-grade students, who had learned about it, were surveyed on circuits with parallel connections. The survey enquired about their recognition of isomorphic circuits and their ability to draw physical wiring diagrams. Circuit diagrams and physical diagrams in four conditions with different positional relations or/and polarity direction arrangements of parts were prepared. Consequently, it was revealed that the understanding of the circuits tended to decrease with the rotation of the parts or when their positional relation was changed. In addition, while there was a difference in understanding between learned and non-learned circuits, in circuits close to the reference diagram there was no difference for polarity direction. Furthermore, it was found that "inner understanding," meaning recognizing the isomorphic graph as the reference diagram, and "outer understanding," meaning recognizing the non-isomorphic graph as different from the reference, were related to the ability to draw a physical wiring diagram.

The purpose of this study was to make clear the relationship between students' affective attitudes of programming and images of programming in order to obtain basic knowledge for improving instruction in programming education in technology education. A survey was conducted on 388 high school students (178 male students and 210 female students) who had already studied "D Information Technology" in the technology education at junior high school. As a result, male students' affective attitudes of programming were significantly higher than that of female students. Therefore, it suggests that gender is a confounding factor in programming. In addition, the images that students have of programming can be broadly classified into three categories: images related to the self, images related to uses, and images related to society. Also, it was shown that female students ' self-related images are a factor in their programming liking.

To clarify the handling and features of technology concepts in junior high school technology education, this research analyzed the keywords for technology concepts that were included in the 2016 technology education textbooks used in the previous curriculum. The keywords related to technology concepts were extracted from the technology and home economics teaching guides of junior high school courses of study (announced in 2017), and a text mining analysis of the keywords was performed on the textbooks. The results showed that the more the analyzed keywords were extracted, the wider the spread of the related words was. While the keywords showed strong connections between the natural principal elements and mechanistic elements of technology concepts, the connections were weak or few in relation to social elements. These results, suggested that the technology concepts included in textbooks from the previous curriculum were weak in terms of the social aspects, and there has been a bias toward contexts related to the connection of mechanistic elements in the construction of textbooks.

The purpose of this study is to develop auxiliary tools for carpenter's squares that create no gap between a short branch and the surface of the wood even when junior high school students and beginners mark a line perpendicular to the side as the base plane when using the carpenter's squares. It also aims to test the effectiveness of the developed auxiliary tools. We developed three types of auxiliary tools made of stainless steel: A and B, which are attached to the outer side of the short branch, and C, which is attached to the inner side of the long branch. After examining the effects on university and junior high school students, the following results were obtained. When auxiliary tools A and B were attached, the marking was made in a more accurate position at the start near the side plane. With successive auxiliary tool attachment, the number of times the short branch was lifted during marking decreased. Examination of the marking lines suggested that lifting the short branch was related to the occurrence of a curve in the marking line. As carpenter's squares are frequently used, both university and junior high school students rated the auxiliary tool B highly, with junior high school students also rating the auxiliary tool C highly.

Technology education in Japan requires content that corresponds to the Society 5.0 model. In addition, it is necessary to conduct classes related to medical engineering. This study examined teaching materials related to cybernics and identified seven essential teaching contents for technology classes dealing with cybernics. A class centered on cybernics was developed and conducted with 86 student participants. The results showed that the students comprehended the “working principles and mechanisms of HAL" and “HAL detection of bio-electrical signals and operation." The classes also improved students' motivation to learn about medical engineering.

Users of social networking services are getting younger, and the handling of young people's personal information is important. The purpose of this study was to clarify how young people perceive personal information. To this end, we conducted a survey of university and junior high school students regarding their perceptions of personally identifiable elements contained in information. It was revealed that they recognized a wider range of personal information than what the law interprets as personal information. The results also indicated that excessive fear of personal information mishandling may cause people to become overly cautious, thereby limiting the possibilities for information dissemination, expression, and creation. There are situations in which individuals voluntarily disclose personal information for reasons such as sports or entertainment activities. Consequently, it is imperative to provide appropriate guidance on the handling of personal information, taking the individual's specific circumstances into account.

