Science education practices (in schools and universities) and public engagement programs have been under the significant influence of government initiatives based on science and technology human resource development (ST-HRD) policy rather than on education policy. The independence of these two policies can cause unexpected and inappropriate consequences for science educators. As the third 'Science and Technology Basic Plan' regime draws to a close, discussions on fundamental ST-HRD policy for the next (fourth) regime (2011-2015) are in their final stage within the government, and certain draft documents and opinion papers from major stakeholders have already been released for consultation. Thus, it is the proper time for science educators to examine critically the prospective ST-HRD policy along with the probable initiatives mentioned in these documents; in particular, how the policy will affect science education practices in the near future. The present work is one of such attempts. Analysis reveals that the proposed policy and initiatives include several factors urging science educators to change their conventional views on science education drastically.

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To improve the nature of university graduates, science education classes were conducted and skills practiced in Shikoku University. The practice consisted of four related classes, focused on clothing material, dyeing chemistry and related experiments. Traditional indigo dyeing was practiced to teach dyeing chemistry. The traditional crafts of making the Shjira fabric of Tokushima prefecture and Kogin, the stitched cotton fabric of Aomori prefecture, were also taught to help students keeping interested in their studies. Group discussions were introduced to enhance communication skills and cultivate leadership qualities, especially in the classes where experiments were performed. In addition to ecology, the class involved history, natural science and social science, to obtain united and creative learning.

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Subjects directly related to research are taken up in the science-mathematics course in one senior high school. The science-mathematics course is taught in conjunction with a university. Frequent exposure to university research arouses students' interest in it and raises their awareness of science and mathematics. A problem study was implemented in order to learn the view and the concept of a scientific piece of information, for the purpose of carrying out research activities. The change in student's ability and consciousness, and the activities useful for improving them, were investigated four times in one year by questionnaire. As a result making analyses, the abilities required for carrying out student research activities significantly increased through the problem study, and activities helpful for raising those abilities became clear. We carried out a principal component analysis by using the rating values of the four-time investigation. We also carried out a cluster analysis by using the principal components and classified students into four groups. We established the characteristics for each group and worked out a guidance method for each group.

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We developed a handmade fluorometer which can measure the concentration of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) in an aspirin tablet. ASA easily hydrolyzes to salicylic acid (SA) under the presence of hydroxide ions; SA is a fluorescent substance whose maximum excitation is 320nm. Therefore, black light (peak wavelength is 352nm) was adopted as the light source and a photodiode was used as the detector to measure the slight fluorescence of SA. The results show that the statistical dispersions by this new device were not larger and operations are easier than the titration method, which is widely accepted as the quantitative analysis of SA. Subsequently we held an experimental class by using both titration and fluorescent methods. In addition, we propose a teaching plan for introducing this fluorescence method into a science experiment in high school.

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The present study aimed to examine how intuitive knowledge of sound changed by exposure to scientific knowledge in terms of attribution of material properties to sound. Participants were 70 5th graders, 25 university literature majors, and 28 physics majors. Substantiality and weight were selected as material properties and two questions for each property, four in total, were generated to examine whether they were attributed to sound. Participants were asked to choose one option from among several items and write the reasons for their choice. According to the results of analyses of their descriptions, most of the children consistently attributed substantiality or weight to sound in the two questions on each property, while most of the university students attributed them in one of the two questions. These results suggest that there was a tendency to consider sound as a kind of material in all three groups, though not equal in the degree of consistency. For the questions on substantiality, answers based on intuitive knowledge decreased while those based on scientific knowledge increased in the order of 5th graders, literature majors, and physics majors. For the questions on weight, however, the same pattern was observed in the answers based on intuitive knowledge, while those based on scientific knowledge did not increase. In particular, only one physics major consistently answered in the scientifically correct way, which was fewer than literature majors. These results indicate that incorrect intuitive knowledge of sound was gradually revised to be more relevant to scientific knowledge, though the property of weight was more difficult to dissociate from sound than substantiality.

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This paper describes an experimental teaching material produced experimentally with a view of improving the operation of the commercial products (trade name: U-CAS (No.1), SUPER LEVITRON (No.2) and LEVITRON ZERO (No.3)) associated with magnetic coma levitation. The effect of the magnetic force was examined at the place where the magnetic coma turns and the place where the magnet coma floats. The magnetic flux density distribution was measured in vertical direction (about 50〜70mm on the central axis from the base) and in horizontal direction at the place where the magnet coma floats and at the place where the magnet coma rotates. In the region where the magnet coma turns, 1) in the perpendicular characteristic, the magnetic force of the N magnetic pole rises nearly to its largest value, and 2) the central part becomes somewhat concave in the horizontal direction. In the vicinity of where the magnet coma floats, 1) there is a small change in the magnetic N pole force in the perpendicular direction, with 2) this force being almost uniform in the horizontal direction.

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