The purpose of this paper is to consider the idea of "figural concepts" (Fischbein 1993) and to verify the effect of this geometric construction activity in computer-based environments. Many Students have difficulties in learning geometry, because it deals with mental entities that possess simultaneously conceptual and figural characters (Fischbein 1993). Students tend to be influenced by figural characters in the process of geometrical activities. For problem situations in learning Geometry, Fischbein says that one has to do with a the third type of mental objects which simultaneously possess both conceptual and figural properties, that is "figural concepts", and we need to consider development of this matter in school mathematics. In this paper, it is supposed that the geometric construction activity in computer-based environments such as Cabri-Geometry is a means of developing "figural concepts", because this activity can interact between the conceptual and figural aspects of geometrical objects. The result of our study shows that the features of the software, such as degree of freedom of points in Cabri-Geometry, influence this activity. For developing "figural concepts", we need to study the design of computer-based learning environments for geometry to consider the factors in these environments.

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The purposes of this study were to investigate the use of "solve a simpler problem" strategy or "find a pattern" strategy, whether students could set up good mathematical expressions in the near generalization problem and the effect of the size of small item in near generalization problems. Subjects were in grades 4 to 6 and two sets of pattern finding problems were given. Most of the students from grades 4 to 6 did not use a "solve a simpler problem" strategy or "find a pattern" strategy. Even if the direction of setting up a mathematical expression in the near generalization problem was given, many students did not try to set up a good mathematical expression from which it was easy to generalize. The size of the small item affected the performance in near generalization problems. These results suggest that students do not understand the usefulness of considering the problem structure and setting up good mathematical expressions with the small item. Teachers should consider the effect of size of item they use in their lessons. If the size of item is very small, it is more difficult for students to understand the problem structure.

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The purpose of this paper is to examine what differences occur, if any, between students' communications in two kinds of groups: unstructured ones and ones in which students are taught to use the jigsaw method and become expert in it. Junior high school students studying the topic of volcanoes (over a period of six weeks) were divided into two groups. One was taught to use the jigsaw method (in five groups of four students) and a second group of twenty students was divided into five unstructured discussion groups, again of four students each. After the students had finished studying volcanoes, they were asked to discuss two samples of rocks, one collected from near their school and the other collected from near the Sakurajima volcano in Kyushu. The students' utterances were transcribed and classified into eight categories by the two authors. Also the understanding gained by each group was evaluated by using, before and after, a test and a cognitive map. As a result of this research, the following four points became clear: 1) There was no significant difference on the post-test of understanding of the topic of volcanoes between the jigsaw method groups (62.5 [18.3]) and the unstructured discussion groups (64.8 [18.2]), (t [38] =-0.39, n. s.). 2) In groups which had previously used the jigsaw method, there were increases in the number of different correct classifications of rocks and mountains on the cognitive map. 3) In groups which had used the jigsaw method, it was possible for members to correct others' opinions with confidence and to have the opportunity to notice their own mistakes, while explaining the reasons. 4) In the unstructured group, students' opinions were easily controlled by the dominant opinion and three-fifths of the groups went along with a wrong opinion without checking for any problems that position might involve.

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A new curriculum based on stundent's informal knowledge in ratio was established in the present study. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of the new curriculum on students' understanding of ratio. The ratio concept as a quantity rather than symbol operations was stressed in the new curriculum. In addition, the second term of proportion (b × p=a ; b : base quantity, p : proportion, a: quantity to be compared) was introduced first in the sequence of teaching three terms on ratio. Thirty-five students participated in eight lessons based on the new curriculum and 71 received normal lessons following the textbook. The students of the experimental group showed significantly superior performance over the textbook group (control group) in solving ratio problems. Although computational strategy was used in the textbook group in problem solving, an estimation strategy was mainly adopted in the experimental group. These results are discussed from the viewpoint of curriculum based on informal knowledge in children.

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A textbook is made with the intention to reform the distortion of science education caused by the constitutional defects of modern science, in which each branch of learning has independently developed, and the interrelationships between learning and the overall image are not apparent. It is designed for readers to recognize the most basic laws of nature, to form a mental image of the hierarchic structure of nature from them, to fit together the knowledge already obtained in school science study and to grasp a unified picture of nature. At the same time, it aims to improve their everyday lives from the viewpoint of creating a man-made system adapted to the natural ecosystem by recognizing the basis for everyday life. A lot of illustrations are used to make it possible for readers to gain knowledge as sentient memory through imagining laws without separately memorizing each item.

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A small tank for plating by electrolysis was manufactured with a view to saving reagent and observing the change on the surface of metal which was plated. The volume of plating solution was 3〜4 ml when using this small tank. The conditions adequate for using a small tank for plating copper and nickel on copper which had already been mentioned in texts or experimental books were determined, and an experiment of plating iron which so far had not been mentioned could be devised. Class experiments of plating copper, nickel and iron on copper were carried out by using this small tank. The plating experiment was come out by observing the change on the metal surface through the microscope. Students were interested in the fact that copper covered by a thin iron film was attracted by a magnet.

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The trend away from learning science is one of the problems confronting school education. To solve this problem, it is essential to accumulate teaching strategies that arouse learners' interest practically. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of strategies, namely personification and games, on arousing higher interest in learning about chemical reactions. Students majoring in the humanities were selected as subjects because many of them were considered to be averse to learning chemistry for a long time. As a result, instructions based on the strategies of personification and games proved to be effective for stimulating students' interest in learning chemistry. The students enjoyed learning, and at the same time got a sense of fulfillment by understanding. It also seemed that the instructions gave the students an incentive to learn further. In addition, these instructions facilitated problem solving, but the effect was limited to the problems similar to the examples used. The obtained results were discussed from the viewpoint of the post-test contents and the game procedure.

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This study was conducted to determine whether a successful in-service teacher training program using IT networks could be realized while minimizing costs, with a view towards practical application of such a program. For minimizing costs, we tried to develop a program by recording lectures by attached school teachers. These teachers usually went to nearby public schools to provide lectures on teaching methods. We tried to record the lecture as it is using a video-camera, and editing of the video simply using a nonlinear editing software. Consequently the costs of time, human resource, and workload for development of a program were minimized. The theme of this program was assessment of integrated study. To evaluate the usefulness of the program, it was introduced into the program of a public elementary school. Via a questionnaire, thirtyeight teachers were asked to evaluate the program in terms of appropriateness of its content, videos and texts, and its effectiveness on future training. An analysis of their responses reveals that most of the teachers found the training program to be highly fruitful. This study demonstrates that a successful in-service training program can be achieved while keeping costs to a minimum.

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