This paper describes the adequacy of students’ conceptual map with network structure as an evaluating method, by analyzing meanings of each linking word. For this purpose, a method for evaluating students’ conceptual map by overlapping their teacher’s map is proposed. The adequacy of the conceptual map is investigated by comparing meanings of linking words with problem solving ability.

Students’ conceptual maps were constructed after 4 weeks of instruction in which they were taught the change of theories about continental drift. The subjects were 150 students of grade 10, who were given 15 nodes concerned with the context of the instruction to construct conceptual map with network structure.

The findings of this paper are as follows:

・20 percent of connected links were not linked properly.

・Some students understand a proposition by using different words and different direction of the link-arrow from the teacher’s. This shows that it is important to investigate meanings of students’ linking words in order to evaluate students comprehension in a strict sense.

・Students who recognized the meaning of a node superficially tend to have worse marks in the test and also fail to catch proper meaning in other propositions.

・Concepts used to answer a question are represented in students’ maps who give correct answers.

The above findings verifyed that the conceptual map reflects not only students’ knowledge structure but their problem solving ability, and that it is also an effective evaluating method.

Acid and alkali materials of are introduced a throughout school science education. The purpose of this paper is to try and get a clearer understanding questions of acid and alkali cognition of secondary students.

From the analysis of responses given from multiple-choice answer and freer responses of the short essay type, the following findings were obtained.

1) About 30% of secondary students have a correct appreciation that acid’s property is connected with hydrogen ions after learning, but they don’t understand this conception.

2) The connection between acid and hydrogen ions has been emphasized in some students’ understanding, on the other, while there are misconceptions such as confusion between hydreogen and hydrogen ion, and hydrogen cognition in relation to incorrect formation of the hydrogen ion model.

Japanese decators are concerned about the problems caused by the recent increase in the number of senior high school students who display dislike for science education.

Of particular-concern is the decrease in the number of students who elect to take physics course.

An analysis of the principal cause of this growing dislike for science education revealed the following conclusions.

1. About 40 percent of male students and 60 percent of female students dislike science subjects in secondary school. 80~90 percent of these students profess a particular dislike for physics and chemistry. The oneset of this dislike for science education takes place in the second year of secondary education.

2. The chief factors contributing to the dislike of physics and chemistry are the necessary use of education, formulas and basic understanding of these concepts among students.

3. It was clear from the analysis that illustration with figures is a better method for understanding the contents of numerical equations.

4. There are significant differences in education. It is therefore crucial for science educators to take into consideration these different attitudes among their male and female senior high school students.

Environmental Education (EE) goals, objectives and guiding principles in the Belgrade Charter are well known, but those in the recommendations of the Tbilisi Intergovernmental Conference on EE have not been reviewed in Japan.

Ideas on EE goals, objectives and guiding principles stated in the following documents within the first phase of the UNESCO-UNEP’s International EE Programme (IEEP) were reviewed in this paper; the Belgrade Charter, Trends in EE, A Synthetic Report of Regional Meetings of Experts on EE, Education and the Challenge of Environmental Problems, the Tbilisi Declaration, and the Recommendations of the Tbilisi Conference.

According to the review, EE purpose as an international consensus were clarified in the present view, as follows; to develop a world population toward a sustainable society who have knowledge, attitudes, values and skills for environmental conservation, can consider environmental issues globally and in view of various relationships between man and his environment, can practice an ecological life, and can actively participate in the action to save the environment in every level including the decision making processes.

Since April 1994, new courses have started under the new syllabus in Japanese secon dary schools, including “Sougou-Rika” and “IAs” in which STS Education can to operate. These new courses are said to be established for low-achievers, even though STS Education is intended for all learners. Teachers’ perception of the context about “science” (CAS), including history of science, sociology of science, its application in daily-life, etc., is focused as they are practitioners in classroom.

There have been some papers on teachers’ perception especially on STS issues and its ideas. Meanwhile, the perception of the community of teachers is often quite different from individual teachers’ and is hard to investigate by them in Japan. This paper adopted a technique asking both teachers’ opinions and the views of their community simultaneously in order to clarify their differences.

The results of this research are as follows:

・The CAS has educational value for individual teachers who want to treat them scientifically. They judge CAS to be suitable for learners’ abilities and interests but also worry that CAS is not organized as a knowledge base.

・Teachers inferred that the new courses would be actually accepted to low achievers.

・Teachers’ background such as major degree and age is related to ther opinions of CAS. Teachers of biology or who graduated agriculture tend not to resist new courses or CAS.

・Each teacher inferred that the view of their community toward CAS is much less than their own opinion. It is interpreted that authorized or institutionalized teacher education course would obtain less result. Teacher education should be formed not by force but to meet their demand toward CAS.

Many cases of learners’ misconceptions after finishing their learning activities have been reported and also their recovery methods are shown in each case. These reports, however, are not sufficient for making general approaches to misconceptions, because they treat each case in symptomatic ways one by one.

In the present study, the authors aim to develop a general method for analyzing and recovering misconceptions. As a first step of the study, simulations of learners’ misconceptions by “Prolog” are carried out in order to identify their causes and to improve recovery methods.

The results of this study confirm that recovery methods depend on suggestions obtained from the present simulations show their significance and the methodological appropriateness of the present study.