The purpose of this research is, firstly, to confirm the occurrence of the self-choice effect in high school students through their science study materials; and secondly, to clarify the relatedness of learners' self-efficacy to their metamemory of the learning content, based on the result of an experiment and analysis of self-efficacy. The findings of this study are as follows: 1. The students were grouped into two; one group was given learning material by the teacher, and the other was offered a choice of materials. Then all students were given a recognition test on their memory for word and object information in the learning material. The average score of the students who were offered a choice was much higher than that of the students who were given the material by the teacher. It was found that most of the students who had chosen their materials showed a self-choice effect. 2. The scores of the recognition test on the memory for nonwords and non-object information in the learning material also showed a similar tendency and thus confirmed the self-choice effect. 3. Compared with the students in whom no self-choice effect was observed, those where a self-choice effect was observed received higher scores on several principal conceptions which make up the learner's self-efficacy: "Control" and Agency Beliefs for "Effort", Cognitive Self-management "Planning of the problem solution", and "Processing of information on the problem solution". This showed that the students' self-efficacy had some influence on their metamemory. These results provide us with an important suggestion for improving students' academic motivation for learning science.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate primary teachers' understanding, and determine their awareness of students' ideas in the area of electric current. 315 primary teachers were asked to indicate their understanding and predict their students' answers in a questionnaire. Analysis of their responses reveal that most of the teachers understood the electric current of simple circuits in a 'scientifically acceptable' way, and identified all students' ideas. However, they were unable to predict with any accuracy the different types of students' ideas.

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Where science teachers instruct their students about environmental matters, it is very important to consider how students acquire environmental cognition. In this study, two methods were adopted to facilitate the learning process : a control class using VTR teaching materials for instruction and an experimental class using hands-on experiments. The objective of this study was to measure the effect of experimental methods on students' learning process. To analyze the effects of such instruction, the "Hierarchical Graph Method" was employed. In order to estimate the impact of experimental instruction and the effect of audio-visual instruction, we defined the lack of change in students' cognition as "the rate of nonchange". Within this framework, the following facts were discovered : 1) The environmental cognition of the groups undergoing experimental instruction changed more than the control groups. 2) According to the results of the Hierarchical Graph Method, the experimental groups were able to relate the process of environmental pollution to the phenomenon of "the circulation of matter". 3) The Hierarchical Graph Method indicated that the experimental groups had acquired both "wide" and "deep" environmental cognition. 4) It became clear from the results of the Hierarchical Graph Method and the "rate of nonchange" that the experimental and interactive instruction aided the acquisition of environmental cognition. 5) The Hierarchical Graph Method provided clear visual cues which enabled us to estimate easily the merits of experimental instruction on the formation of environmental cognition.

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This paper explicates the theory of 'Nakama-atsume', which is an educational method using a process of making web pages by inductive reasoning. 'Nakama-atsume' in Japanese means gathering similar objects and grouping them inductively. Inductive learning is very important for learners at school, because it is the base of their learning and comes natural to them. This method consists of four processes, namely, collecting, making cards, grouping them inductively and making web pages. In principle, learners practice the method using cards with a photograph (or a painting or drawing) and a one-line comment. By this method, they can lay out web pages and construct the hierarchical structure of web pages bottom up. The web pages and their structure designed by the learners are creative and interesting, because induction means enlargement of information, and this method always involves inductive reasoning. Two practical studies were carried out by this method. This paper gives an outline of them, and shows how the method can be applied to project-oriented learning, information education, and science education etc.

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A teaching module on an energy / environmental chemistry education was developed and trialed in an attempt to stimulate students' awareness of the chemistry of iron and environmental issues related to the production and use of iron. It is proposed that energy / environmental contents should be implemented in "Chemistry IB" lessons dealing with unit of "Iron and its Compounds". Through such lessons, students can realize quantitatively that much energy and resources are saved when waste iron products are recycled. Students are also able to recognize that recycling of iron products plays an important role in protecting our environment. In addition, they are encouraged to deepen their energy / environmental understanding through participation in such a class, and eventually to make appropriate decisions to care for the environment.

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An investigation concerning learning consciousness was performed with 146 junior high school students. To investigate its effect on knowledge, a pretest, posttest, and maintenance test were given to the experimental group (task solving method by resaerch activities) and the control group (pupil leadership ability experiment made by the teacher). To experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group in both posttest (t=0.434, df=144, p<0.05) and maintenance test (t=2.743, df=144, p<0.01). The investigation concerning learning consciousness was also significantly affected in the areas of "purpose consciousness and pursuit of the mind", "reasoning and expectation", "comparison and classification" and "consideration and judgment".

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We have developed the teaching materials for making mechanical models, and put them into practice. Even just one teacher will be able to use these teaching materials in lecture-based classroom teaching, and learners will be able to study with solving problems independently. Concretely, from the viewpoint of physics, we analyze the teaching contents of hydraulics and fluid machines in the mechanical engineering education at technical high school, and develop teaching materials for the design, making and performance test of impellers. In order to demonstrate the effects of improved instruction methods, we carried out the following tests, analysis and an opinion survey. 1) A pre-test and post-test before and after the impellers project 2) A performance test of impellers and a key-words analysis of learners' records before and after classroom teaching related to impellers 3) An opinion survey after the classroom teaching and the project related to impellers According to the results of these tests, analysis and opinion survey, introducing the project of making mechanical models into lecture-based classroom teaching is effective.

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