Journal of Science Education in Japan
Online ISSN : 2188-5338
Print ISSN : 0386-4553
ISSN-L : 0386-4553
Volume 23, Issue 1
Displaying 1-9 of 9 articles from this issue
  • [in Japanese]
    1999 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 1-2
    Published: March 10, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Tatsuya FUJIOKA, Hisashi OTSUJI, Toshihiro YAMADA
    1999 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 3-13
    Published: March 10, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In this paper, we review research on teaching materials in science education about natural disasters in Japan since World War II. In science education, especially in the area of Earth science, there have been many studies concerning natural phenomena such as earthquakes or volcanic activities. However, a discipline-focused view of science education has not provided many opportunities to look at the social and human impact of such natural disasters. Lately an emphasis on Environmental Education and Science-Technology-Society (STS) Education has been introduced in Japan. These new approaches require the study of science to be linked to human well being and social development. Unfortunately, even since the 1995 Kobe Earthquake in Kobe there has been little evidence that these opportunities are being explored in science education. This paper will discuss ways in which such links can be made to provide more effective teaching materials for integrated learning of science in Japanese schools.
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  • Iwaki TAKEMOTO
    1999 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 14-24
    Published: March 10, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Recently, the subject of "comprehensive study" has been discussed enwidely. However, I "comprehensive study" is still largely unexplored, including ways of including it into a curriculum. In this study, first survey educational practice from the l940's to the present, and propose to combine "subject study" and "comprehensive study" by taking the good points of both. Secondly, I establish the principle of how to organize an integrated curriculum consisting of both. Finally, I indicate what kind of paradigm they are based on and how they will develop in future.
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  • Yukiko UETSUJI, Tomoyuki NOGAMI, Shigenori INAGAKI, Etsuji YAMAGUCHI
    1999 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 25-32
    Published: March 10, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Akashi junior high school, attached to the faculty of Human Development at Kobe University, has developed an approach called "Cross-curriculum" as a pilot attempt at Integrated Study. In this study, through participant observation of classes and interviews with teachers, the design and management characteristics of the Cross-curriculum in the school were clarified, and the problems were discussed. Consequently, the following two problems need to be resolved when carrying out such cross-curricular learning : 1) Cross-curricular learning must be integrated with existing subjects. 2) Communication between teachers must be encouraged.
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  • Keiichi MAGARA
    1999 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 33-41
    Published: March 10, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    It is widely accepted that in order to rectify learners' misconception it is necessary to make them encounter scientific evidence that contradicts their misconception. In this paper an alternative strategy is proposed and its effect examined. The strategy was as follows. At the first stage a reading material was presented to learners which contained useful information that would help them to make solve aproblem in physics. At the second stage the problem was set and learners were asked two kinds of questions. One question requested them to solve the problem on the basis of their intuition. Their answers were generally wrong because they were guided by a misconception. The other question requested them to solve it on the basis of the information they had already read. Their answers were generally correct. At the third stage the consequence of the experiment in physics was presented and therefore the learners came to know which solution was correct. After these steps a transferable problem was set. Most of them could solve it successfully, being able to rectify their misconception. This teaching strategy was named "double reasoning method", because two contradictory reasoning processes (and answers) were provoked in each learner before he observed the consequence of the experiment.
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  • Ken Kawasaki, Shuji Hujimura, Nobuteru Kawahara
    1999 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 42-49
    Published: March 10, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Examining translations of the slogan "Study Nature, not Books" into Japanese, the present study focuses on the difference in view of "nature" between Japan and the West, and clarifies characteristic features of the Japanese view of "nature", i.e. the view of "shizen". Although "book" is used as a metaphor for "nature" not only in the West but also in Japan, the difference in the metaphor distinctly reflects the difference in view of "nature". The Japanese translations given by senior high school students are roughly classified into two types. They markedly show the difference in attitude to"shizen". One is in accordance with the meaning of the Japanese term may lead to the misunderstanding that "nature" is something to be followed by human beings. The other disagrees with the traditional Japanese term because it inclines to words the English meaning of "mature". In thesecond type of the translation "shizen" is something that can be objectified. Consequently, the two types of the translation are incompatible with each other because they might cause a certain conflict in Japanese people's understanding of "shizen", which will cause a problem in the field of science education in Japan. Being motivated by the difference in translation, the present comparative study reveals the following difference between Japan and the West:On one hand, "nature" as implied by themetaphor demands human reason in the same way that the Bible does;on the other hand, "shizen" as implied by the metaphor will be understood according to the Japanese view of "shizen".
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  • Jun Nishikawa, Katuhiro Kitajima
    1999 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 50-58
    Published: March 10, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Parents' and grandparents' attitudes to the science curriculum were studied. The investigation yielded the following observations. 1. Parents and grandparents do not have a high opinion of science. In particular their evaluation of science in the high school is low. 2. Parents' and grandparents' expectation that science relates to home and society, is relatively low. 3. Parents and grandparents would like to see traditional-style science classes. 4. Parents and grandparents wish that the science curriculum be balanced in content allocation to each of the following:physics," "chemistry," "biology," "earth science" and "integrated topics."
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  • Masahiro NISHIOKA
    1999 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 59-65
    Published: March 10, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In traditional school science experiments, the apparatus for generating a cloud is one thing, and the apparatus for genrating a fog is another. Therefore, students were apt to get the wrong idea that cloud and fog are generated from different materials. With the conventional apparatus, students found it difficult to understand the principle of generating cloud and fog. To solve these problems, the author has devised the cloud & fog generator, which serves as both a cloud generator and a fog generator. In this apparatus, when the cloud and the fog are generated, the change in temperature and pressure canbe measured by computer, and the students can watch them simultaneously on the screen. Therefore, it is easy to understand the conditions of producing cloud and fog. Moreover, this apparatus was subseguently being improved so that the students can also observe dew and frost. The author gave ademonstration of this apparatus to college students in the course of science education. This apparatus aroused considerable interest and attention with the students. The results of survey by questionnaire show that the students rake this apparatus highly.
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  • [in Japanese]
    1999 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 66-68
    Published: March 10, 1999
    Released on J-STAGE: June 30, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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