In order for young students to construct scientific concepts in their studies, a rise in "Motivational Beliefs" is indispensable. And in order to ensure the construction of scientific concepts, "Self-Regulated Learning Strategies" are used. Based on these science learning conditions, we hypothesized that a "Conceptual Profile" for children is built. Therefore, we analyzed the effects of "Motivational Beliefs" and "Self-Regulated Learning Strategies" in the learning process of students. And we tried to create a model by which children build a conceptual profile. The following learning models were extracted as a result of our analysis: 1. Advance study, integrating the summary of study and information. 2. Carry out conceptual construction deductively, unifying studied information. 3. Bring together in an analogy based on an accumulation of knowledge. 4. Advance study, holding a commitment to the existing conceptual profile. 5. Accept and advance study, canceling the commitment to the existing conceptual profile. These learning models will become a key for specifying a characteristic model.

While it has been pointed out that the concept of the ion is difficult for lower secondary school students to understand, the importance of the study of ions is also acknowledged. Nevertheless, the study of ions was deleted from the content of the guidelines for teaching in the latest curriculum revision in Japan. Thus it has become necessary to evaluate the teaching of science without the concept of the ion. In this research project, we first identified the positioning of the concept of ion in natural science and then reviewed the study of ions in the revised curriculum. Second, the degree of students' comprehension of ions and teachers' opinions concerning the study of ions were surveyed by a questionnaire administered to lower secondary school teachers, based on which the positioning of the study of ions in lower secondary schools was discussed. The necessity for the study of ions in lower secondary school was strongly indicated from the survey results. The reasons can be summarized as follows: (1) The ion is a basic and fundamental concept in science education. Teaching science without the concept of the ion makes it difficult for the students to understand many related subjects. (2) The ion is an important concept of scientific literacy for everyone. (3) The study of ions encourages the development of thinking ability and an inquiring mind. Furthermore, we suggest that the science curriculum concerning ions should be reorganized, and we conclude that the concept of the ion should be introduced as one of the concepts of the particle.

The purposes of this study are to reveal the actual condition of students' metacognition in observation / experiment activities and to draw implications for the development of their metacognitive skills. With this aim, a questionnaire survey comprising fourteen items was conducted on 248 junior high school students (years 1-3). The results revealed three main points: (1) Students use metacognition in observation / experiment activities. (2) Prior to observation / experiment activities, metacognition brought about high levels of interaction with other students. During observation / experiment activities, metacognition skills were employed to a high degree by the students themselves. However, metacognition was not high in post-observation / experiment activities. (3) The commitment of teachers strongly influenced the metacognitive behavior of students. From this study, two conclusions concerning teaching methodology can be drawn. First, in the phase of verifying hypotheses, teachers should promote active group discussions. Second, in the same phase, teachers should utilize some techniques for metacognitive awareness, such as effective questioning and the use of flash cards.

In this paper we report a case study conducted at an elementary school in Nagano Prefecture, in which we carried out a proposed unit program of three class hours to help fourth grade students to understand UV light. As teaching materials in the program, we used UV light detecting beads, the colors of which (orange, blue, yellow, purple), when exposed to UV light, become deeper in a UV light-dependent manner. Our program was evaluated by the observation of the activities of students in the class and also by statistical analysis of the results obtained from questionnaires for students before and after the practical study in our program. Opinions concerning UV light from their parents were also surveyed by a questionnaire. It was found that the two experiments by a teacher and the students' investigation with the beads were helpful for students to understand UV light. Furthermore, it was found that at first students had a one-sided, negative idea of UV light, which was found to be strongly influenced by the opinions of their parents, but that, after studying the program, they had both positive and negative ideas about UV light.

This paper describes the local conditions in secondary schools for practical work by boys and normal school students in Shizuoka Prefecture during the implementation of "The Syllabus of Students Practical Work in Physics and Chemistry Classes" (1918-1942). The following points are the results of the investigation: 1. The central government policy on practical work for students was conveyed to Shizuoka Prefecture by the governor. 2. The expenditure in Shizuoka Prefecture to expand and enlarge laboratories and prepare instruments for practical work by students was lower than the nationwide average expenditure, but laboratories and instruments for such work were gradually improved by raising school fees and through negotiations between the schools and the authorities of Shizuoka Prefecture. 3. To change teacher-centered practices, the students conducted the experiments by themselves using and following the textbook of practical work for students. 4. In 1932, the directive to attach importance to such practical work was enforced in order to satisfy the requirements of Shizuoka Prefecture. 5. Having important industrial districts, Shizuoka Prefecture exploited this advantage by implementing not only practical work at schools but also factory-visit programs.

