This article describes the early history of laboratory lessons for engineering education in both western countries and Japan. In western countries, the beginning of the laboratory lessons in technical colleges was earlier than that in traditional universities. The reason is thought to be due to the support and understanding from industrial business societies. In traditional universities, there was a strong objection to introducing science and engineering educations from religious viewpoints. While, the Japanese Government of early Meiji period was eager in introducing science and engineering educations for the promotion of industry. As a result, the recommendation of performing experiments at school classes became to a movement in the late 1880s. The movement, however, did not last due to various reasons. I discuss the lesson from the history.

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The opportunities of physics experiments for students have been decreasing even though science teachers realize that the physics experiments play an important role in science education. It may be one of the causes for the decline in scholastic ability. However, looking back on the history of science education in Japan, far more physics experiments had been conducted from Meiji period to early in Showa period. It can be expected that conducting the physics experiments in line with the science history may bring us positive educational effects. Therefore, the physics experiments, which had been carried out in senior high schools at that time, and the essential physics experiments in the history are presented in this paper. Students usually show a great interest in the series of experiments. It can lead students to understand the physical phenomena easily, know the scientists′ view points and find how useful and practical science is for our everyday life.

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Machining exercise has been eliminated from mechanical engineering curriculums in universities for years. Instead of machining training, a variety of hands-on projects has been created mainly aiming at stimulating students′ creativity. Those projects are measured by two parameters ; (1) Creativeness of ideas, and (2) Skill training. Though the author′s group has created a variety of projects to maximize the two parameters in Nagoya University, it does not necessarily result in improving the exam scores in a lecture “materials processing” . A hands-on exercise directly related to the lecture contents has been newly developed and proved the increase in exam scores. Exercises to compensate the lack in real experiences among students are emerging demands for the better understanding of the lecture.

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The electrical and electronics engineering experiments program was changed drastically at the department of the Tokyo Institute of Technology about 40 years ago. This paper provides a brief overview of the methods and the basic idea of the reform.

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In the field of engineering education, much efforts have been placed on the teaching and training for knowledge and skill, however, education of engineering talent, including wisdom, intelligence, and sense, by chemical system construction experiments were in minor position even though which is essential for the technical innovation in the times of sustainable development of the human life. “Ideas” occurred in students mind, when PBL style chemical experiments such as inorganic qualitative analysis and organic synthesis being carried out, should have essentially the same nature as those required in the construction of chemical evolution systems in their future.

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Some examples of experimentation in the field of building engineering are introduced. Progress of experimental techniques, change of topics following the lessons learned from seismic disaster are presented through comparison with my student days

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An experiment and training of the building materials field require so much time and labors. Therefore, it is difficult to dedicate a material experiment into the timetable of the whole curriculum, so the actual condition is that the material experiment is performed by devising at each university. Here, based on my experience, the opinion about a subject or directivity is described focusing on the class of building materials experiments conducted within the laboratory in the campus.

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Architectural Education is based on the holistic balance of knowledge relating architecture. Laboratory of Architectural Environmental Engineering strengthen the lectured knowledge and is useful for designing practice of architecture.

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Engineering education in Japan until the high-speed growth era of the 1970s had been composed mainly of lectures by teachers on various types of subjects and skill training through experiments. “Education” by which students enhance their inherent ability to learn is insufficient in the current courses for engineers, even though that is the most important goal of education. In addition, changes in Japanese society and in the technologies applied in it result in the confusion of skill training in schools. On the other hand, today there is a better understanding of the ability needed to achieve the purpose of engineering, and educational programs have been developed and become sophisticated through the introduction of the JABEE program and through the improvement in higher engineering education. In this study, the current problems of universities, teachers and students under rapidly changing circumstances have been discussed, namely the technologies that have continuously been divided into specialized fields, lack of educational funding, and also the way in which students generally appear to lack a sense of ambition and opportunities to actually witness various experiments in their younger days. Based on the problems pointed out above, a newly designed concept of experiments has been proposed by discussing 1) a new way of thinking about the relation between the brain and physical condition, 2) the concept of education for the purpose of national interest to education for the benefit of the individual student, and 3) the problem of the Fundamental Law of Education in Japan.

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Fundamental Lab for Engineering (FLE) I,IIandIII at Kanazawa Institute of Technology are mandatory engineering experiment courses for all first and second year undergraduate students. The authors have designed and implemented the FLE courses that take the curriculum of problem-finding and problem-solving oriented engineering experiment since 1997. The course contents focus on the “fundamentals of the experimental method” as a main feature. These courses aim that the students become able to plan and conduct experiments by themselves. These courses have recorded high pass rate and high levels of satisfaction among the students who completed the courses. In addition, they were evaluated as highly safe based on the number of accidents and equipment damages reported during the lessons.

