The purpose of this study was to analyze students' thoughts about junior high school technology education, which consist of four contents, using task value as an indicator, and to obtain suggestions regarding the content and teaching of technology education. Using the task value scale (four factors, 13 items) created by Kera and Nakaya (2014), a survey was conducted on 838 third-year junior high school students (709 valid responses) regarding the task value of technology education and each content. The results showed that "information technology" had high average values in all areas of " utility value for practice," " utility value for institution," "interest value," and " attainment value." which may have been influenced by the adoption of "Information I" in The Common Test for University Admissions. In addition, in terms of "interest value," the average value was high for "technology of materials and their processing," while the average value was low for "technology of energy conversion," suggesting the difficulty of learning and teaching problem solving. Using multiple regression analysis to examine the influence of the task value of each content on the task value of the "technology education" subject, it was demonstrated that the influence of "technology of energy conversion" and "D Technology of information" was strong. On the other hand, the influence of " technology of nurturing living things" was low across all factors.

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This study aimed to clarify the educational significance of the National Institute of Technology, Kisarazu College as a youth educational institution. The research method involved analyzing official documents to examine educational activities within and outside the curriculum. Additionally, the results of a descriptive questionnaire survey were analyzed to explore students’ perceptions of their school atmosphere, teachers, school life, and career paths. These findings indicated that the National Institute of Technology, Kisarazu College, has expanded its educational activities to foster character development and train both intellectual and physical abilities. Students reported experiencing freedom throughout the school. Furthermore, interacting with schoolmates who share similar interests, studying specialized subjects, and engaging with highly professional teachers were identified as significant sources of joy. Moreover, students deepened their interactions through club activities and dormitory life. Finally, they made informed decisions about their future paths based on an awareness of their interests, aptitudes, and perceptions of their knowledge and skills.

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In this study, we examined methods for evaluating learning in technology education, focusing on students' attitudes towards learning. We created a questionnaire combining elements of previous research on evaluating learning in the affective domain with elements of the self-reflection stage in self-regulated learning and obtained responses from students. The responses were evaluated by six evaluators, including technology teachers, and the consistency of their judgments was analyzed. Accordingly, the consistency rate of judgments by all evaluators, including the teacher, was approximately 60%. When the structure of the questions was modified to suit learning evaluation, the rate of agreement between all the evaluators, including the teacher, increased to over 70%. In addition, because the rate of agreement between the teacher's judgment and the other evaluators' judgments was low, we set up an objective perspective for reading the responses by incorporating the results of previous research, and the rate of agreement increased to approximately 60%. These results indicate that a method of evaluating learning that incorporates the concept of self-regulated learning into the affective domain framework is useful for evaluating students' attitudes towards learning independently

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We developed virtual reality (VR) learning material for operating a boring machine using a head-mounted display (HMD). This VR learning material allows learners to simulate operating a boring machine in a virtual environment while learning about appropriate attire when using a boring machine, and methods for securing materials by hand during processing, securing materials using a vise, and changing drill bits. A survey conducted with university students suggested that this material was useful for acquiring proper boring machine operation skills and received positive evaluations in terms of "understanding." It was highly rated in a survey conducted with junior high school students, especially in terms of "interest and motivation."

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This study proposes a practical generative AI training program and examines changes in teachers' awareness toward its use. A preliminary survey of 35 middle school teachers in Prefecture X revealed that while many were receptive to AI integration, they expressed concerns about their knowledge and skills related to it. Based on these findings, a teacher-training program incorporating hands-on exercises with generative AI was developed using an AI literacy framework. A comparison of pre- and post-training survey results indicated that participants gained a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and technologies underlying generative AI. Additionally, they developed greater awareness of the associated risks and an increased sense of responsibility in making informed and ethical decisions regarding its use. However, the findings also suggest that some teachers adopted a more skeptical stance toward integrating generative AI into instructional practices.

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In the field of technology education, the aim is to cultivate the qualities and abilities to innovate and create improvements for better living and the construction of a sustainable society. Furthermore, learning about "the development of society and technology" fosters an attitude of innovating and creating technology for future societal advancement. This study focuses on final lessons for third-year high school students in the technology field, where students review what they have learned. The study involves constructing a teaching process that uses "four future scenario videos." These illustrate the relationships between society and technological advancement through scenarios such as "cooperation and division in politics and economy," "controllable and uncontrollable climate change," "establishment and loss of trust," and their "relationship with technology." The effectiveness of this teaching process was evaluated through lesson practice. Additionally, this teaching process was applied to graduate students. The results confirmed that students recognized the need for harmonious technological advancement to realize their desired future.

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This study develops and implements a chopstick-making lesson for junior high school technology classes, drawing on the principles of constructionism. Constructionism is a learning theory that emphasizes learners’ active construction of knowledge through the creation of artifacts. While constructionism has primarily been applied in the context of programming education, technology education encompasses a broader range of technologies beyond information technology, emphasizing the development of both skills and knowledge. Therefore, this study designed the chopstick-making lesson based on constructionism while focusing on the development of skills unrelated to information technology. As a result of practice, the developed lesson facilitated the construction of knowledge and skills in using a hand plane while supporting various learning processes through repeated trial-and-error and modification during the making of chopsticks. This approach enabled learners to find personal meaning in the artifact, experience joy, and recognize their own growth upon completing the project. Moreover, it was confirmed that learners valued the artifact, experienced joy, and perceived personal growth through this process.

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The purpose of this study was to focus on the engineering design process and the early stages of problem solving, and to propose a teaching method for promoting creative attitudes in technology education. A teaching method that incorporates three thinking methods was developed: bisociation, affinity diagram, and webbing. Additionally, a subject that incorporated teaching methods to embody form to the original ideas was conducted. Survey research was conducted before and after the subject. Accordingly, it was found that the improved questionnaire items consisted of "creative confidence" and "use of scientific thinking" creative attitudes. These results suggested that the developed and practiced teaching methods were effective in promoting creative attitudes.

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