After the revision of the government course guidelines, the Japanese Ministry of Education changed the form of the cumulative guidance record in 2019. It was determined that the new evaluation is based on three viewpoints: “knowledge and skills”, “thinking, judgment, and expression,” and “self-directed attitude toward learning.” In the present paper, the implications and methods of these evaluations are summarized. Self-directed attitude toward learning is a new point and is often regarded as difficult to understand. It contains two aspects: persistent efforts and self-regulation of learning. The latter is derived from psychological studies about “self-regulated learning” based on the three phases of “forethought – performance – reflection.” However, we should also consider the larger contexts of learning, and improve daily lessons and evaluation methods to foster students’ self-regulation.

Performance assessment is a general term for assessment methods that require students to master and use knowledge and skills. This paper examines how we can use performance assessment in science education, especially in “inquiry-based learning”, based on a literature review and collaborative research with school teachers. When teaching “inquiry-based learning”, assessment is based on various kinds of evidence generated by students, such as data, results, and discussion of experiments and surveys. In the assessment process, portfolios are useful for systematically organizing the evidence and for improving teaching and learning. When assessing students’ learning using portfolio assessment, it is important to provide opportunities for learners and teachers to share their perspectives, to edit accumulated materials, and to hold portfolio conferences in order to discuss their accomplishments and upcoming targets. Since there is a variety of “inquiry-based learning”, such as scientific investigations, mathematical explorations, social surveys, service learning, and so on, the students’ learning should be assessed in accordance with the goals of the curriculum. In some schools, teachers use rubrics when assessing “inquiry-based learning”. The use of rubrics is not always necessary; but when we use rubrics, it is important to create the rubrics based on evidence and after repeated discussions among teachers.

This study aims to reach common ground on the basic concept of learning assessment for project-based learning in science education. It also proposes guidelines for future research and practices. In the case of project-based learning in US, since achieving standards in multiple subjects through the project is required, it is essential to develop a detailed assessment plan in advance. It is also necessary to distinguish between assessment for learning, such as feedback to the project, and assessment of learning leading to standards and grades.

Currently, crises such as climate change and biodiversity loss are affecting the world. In this context, environmental education for children is becoming more and more important. In Japan, Satoyama, or the area between mountain foothills and arable land, where people and nature coexist in harmony, is a subject for biodiversity education. We are developing a “Satoyama Management Game” for effective learning about satoyama management. The purpose of this study was to conduct classes using the “Satoyama Management Game” and to evaluate the effectiveness and challenges of the “Satoyama Management Game” in its use in the classroom. The results of a questionnaire survey revealed that the classes utilizing the “Satoyama Management Game” were generally successful in helping elementary school students acquire knowledge about satoyama management. The results of the interaction analysis showed that in pairs of children who had acquired knowledge about the necessity of logging, awareness of the necessity of logging late-season species was achieved as they considered the management necessary to increase their scores in the game. For the pairs that had acquired knowledge of the need to remove deer, the realization that deer should be removed in the long run was achieved while thinking about how to increase the game score.

The 7^th grade unit “How to observe and classify organisms” of the course of study for lower secondary schools in Japan, publicized in 2017, states the following: “Lower secondary school students should understand how to compare various organisms and classify them based on their commonalities and differences, and should acquire the basics of classification methods.” This is the first unit that new lower secondary school students study. It has been pointed out that Japanese elementary school students do not pay much attention to biological endogeneity, when they compare living things. In future, when new lower secondary school students will be learning this unit, practical research that emphasizes the commonality of organisms (definition of organisms) and verifies the process of biological concepts including endogeneity, is to be expected. Therefore, in this research, we developed a performance assessment regarding the commonality of organisms (definition of organisms) for the 7^th grade unit of “How to observe and classify organisms”; the purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of its assessment and the formation process of biological concepts. Through analyzing the performance assessment, we were able to explain one part of the formation process of biological concepts and the direction of this type of authentic assessments among lower secondary school students.

We conducted action research on performance assessment in the first-year high school subject “Basic Physics” at Okazaki Kita High School in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. This assessment practice is characterised by the calibration of teachers’ judgements through moderation, the process of establishing assessment consensus, based on concrete examples of students’ works. This article presents an overview of our action research, examines what kind of student performance should be regarded as a demonstration of “shiko-handan-hyogen (thinking, judging and expressing)” and “shutaitekini-gakushuni-torikumu-taido (disposition towards learning)”, and considers what implications this practice provides.

The purpose of this study was to derive the types, characteristics, historical evolution, and issues for future research on assessment methods of understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS). The assessment methods for NOS understanding were extracted from an article database, and 69 assessment methods were identified. These assessment methods differed in response format and subjects, and there was some bias in the elements measured. Finally, we summarized issues for future research from the three viewpoints of “What should be assessed as NOS understanding,” “What methods should be used for assessment,” and “What is the purpose of assessment”.

