What is “Science for Excellence”, and how can we organize science curricula aiming for “Science for Excellence”? We employed historical and comparative approaches to solve these research questions. First, we argued that “Science for Excellence” should be regarded as one of the most important components of “Science for All”. Consequently, we proposed how to organize science curricula as follows: (1) the aims and goals of a science curriculum aiming for “Science for Excellence” should be based on the liberal arts, which aim to produce future science-literate citizens including future producers of science, (2) such science curricula should be organized by balancing contexts, processes and values, and contents. Finally, we argued that the idea of “tailor-made science education” should be discussed among science educators, including policy makers.

In science education research so far, a kind of dichotomy between science experts and the lay public has often been popularly presupposed, and little attention has been paid to those in between, who continue to engage in scientific practices after finishing their schooling as non-professional scientists. They can be called ‘amateur scientists’, and are the target of this study. The purpose of this study is to explore possible or probable factors (internal motivation and socio-cultural contexts) by which amateur scientists can continue to commit themselves to their scientific practices, and generate a hypothetical model of these factors and their interrelationships. In order to tackle this issue, investigations were made to identify the motivations of amateur scientists and the socio-cultural factors around them through a semi-structured interview (using the Modified-Grounded Theory Approach). A hypothetical model was then generated, explaining the reasons why these amateur scientists could continue to devote themselves to their favorite scientific practices.

Reflection and transmission of electromagnetic (EM) waves by a Metal Wire Array (MWA) composite structure were studied for a demonstration of electromagnetic shielding. Metal wire array composites have a layered structure consisting of a cross section paper, an array of thin copper wires and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) film. A simple experimental apparatus was constructed for the measurement of the reflection coefficient Γ and the transmission one T of the MWA composites with different intervals of metal wires. The electromagnetic shielding effect was evaluated by the calculation of Γ and T using the transmission line theory. The experimental results indicated a good agreement with the theoretical calculation; it can be considered that the microwave transmission and reflection experiments using MWA composite structures can be utilized as an experimental teaching material to learn radio wave shielding.

The Finnish Ministry of Education has been revising the National Core Curriculum, which emphasizes “Qualities and Abilities”, since 1994. “Transversal Competence”, which is a concept corresponding to “Qualities and Abilities”, was introduced into the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education in Finland in 2014. In Japan, the trend regarding governmental education guidelines is also shifting to a curriculum that promotes “Qualities and Abilities.” This study aims to analyze, examine and consider in what way this appears in the mathematics curriculum of basic education by focusing on “Transversal Competence” in the National Core Curriculum of Finland as revised in 2014. As a result, it was found that “Transversal Competence” is divided into two types. One relates to all learning of mathematics, such as attitudes for understanding the significance of learning mathematics, problem-solving skills and instrumental use of knowledge and mathematical skills. The other depends on the contents area and developmental stage. It is necessary to clarify the relationships between each area of “Transversal Competence”, and how relationships between these areas and the contents of mathematics are embodied.

This paper examines whether elementary school students’ comprehension of the heat generated by electric current will improve through teaching of the particle concept of electric current. Students in the experimental group were taught the particle concept of electric current by using the analogy of marble flow. Before the experiment, students tended to explain the heat generated by connecting “the amount of heat generated by the electric current” directly to the “thickness of the heating wire”. On other hand, the explanation by students in the experimental group managed to connect “the amount of heat generated by the electric current” to “the hitting between atoms and electrons”, using the particle concept of electric current. Thus students in the experimental group could describe the mechanism of heat generated by electric current more correctly than students in the control group by using the particle concept of electric current. Overall, we conclude that it is effective to teach elementary school students the particle concept of electric current so that they can comprehend the heat generated by electric current.

We analyzed the learning effects of a water quality survey, paying attention to the environmental burden for elementary school students. From Spearman’s correlation coefficient, it was found that there is a slight correlation between the understanding of the survey method and the attitude of environmental conservation, the cognition of influence on the human environment and the attitude of environmental conservation. In the path analysis, a causal relation from the perception of the influence on human environment to the attitude of environmental conservation was recognized. Perceiving the impact of human activities by paying attention to the environmental burden may encourage the formation of an attitude of environmental preservation.

The author has developed teaching materials for Infra-Red (IR) Thermography. The device is called “FLIR ONE” and costs ¥29,880. I took photos of the teaching materials, including homeothermic animals and poikilo thermic animals, electric devices, experimental tools and the outside environment. A university professor showed these photos to undergraduate students who are freshmen and sophomores in a primary teacher training course in the university. The students made written comments on the effectiveness of these photos. They also stated that they want to buy the device and use it themselves. It is considered that images by IR Thermography are very useful for understanding about heat conduction and biological therms.

This study investigated the educational contents of surface treatment technology in junior high school technology education, based on the findings in the relevant field of research and development of surface treatment technology. This study also aimed to provide fundamental knowledge of educational contents, including trends in the surface treatment research fields. Analysis of the educational curriculum of technology education showed that the “roughness or asperity control” and “creating coated layer” were mainly taught under the existent curriculum by using the technology textbooks. The educational contents for the surface treatment technology also tended to be extracted from “skill” and “knowledge”. On the basis of the above results, recent findings on wood surface treatment technology were analyzed in particular and the research contents were extracted from the view of awareness of issue awareness and problem solution. From the above extracted results, it was proposed that the educational contents should also be dealt with from the view of the “interest” or “creativity” for innovation.