For the past 15 years, Japan has changed in to a post-modern society, and the role played in the character building of a child or a student on the basis of the new educational paradigm in technology education has been discussed. This paper describes technological literacy, the developmental stage of students, makes a comparison with a numbers of foreign countries, and look at the relationship between technology education and other disciplines. The schema theory, which constitutes a knowledge network on the basis of cognitive psychology, was discovered as a mechanism of learning in technology education, and was posited as the basic principle for designing activities. Furthermore, a practice that employed the learning model of social constructivism was introduced. Consequently, the learning module, which can enhance technological experience, was proposed. Also, the students' mental situation in the production of artifacts was examined, and the evaluation method for student's interest, motivation and attitude was provided.

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In this paper, we discuss the significance of Integrated Science in the previous curriculum from the viewpoint of the features of this subject, while also considering the consciousness of part-time and correspondence high school students. In science education, little attention has been given to part-time and correspondence high school students, but, it is neccessary to look at part-time and correspondence high school students because the subject of integrated science had been studied more extensively by them than by full-time students. So we have re-examined the consciousness of these students and their employers in Osaka Prefecture. We found that these students do not think that they benefit by the technological society, contrary to their employers' consideration. On the other hand, they are more interested in environmental problems and in obtaining a position in manufacturing than the employers think. Also, they prefer professional subjects over science, as they think these subjects are more useful for their future. From the above it becomes clear that it will be important to integrate into science education environmental education or STS education, including its application in daily life. Therefore the importance of a re-examination of integrated science for the students and high schools discussed have cannot be overemphasized.

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The purpose of this study is to arrive at some concrete suggestions for a science curriculum reform of lower secondary school. This study was conducted through examining the contents of lower secondary school science which were considered important for students' daily lives from the viewpoint of science teachers. In order to construct a questionnaire, we analyzed the science curricula of lower secondary schools since World War II. The 269-item questionnaire, which includes contents of the first and the second field, was administered to 184 science teachers of lower secondary schools. Based on the findings of this investigation, we suggested three aspects for science curriculum reform: (1) consideration of declarative knowledge, (2) consideration of procedural knowledge, (3) clarification of necessity for knowledge acquisition.

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In this paper, we focused on pupils' response to TIMSS items about oxidization and combustion. We analyzed the written responses by seventh and eighth graders' of Japanese lower secondary schools. By surveying typical words in responses we found that many Japanese pupils refer to phenomena and facts but seldom mention theory-based explanation. We pointed that the result might be caused by lack of reference to ability of scientific theory-based investigation in the course of study in Japan. We suggested that it was better to refer expressly to such abilities in the school curriculum.

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It is very important to know the "needs of society" for mathematics, and to incorporate them into mathematics curricula. A survey on "The degree of requirement and expectation for mathematics" was conducted for 2060 companies by mail from January to February 2002, and 399 companies replied. From an analysis of the results, it is revealed that the general image of a person as expected by companies is "Being able to know numbers, to do calculation, to make predictions based on data, to consider things logically, to make judgments, to know statistics, and to express things briefly" as a result of mathematics education. From an analysis of opinions about mathematics education, it is revealed that "Improvements of mathematics teaching" such as applications to everyday life, lessons which emphasize interest, etc are expected. In addition, "Logical thinking" and "Creativity" are also expected. Making predictions based on data has not attracted attention up to now and should be emphasized more. Although companies' expectation for statistics is very high, statistics has been shifted to the upper secondary mathematics from the lower secondary in the new courses of study. Moreover, companies pay attention to not only the contents of mathematics but also the ways of teaching.

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Differences between Japan and foreign countries regarding the description of the concepts of "science" and "technology" in science textbooks of junior high schools were analyzed. Textbooks of Australia, India, and U. S. A. were surveyed. In Contrast to Japanese textbooks, the following issues are decisively explained in every textbook of these countries; definitions of science and technology, the relationship between them, and the relationship between technology and our daily life. It is suggested that these contents, which are helpful to understand and consider science and technology in relation to daily life and the environment, should be included not only in school textbooks but also in the national curriculum in Japan.

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An essential difference regarding secondary science teachers before World War II between the teacher model of professionalism from higher normal schools and that of liberalism/academicism from the imperial university was whether they received education/training of discipline for the teaching profession. Especially, only the curriculum for higher normal schools included the practical teaching experience/teaching practice that offered the opportunity for developing practical capability for teaching. In this paper, the author has attempted to investigate the historical meaning of the practical teaching experience/teaching practice at the attached secondary schools to higher normal schools before World War II, through the following analysis; 1) Importance of practical teaching experience/teaching practice in education/training in the discipline for the teaching profession, 2) The facts and mentoring in practical teaching experience/teaching practice Through analysing the above-mentioned points, the author has attempted to clarify whether there is a helpful historical inheritance that constitutes a point of reference at the present age.

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Lately, a great deal of effort has been put into the in-service training of teachers. The social experience training of teachers is thought to be more important for improvement their abilities and perspective. From 1996, the board of education of Osaka prefecture has sent their teachers to companies in cooperation with the Osaka Industrial Association as one of the in-service teacher training programs. The types of industry of many companies belonging to the Osaka Industrial Association are in manufacturing or construction, so in social experience training, teachers could be expected to improve their knowledge of manufacturing or the environment. On the other hand, the significance of STS Education has been argued and discussed in the Study on Science Education. What seems to be lacking, however, is the training for teachers in schools. In this paper, I would like to introduce in-service teacher training in companies from the viewpoint of STS Education in Osaka prefecture and state possibilities to improve their science and technological literacy.

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