In the new course of study in Japan, information utilization skills are emphasized. From elementary school to high school, each subject deals with the use of computers and statistical education. While data analysis learning is often conducted using data prepared for classes, learning using sensor measurement data is effective in industrial studies at high schools. However, it is necessary to prepare boards, sensors, and measurement devices, as well as programs to acquire the sensor values. Therefore, it is necessary to learn these before learning data analysis. In this paper, we propose an environment in which students can easily learn data analysis using measured data by acquiring sensor values from devices by extending Connect DB, which enables online data analysis such as data formatting and graph drawing. We conducted a class for 30 second-grade students at a technical high school using Connect DB. We confirmed that the proposed environment can be used to teach data analysis using measured and acquired values.

This study examined the usefulness of cross-curricular learning in elementary school programming education for programming thinking and subject learning. Since the start of programming education, various practices and studies have been published. However, it is assumed that most of them lack the pursuit of systematic learning. Therefore, we set our perspective on pursuing systematic learning throughout the seven years from the third grade of elementary school to the third grade of junior high school. Cross-curricular learning was conducted for 4th graders who started learning programming in the 3rd grade of elementary school due to the restructuring of the curriculum, making use of their knowledge and ideas. Using the math unit "how to change" as the subject, we conducted learning using variables in both the elementary school and the special subject "Technology" and analyzed the usefulness of the variables based on the students' learning status and other factors. The usefulness of the variables was verified by deepening the students' understanding of the variables compared to before the study, based on the students' reflective descriptions, math tests, and program analysis.

Mechanisms are an indispensable element in manufacturing, and therefore, they are important learning contents. In Japanese education, the study of mechanisms has been incorporated into elementary school graphic arts and technology education. In making activities for mechanism learning, automata or walking robots using link mechanisms are often employed, where there is a bias in the mechanisms that can be learned through the activity. In a previous study, we practiced activities using automata. Students understood what movements could be made with mechanisms, and therefore they were able to make automata during these activities. However, they did not understand some things, how to change the speed of a driven wheel. In this study, we conducted a class practice using teaching materials developed for junior high school students and analyzed their educational effects based on students' worksheets and questionnaires. The class used friction wheels, lantern wheels, Geneva drives, cam mechanisms, lever crank mechanisms, and parallel motion linkages as teaching materials for learning about mechanisms. We clarified the educational value through an analysis of the results of a mechanisms test, explanatory materials made by the students, and a questionnaire survey.

In this paper, we propose teaching materials for elementary school arts and crafts to develop the manufacturing skills of students. We focus on the "uses and methods (such as shape, durability, size, careful manufacturing, how things work, and how to make them)" outlined in the "New Framework of Technology and Engineering Education for Creating Next Generation Learning" published by the Japan Society of Technology Education. To this end, we introduced students to essential skills for manufacturing products, including how to make precise dimensions according to a design and accurately saw using a jig. Students can properly handle and utilize materials and tools once they master these skills. As a production subject to be produced while considering the application, we developed two types of treasure chest: a caracara xylophone for elementary school third and fourth graders using a straight ruler, a square, and a stop ruler; and a treasure chest for elementary school fifth and sixth graders using a jig with a saw guide attached. Thanks to the teaching practices, the students were able to use these tools to saw the materials and cut them to the desired length and angle.

In October 2021, the 6th Strategic Energy Plan was approved by the Cabinet, highlighting the importance of energy education in school to promote understanding of energy among the general public. In this study, we focused on ocean current power generation utilizing Japan's geographical environment and aimed to develop a device for experiential learning and verify its effectiveness through practical and hands-on learning activities. The developed device is a turbine attached to a boat-shaped body with a generator. It allows students to observe turbine rotation and power generation through water flow. As a result of using this device in this hands-on learning situation, students were able to understand the mechanism and characteristics of ocean current power generation and showed interest in renewable energy.

In October 2021, the 6th Strategic Energy Plan was approved by the Cabinet, highlighting the importance of energy education in school to promote understanding of energy among the general public. In this study, we focused on ocean current power generation utilizing Japan's geographical environment and aimed to develop a device for experiential learning and verify its effectiveness through practical and hands-on learning activities. The developed device is a turbine attached to a boat-shaped body with a generator. It allows students to observe turbine rotation and power generation through water flow. As a result of using this device in this hands-on learning situation, students were able to understand the mechanism and characteristics of ocean current power generation and showed interest in renewable energy.