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Traditionally in student experiments we have taught students technical knowledge and skills which are necessary to accomplish their experiments. In this traditional way of teaching, it has not been essential to develop engineers with communication skills and leadership. But recently such engineers become more and more important to tackle problems in team projects. In addition, ability to determine priorities among various complex subjects by using optimal method is needed for engineers these days. From this point of view, I have designed and implemented alternative student experiment programs based on behavioral, cognitive and situated learning theories to help students develop these skills and abilities. And according to the results of my investigation, I designed new curriculum for integrated education from high school level to university level at Toyama National College of Technology. This paper introduces these experiment programs I have developed and discusses educational effects and necessary improvements of these programs.

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The Department of Mechanical Engineering of Yonago National College of Technology has recently introduced a Problem Based Learning (PBL) course for the first-grade students. Its purpose is to enhance the students′ interest to the mechanical engineering and to develop the students′ learning ability and creativity. In this paper, we have assessed long-term educational effects of the PBL course by questionnaire survey to third-grade and fifth-grade students. The results have shown that higher grades students consider the PBL course is effective to develop creativity and improve their attitude toward cooperation by group works. Some students also think the PBL course is helpful in understanding the specialized subjects.

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Machining and manufacturing practicum in college of technology assumes a role of practical education for a mechanical engineer and introduction of specialized course for lower grade students. Main goals of the practicum are training of technical skills and basic education to have special knowledge. In addition, education of engineering ethics and education of safety awareness have recently become more important. In this paper, we introduce our activities for safety education and our safety facilities in newly reformed ‘Monozukuri Center’ (a manufacturing education support center) at Yonago national college of technology. Also, we have examined educational effects of the practicum in our college. The questionnaire surveys to students and graduates show that our safety education is effective in order to produce their safety mind and activity.

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During safety training, students should learn dangers related to machining along with safety and proper procedures. Students could improve their safety understanding if they could experience real dangerous situations under controlled machining conditions. Using a simulator developed by the authors, students can experience danger and fear related to machining accidents. Because lathe machines are typical machining tools, they were selected for modeling for the accident simulator. Five training items including destruction of work and tools were chosen as actual accident models for demonstration by the simulator. This accident simulator was introduced into the education schedule of machine manufacturing safety training. Questionnaire survey responses indicated improvement in students′ recognition about safety and the dangers of machining work.

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Recently, The technology of a car is making progress remarkably. It needs technical knowledge and technology to maintain this complicated system. In a car mechanic educational institution, it has two targets which makes them bring high technique up during two years and passes state qualification. And the passed ratio of this state qualification will be the evaluation value at educational institution. Therefore, various educational methods have been developed originally by each car mechanic educational institution. However, an attempt which investigates size understanding ability of students and applies it to the educational program isn′t found. So, in this paper, the particularity of the car maintenance education and the investigation of size understanding ability of students are reported. As a result, it was revealed that students possessed the linear measure in mind smaller than the actual one.

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As the proverb says, failure teaches success. Most engineers who belong to the new product development sections in manufacturing companies have experienced failure, and have turned their failures into opportunities. However, it is difficult to teach students something from failure in a lecture. Hands-on education is one of the solutions. In this paper, a trial in the class of Analog Electronic Circuits is reported. Some extra-curricular tasks with the possibility to cause failure were assigned to the students. The results of the questionnaire conducted by the students show that the proposed practical method has successfully reminded them of the meaning of learning.

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Some students in our department are difficult to understand enough structure mechanics. We try to make and to operate the experience-typed educational tools for the basic structure engineering as one method of the solutions. Four kinds of tools are made and are used in the practice at the first semester in the second year. The first tools and the second tools can make these students study some items which they were not able to understand in the lecture, through experiences of a phenomenon. The third tool ties a two-dimensional drawing and a three-dimensional structure and rouses an image of a structure of a beam to students. The fourth tool makes them be interested in a structure of a support and a reaction force. These tools are expected to help them to understand fundamental structural mechanics, but combination with the lecture is indispensable.

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Atomic Energy Research Institute of Kinki University has devoted in the education of nuclear engineering using UTR-KINKI since its establishment in 1961. After the adoption of “Nuclear Energy Human Resources Development Program” by METI in 2007, the activities were facilitated fruitfully to the experience-based practices for the 9 universities. This paper introduces these activities firstly. We are mainly suffering from keeping enough machine time for the reactor practices. Even if they felt the interests in the practices, it is impossible to keep in touch with each student′s learning for their comprehensive curriculum after their participations of the practice. This paper describes a proposed systematic education, which is a combination of reactor practice and distance learning using Internet communication tools.

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