The primary purpose of this study was to develop survey questions to evaluate children’s ability to design experiments. The second purpose was to empirically examine how teaching to encourage critical thinking using Kishida and Ogura’s (2018) “watchwords for scientific experiments” affects children’s ability to plan experiments. In order to achieve these purposes, we used the experimental design confirmation sheet and experimental design worksheet we developed to teach the 6th grade elementary school science class, “Nature of Aqueous Solutions,” and also investigated the actual conditions of the students using survey questions and questionnaires. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the groups in the pre-survey question mean scores, but there was a significant difference in the post-survey question mean scores. There was also a significant increase in the mean score of the experimental design worksheet for the experimental group. In conclusion, we believe that the survey questions developed in this study can be applied to evaluate children’s ability to plan experiments. In addition, by repeating the activities of formulating an experiment plan using the experiment design confirmation sheet and experimental design worksheet created in this research, more critical thinking will be exercised to check whether the experiment plan is scientific.

Since gene recombination experiments became possible in high school curriculums 20 years ago, various teaching materials in the field of biotechnology have been developed. Recently, various organisms have been developed using genome editing technology. Genome editing technology is considered to be one of the technologies that high school students who will live in the future society should know. However, teaching materials for genome editing have yet to be introduced. Therefore, in this study, we focused on the high GABA tomato, which is one of the various genome-edited organisms under development in Japan. We developed experimental teaching materials for comparing DNA by PCR and electrophoresis using cultivars before and after genome editing. The advantage of using these teaching materials is that it can be expected that high school students themselves will recognize the value of advanced technology used in the real world and acquire the ability to think about biotechnology on their own.

Saltpeter is an important material for making gunpowder. Saltpeter was not produced naturally in Japan. Known artificial methods for making Saltpeter include the “Kodo-hou”, using underfloor soils, and the “Baiyou-hou”, using soil mixed with silkworm feces and wild grasses. These are valuable historical science technologies that have been passed down for about 300 years until the beginning of the Meiji era. The science of Saltpeter is considered to be a comprehensive science that transcends subject areas such as History, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Global Environment, and Geopolitics. The production methods described in historical records in the Edo era require a large amount of materials including soils and wood ashes as well as a long time. In order to put this into practice in educational settings, a simple and small-scale Saltpeter Making Method is required. We have therefore developed a simple method of small-scale Saltpeter Making of the “Kodo-hou”, which was the most popular throughout the country during the Edo era. The science of Saltpeter Making can be expected to spread to the field of global environment in secondary and higher education, and is suitable as a Comprehensive Science teaching material that goes beyond the subject area.

The aim of this research is to get some suggestions for NOS teaching strategies by clarifying the breadth of NOS and deepen students’ understanding of it, which is needed to develop school science (Rika) from the perspective of scientific literacy. First, we summarized why students learn NOS, from the perspective of future scientifically literate citizens. Second, we discussed what students need to learn about NOS through a review of previous studies. Finally, given the depth of understanding required for NOS, we discussed how students learn about NOS and how to assess students’ understanding of NOS, based on Ishii’s (2015) idea. As a result, it is clear that we need to regard NOS as a viewpoint 3, which represents the perspective of the epistemological approaches of citizens rather than a strict definition. As for specific NOS instruction in Rika, we argued the following: (1) It is necessary to explicitly address NOS so that students can use NOS as an epistemological approach to Rika, (2) it is necessary to design lessons, units and assessments from the viewpoint of what level of understanding of NOS is to be achieved, (3) it is necessary to learn the content of science in narrative form.

The theories of the composition of “Projektunterricht” in science education in Germany can be summarized in the following five major points. First, it embraces the concept of “Projektorientierter Unterricht,” a form of teaching that adopts only some of the features of “Projektunterricht”. Second, the themes used in “Projektunterricht” can be classified into two types: a “magnet theme,” in which a range of scientific knowledge is drawn to a central theme, and a “star theme,” in which a concept that serves as the central theme radiates outward to scenes of daily life that involve the concept. Third, there are two modes in which students acquire knowledge: Projektion, in which they acquire new knowledge, and Reflexion, in which they link their existing knowledge to new scientific knowledge related to the theme, thereby deepening their knowledge. Fourth, the process of “Projektunterricht” comprises four phases: “proposal,” “planning,” “implementing,” and “outcome.” Fifth, “Projektunterricht” is evaluated based on the discussions of the product between teacher and students. Such a method of evaluation, however, poses a challenge in that it is difficult to accurately evaluate the work of individual students.

“Devaluation” is one of the coping strategies that students employ when they encounter academic stress in an attempt to minimize their suffering. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the occurrence of this “devaluation” depends on academic subjects. A semi-structured interview combined with an open-ended questionnaire were conducted to reveal students’ feelings and behaviors toward subjects they were not good at. Statistical analyses showed that students who were not good at Japanese used “devaluation” significantly more often that students who disliked Mathematics. In contrast, students who disliked Mathematics felt significantly more academic stress than students who were not good at Japanese. This study demonstrates that “devaluation” can be used more easily towards certain subjects than others, suggesting that, for other subjects such as Mathematics, some other measures need to be taken to lessen suffering caused by academic stress.