We monitored the cognitive and psychological states of learners during the performance of a computational task by means of electroencephalography (EEG) measurements. Among learners' cognitive states, we paid particular attention to temporal changes in cognitive load. Experimental results showed that temporal changes in learners' cognitive load can be evaluated by the theta to alpha band power ratio. The results of this study are expected to be applied to the monitoring and control of learners' learning.

In this study, based on the analysis results of "Reading materials and worksheet for 5th grade elementary school students on the subject of electromagnets and linear bullet trains," which was developed in the past and tested on 70 licensed teachers in August 2023, newly developed "Reading materials and worksheet for 2nd grade junior high school students on the subject of superconductors and linear bullet trains," was conducted on 85 2nd grade junior high school students in Sumida-ku, Tokyo. The results showed that 100% of the students were able to explain how the characteristics of superconductors are utilized from a scientific viewpoint before the support.

The results showed that 100% of the students before the support were not able to explain the material scientifically, but after the support, 72.2% were able to explain the material scientifically, and the overall confidence level improved.

In this study, we developed and tested a two-hour fieldwork educational program for university students at Tojogaoka Historical Park, which is adjacent to the Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba University. As a result, the university students who took the program deepened their understanding of history and the Tokugawa family, and broadened their horizons. Historical parks and gardens had a positive image, such as being a place to recover from fatigue, being an educational place, a place to leave for posterity, a good place to think about things and think about yourself, and a useful place to connect to historical things when learning about plants and trees.

This study explored what Japanese teachers consider and how they reflect upon mathematics lessons to improve through a school-based lesson study. Three stages of discussions in lesson study for the first-grade and third-grade mathematics research lesson and video recordings were observed. Through thematic analysis, codes were extracted and the characteristics of each stage in the discussion were identified. Although teachers discussed research lessons during the lesson study, teachers’ perspectives were different at each stage. As a result, it is outlined that teachers consider connecting mathematical tasks in textbooks with students’ daily lives and connecting research lessons with mathematics content and the unit plans in ordinary practices. Teachers elaborated on the tasks, including material and activities. The findings provided a landscape of how teachers can improve the lessons and lesson study works as part of their professional development.

There are students who exhibit exceptional mathematical abilities and devote themselves to thinking of mathematics in unusual manners. In this paper, to reveal their engagement in mathematics and derive suggestions from them for mathematics education, I have focused on their perception of mathematical problems. Reviewing previous studies focusing on mathematical giftedness and the learning of mathematics, it was suggested that gifted students tended to perceive mathematical problems analytically and grasp deep structure of them. And also, it was suggested that such a feature characterizes gifted students’ engagement in mathematics as follows. First, perceiving deep structure of mathematical problems enables students to perform highly in problem-solving. Second, focusing on deep structure of mathematical problems encourage students’ mathematical inquiry and generating creative ideas. To exemplify the latter one, I showed the conceivable process of mathematical inquiry focusing on the relationships between Pascal’s triangle and binomial theorem.

Argumentation and proof are seen as a well-developed field of international research in mathematics education. Although the linguistic issues of argumentation and proof have been studied, translation issues of proof-related words have not been sufficiently and explicitly discussed as an object of study. In this short article, I refer to certain theoretical constructs (natural and dynamic equivalence, purpose paradigm, and translation shift) based on ‘translation studies’, and then identify some translation issues of proof-related words (mostly regarding translation from/to Japanese) and discuss the ideas behind these issues in terms of translation theories.

In this era of 100-year lifespans, we want to continue learning mathematics even after we have finished learning mathematics at school. It is important for lifelong learning to experience the enjoyment of mathematics, rather than learning mathematical skills. As a motivation for learning mathematics, emphasizing that mathematics will be useful in the future will not motivate students to learn. Enjoying mathematics means that each person's creativity is rich. High school students think about the motivation to learn mathematics from a negative and positive standpoint, but unfortunately, they do not motivate them to learn mathematics in the future. Mathematical activities recently taught in high school classes are similar to STEAM education. Therefore, while thinking about STEAM education, I would like to develop lifelong learning in mathematics as an extension of STEAM education. Enjoying math is important for lifelong learning of mathematics. This lifelong learning is called Out-School.

We explored the metaphorical perceptions of 11 prospective Japanese mathematics and science teachers regarding STEAM education. Participants created metaphors for 'STEAM education,' 'STEAM classroom environment,' 'STEAM teachers,' 'STEAM students,' and 'STEAM assessments' through an online questionnaire. Analysis of the 53 generated metaphors revealed a cognitive view of STEAM education. The participants perceived STEAM education as a process of forging interdisciplinary connections, fostering creativity, and spanning crucial yet interconnected fields. Furthermore, they viewed the classroom environment in STEAM as a collaborative space for experiential and inquiry-based learning. STEAM teachers were viewed as ‘facilitators’ of imaginative and integrated thinking, with students positioned as active 'creators of their own ideas.' Notably, the integration of art into the approach was highlighted as the participants expressed a preference for open-ended, flexible, and creative assessment methods, empowering students to demonstrate their learning in diverse forms. These findings emphasize the interdisciplinary and dynamic nature of STEAM, which requires educational practices in alignment with its innovation.

This report addresses the significance of assembling gifted children in a non-formal context, using the just concluded Asia-Pacific Conference on Giftedness (APCG) 2024 Pre-Youth Summit as a case study. This event was held in Shodoshima island, Kagawa prefecture. A total of 13 teenagers (5 boys and 8 girls) participated in this event, with 15 staff members. The Summit was held for 3 consecutive days. Participants chose to work on one of the 6 inquiry groups. The sixth group (“Optimization of windmills leveraging using AI”) activities were held in English with 3 participants, under the guidance of 2 staff members. Two online surveys were conducted at the end of the Summit, one for parents and one for students. The results show that there were many positive outcomes after the Summit, including motivation to engage in more challenging scientific tasks, enjoy learning in an informal environment, work as a team and study English language to be able to communicate effectively.

The situation for researchers is getting more and more difficult worldwide and researchers in Japan claims that they feel burden on their work to do research at universities. In this research, it is asked whether it is possible to work as a researcher outside “formal” academia such as universities and companies. Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKEN) is one of the biggest research grants in Japan. In order to apply and conduct research projects by KAKEN, researchers need a researcher number affiliated which is given to those who belong to the list of research institutions. The data of research projects done by non-profit organisations (NPO) and social welfare corporations were analysed. The result showed research area and budget types are various, but it showed two patterns either university-related projects or completely independent projects. Further qualitative research needed to explore more about researchers in a society.

In the international science education community, due to the insufficient understanding of combustion processes, the fire triangle (fuel, oxygen, and heat) has been utilized in a way that distorts the view of science. It is necessary to change the interpretation of the fire triangle from an absolute theory based on only three elements to representing just some of the necessary conditions for combustion, and to supplement it with physical and chemical “processes” undescribed in the fire triangle. This is important to enhance students’ ability to prevent fire damage through enriching their understanding of energy concepts. To promote fire safety science education in primary and secondary school science, the present study attempted to clarify the important physical and chemical processes occurring in a candle flame.