All of university and technical college students, regardless of their faculties or departments, are called to learn mathematical and data science, and AI at an elementary level as sophistication of data science by the fiscal year 2025. In this paper, we consider trends and current status of data science, including the number of searches for 'mathematics, data science, and AI' on Google Trend and the number of data science-related papers on J-STAGE, and discusses data science education for liberal arts undergraduate students from various perspectives, including precedents, visualization and co-occurrence network analysis, based on the model curriculum as standard curriculum and the data science education programs approved by MEXT (the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). Especially, the issues that should be considered in realizing data science education in liberal arts faculties will be discussed, and future developments will also be mentioned.

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The 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are actively pursued by governments, businesses, citizens, and stakeholders to meet the targets from 2016 to 2030. The focus on education extends beyond implementing SDG 4, “quality education,” to achieve all 17 goals. Moreover, SDG 4.7 highlights the significance of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), necessitating the widespread promotion of both SDGs and ESD. A specific concern arises in elementary education, particularly in the lower grades, regarding the incorporation of SDGs into the curriculum. While some schools clarify the alignment of their lessons with SDGs, this practice may lack meaningful impact for younger children. Furthermore, the specific SDGs addressed in the curriculum for lower grades remain ambiguous. This paper explores the connection between SDGs and living environment studies to clarify the educational implications of the SDGs on living environments. Specifically, SDGs 5, 7, 10, 11, 15, and 17 align with life studies. While lower-grade children may not need to memorize SDGs, it is crucial for teachers, as instructors, to be mindful of the relevant SDGs in their living environment studies classes.

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This paper aims to examine the influencing feature of the post-lesson discussion of Lesson Study on teachers' learning and to obtain implications for teachers' learning from the case study of the in-service training programs. Discourse analysis on the post-lesson conference dialogues with modalities and a standpoint analysis for the suggesting utterances in several discourses were conducted at three different secondary schools in Indonesia. This paper found the features of the dialogues: one-on-one exchange between the moderator and teachers; accumulative interactive discourses; and one-on-one but changing to accumulative interactive discourses triggered by some chances. Four factors were found to generate learning: participation by teachers from other schools; disclosure of intentions and problems by the open-lesson teacher; daily issues of teachers such as support for children with problems; and effective questioning by the moderator. On the other hand, factors that limited teachers' learning was the moderator's closing of awareness due to his/her own principles. These findings suggest that guaranteeing an equal and interactive learning space that is not closed to the moderator is a necessary interactional suggestion for deepening Indonesian teachers' learning. This study demonstrates the importance of facilitation to their colleagues’ suggestive utterances through a micro-analysis of dialogue features and expressions. These insights carry valuable implications for educators, school administrators, and researchers aiming to foster more profound and meaningful teacher learning through post-lesson discussions. Ultimately, the paper underscores how dialogue dynamics and expression analyses can offer valuable insights into the intricate process of teacher professional development.

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the way of social studies/geography education curriculum centered on the exploration of local issues through teaching practice, using the case of school consolidation problem in a rural area. The target of the analysis was the “Kanto Region” in Japanese Geography Unit where Ayaka Shiina (Hikari Junior High School, Yokoshibahikari Town, Chiba Prefecture) taught. Through continuous study of local issues, the students deepened their local awareness of Yokoshibahikari Town, where they live, and raised their awareness as one of the residents. This kind of learning was supported by the perspective of recognizing their hometown in a relative way and interaction with the local people through various direct experiences. Based on the above analysis results, this paper clarified the effectiveness and practicality of the social studies/geography education curriculum centered on the exploration of local issues.

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This paper describes the function of topic sentence that follows the coordinate conjunction w- “and” in narrative of Tunis Arabic. The function of this combination of w- and a topic sentence (w-TS) in narrative can be divided into two types according to its working levels: that of the event structure, and that of the narrative structure. In the event structure level, w-TS describes a event within the temporal framework expressed in the preceding sentence or phrase. In the narrative structure level, w-TS functions as background narrative adding comment on the preceding foregrounding narrative. The other narrative function of w-TS is to conclude the preceding sequence. In doing so, w-TS divides the narrative sequence and prepares the new sequence.

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Shichi-Go-San (753), which is celebrated as milestones of growth at 7, 5, and 3 years of age, is a series of childhood rituals that is often celebrated in families with children. However, despite the popularity of these 753 rituals, research on the current state of and changes to rituals and the significance felt by participants is sparse. Thus, grasping the realities of the rituals has been difficult. This study involves interviews conducted with individuals over the age of 60, who had experienced their childrenʻs and grandchildrenʻs, as well as their own 753 celebrations when they themselves were children. Interview subjects were asked about how they celebrated 753 and how they thought about the rituals and the significance these rituals carried at each stage of their lives (and in different roles). The purpose of the study was to better understand these experiences, the focus being on possible changes in the nature of the rituals and in the significance of those rituals from the post-World War II period to the present. Interview data was organized and analyzed using KHCoder text mining analysis software for quantitative analysis. Utilizing these methods has resulted in a highly objective analysis with a broadened perspective.