The study of the changes of state of water is difficult in conceptual terms, so to create a teaching theory that corrects the student's naive concepts and form a scientific concept is an important assignment today. This research project examines small group discussion in the science class, to determine whether externalizing the idea is effective for conceptual change. The procedure is to compare a group that discussed in small groups about their predictions and considerations and a group that did not. Also, a method to externalize the students' ideas (discourse and small notes) was used. The results of the study clearly show that having the group discussion in small groups and externalizing the ideas of the students induces their conceptual change.

We conducted research on concept formation concerning the diversity of igneous rocks and their formation among students in the second year of upper secondary school. Before and after the main three-hour classes (one hour on the classification of igneous rocks, one hour on crystallization differentiation, and one hour on the observation of rocks formed by crystallization differentiation), through concept mapping, we examined how the students got their concepts about the diversity of igneous rocks and their formation and how their concepts changed. After that, we showed a concept map made by one student to all of the students, who then revised their concept maps. As a result, it was revealed that before the three-hour classes, the students could not conceive of the relationship between minerals and igneous rocks, but after the three-hour classes they could grasp these concepts. After the students considered the concept map of one student and exchanged opinions, they developed more correct concepts about the formation of igneous rocks through crystallization differentiation. It seems that the students could understand the more precise structures of the concept of igneous rocks by recognizing how they were formed. However, before the three-hour classes (and even afterwards) most of the students didn't understand the concept that minerals were first crystallized from magma and then accumulated to form igneous rocks in a magma chamber. They thought that igneous rocks came from magma directly, and it seems that this resulted from the way in which "The Origin of Igneous Rocks" was taught in lower secondary school, so we suggest that the science curriculum include clear instruction that minerals are crystallized first and then form igneous rocks.

Lately, a number of management problems of the prefectural education centers have been pointed out because of financial problems and the diversity of educational issues. In this paper I demonstrate that these centers play an important role in the development of science education. First, I present a new understanding of the significance of these centers and the expectations on them since their establishment, and then I examine the relation between the programs of the in-service teachers training and science education. Then I discuss the partnership which centers must construct with other educational institutions for the solution of contemporary science education problems. Prefectural education centers have to advance not only by coordinating with schools and other educational facilities, but also by cooperating with education universities. And these education centers have to consider the retraining and promotion of their staff members in collaboration with other educational institutions. Lately, in addition to being centers for curriculum development, these centers have expanded their roles to include the retraining of teachers during summer vacation. The changes in the education centers are seen as problems, but I hope that the present changes lead to new relationships with other educational institutions and new teacher training programs. It is expected that the new roles of the education centers in science education will increase.

This study aimed to examine the thoughts and ideas of student teachers in regard to the planning and practice of science teaching based on classroom experience in the teaching practicum. It was found that the student teachers believed that inclusion of experiments in the science lessons would interest the students and make the learning of science more enjoyable and that such experiments would promote factual knowledge and understanding. On the other hand, student teachers did not think (but their experienced teacher did) that there might be gaps between their teaching plans and the actual behavior of the students. And also it was found that student teachers did not have concrete and appropriate "learners' points of view." Furthermore, this study discusses a number of issues concerning the development of teachers' ability to plan and practice science teaching. The following suggestions are made. It is important for student teachers to examine whether there are gaps between their assumptions and the actual behavior of the students, and if there are, to analyze the contents and causes of the gaps. The student teachers then need to reflect and reconstruct their teaching knowledge from "the learners' points of view" in conjunction with their views of experiments and science teaching.

The location of the study guidelines as the mm1mum standard requires curriculum management on the part of the teacher. The influence given to the formation of the students' solution concept was investigated by communication based on a progressive content of study. It was found that the students' understanding of scientific concepts was improved by such cooperative learning.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the roles of students in science classes and their cognitive styles. We examined the type of cognitive styles of the students by the Conceptual Style Test, and then we examined their individual behavior in small groups in scientific experiments during these classes. We analyzed the differences in cognitive styles of students in terms of the students' roles: experimenter, advisor, recorder, and onlooker. We found that there was a difference in students' roles between the question type and nonquestion type of cognitive preference and that there were no other significant differences in students' roles.