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McDonald's Japan(MJ) faced a series of hygiene quality issues resulting in unprecedented financial and market adversity during 2014-15. As its CEO, Ms. Sarah L. Casanova not only took MJ out of severe deficit in a short time period, but also put it back in a profitable growth trajectory. Classified as both visionary and participatory leadership styles, her capability as a leader is exceptionally high. Such leaders project a vision and employees work spontaneously to realize it. To make this happen, a trustful working relationship between the leader and employees is essential, and an excellent leader is one that can motivate its employees to put in their best. Ms. Casanova managed to realize such a cultural change with her visionary and participatory leadership in a short time period, which was at first supposed to take at least 10 years. The leader’s primary role under a crisis situation is to demonstrate leadership that creates an environment to motivate people.

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Extensive reading has been effective in building vocabulary and developing reading skills in second language acquisition. Adding audio input to reading as in Reading While Listening (RWL) or Extensive-Reading While Listening (E-RWL) is reported to yield additional positive outcomes. Close examination of past reports on RWL and E-RWL reveals effects that vary depending on different research settings. Since the process of decoding visual written texts, often referred to as subvocalization or inner speech, is necessary in reading comprehension, learners in RWL practice need to concurrently process two lines of input, which either facilitates or causes mismatches in comprehending texts. In RWL, it is necessary for learners to control the two sources of incoming information by tailoring the pace of listening input. This adjustment can lead to effective practice of RWL. Also, in second language acquisition, listening comprehension needs additional emphasis in order to expedite and establish efficient subvocalization in learners.

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Eugene Gendlin is known as the founder of the psychological technique of focusing. He continued his philosophical research throughout his life and developed his own theory of language. He characterized language as having two aspects: one that gives rise to a general meaning common to all users (universal aspect), and the other is a bodily sensory aspect that gives rise to individual meanings for each user and is a sense implicit in the body. He defined the character as the duality of language. He described bodily processes, including cells, plants, and animals, as interactions between the body and the environment. He modeled the continuous life process as the fulfillment of ”absence” in response to environmental changes, which he called ”occurring into implying”. He argued that the process which words come from ”readiness to speak” is also part of this process. He created the concept of ”patterns themselves” that can function between logic and bodily implying and modeled “doubling (tripling).” He emphasized the importance of thinking with the interaction between logic and bodily implying and proposed a method of thinking called TAE (Thinking At the Edge), which was developed from his theory of language.

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This study assessed the efficacy of an educational program to enhance the understanding of special educational needs in teacher education programs. The program consisted of six sessions, each with four structured units: introduction, interactive lecture, discussion, and reflection. Measures assessing the comprehension of terminology and teacher efficacy were administered before and after the program. Results indicated that participants who improved their understanding of terminology and teacher efficacy increased after the program, suggesting its efficacy. The study discusses factors related to the program’s efficacy, limitations of the study, and future research problems.

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The Courses of Study for Senior High Schools, notified in 2018 (Heisei 30), will significantly change the learning of history from the past. This is a shift from learning that focused on understanding what was taught by teachers to learning in which students themselves think ”proactively and interactively” and inquire deeply. Students are now learning to inquire about ”questions” based on the information they read from historical sources, etc., and it seems that the passive, memorization-based learning approach is improving. However, even if ”proactive and interactive” learning is now taking place, is ”authentic learning” really being realized? In order to realize learning in which students can exercise their historical thinking skills, discuss and inquire while clarifying the evidence, the nature of the ”question” is extremely important. This paper analysed the ”questions” and learning strategies in the DP History of the International Baccalaureate (IB), comparing them with the ”questions” exemplified in the ”Courses of Study for Senior High Schools: Geography and History”. This paper then identified the characteristics of the ”questions” that would cultivate historical thinking skills through the realization of ”proactive, interactive, and authentic learning”.

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The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a survey on AI (artificial intelligence) literacy (including computer literacy) targeting liberal arts college students. The relationship between AI literacy and computer literacy is also discussed. The results regarding computer literacy and AI-related terminology are generally consistent with previous results. In general, some differences in AI literacy were observed depending on the level of proficiency in using computers, but they did not always coincide. However, among students with lower proficiency in using computers, the number of students with high AI literacy (AI proficiency) decreased almost linearly as AI literacy increased. On the other hand, students with high AI literacy (AI proficiency) tended to be proficient in basic computer operations. Therefore, with the advent of generative AI, the need for AI literacy has become greater than ever before, and it is suggested that students with low proficiency in AI need motivation and education to improve their AI literacy.

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Important perspectives in university classroom practice include the shift to learner-centered education emphasized in the “Grand Design for Higher Education Toward 2040” report of the Central Council for Education (2018)， as well as optimal individual learning and collaborative learning, which are also two sub-themes of the “Aiming for the Establishment of Japan-Style Education in the Reiwa Era” report of the Central Council for Education (2021). This paper discusses the practical development of and reflection on two classes for first-year students， “Introduction to Pedagogy” and “Teaching Theory，” which the author has been in charge of since arriving at the University in April. In “Introduction to Pedagogy，” the students sympathize with Totto-chan, the little girl at the window, and consider Sosaku Kobayashi, the principal of Tomoe Gakuen, as the image of an ideal teacher. In ”Teaching Theory，” they explore the issue of bullying in groups and reflect on their own bullying experiences to envision a school and society free of bullying. Students who aspire to become teachers in the future encountered pedagogical specialties in their first classes after entering the school. This paper aims to clarify how the students envisioned themselves as future teachers through these two classes.

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