The connectionist model is a cognitive model in which the mechanisms of the human brain are represented. The background and the advantage of introducing the theory and technique of the connectionist model into the research of the science education were shown. Research studies were also reviewed from the following three viewpoints: (1) cognition of nature, (2) self-organization, and (3) social interaction. The human brain is an organization of information processing, by parallel distributed processing. The connectionist model adopts parallel distributed processing as a method of information processing. Introducing the theory and technique of the connectionist model to the research of science education enables progress in both the subject and its research techniques. Moreover, it is thought that the connectionist model contributes to the progress of science education research.

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I have developed a “mutual evaluation table” and some learning activities using this tool.
In the learning activities using the mutual evaluation table, students evaluate themselves and are also evaluated by others based on the criteria in the evaluation table, and write comments on those evaluations.
The purpose of this report is to clarify the relationship between the evaluation criteria set for learning tasks and scientific literacy, and how self-evaluation activities can contribute to the development of students’ scientific literacy, focusing on self-evaluation activities, in particular, one of the learning activities using the evaluation table.
In the process of this study, I analyzed questionnaires about this practice for students, self-evaluation scores, and comments from students in submitting the first experiment reports, and also the scores and comments in submitting the rewritten reports. Then, I examined students’ comments comparing the first and the second reports, and analyzed the score changes and the quality of the comments.
As a result, improvements were seen and significant effects of this practice were recognized in all aspects of students’ scientific literacy, as compared with the case before the introduction of the evaluation table.
Analysis of students’ comments comparing the first and the second comments shows improvements in students’ scientific literacy in terms of their abilities to (1) recognize scientific questions and to (2) explain phenomena from a scientific point of view.
The analysis also shows the changes in students’ comments: simple comments expressing just impressions like “it was fun” evolved to those explaining in detail what kind of skills they learned.
This practice suggests that proactive learning can be expected when students can feel their progress through reviewing their own learning activities and becoming conscious of their meanings.

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A “Chirimen Monster” is a captured mixture of boiled and dried whitebait, or “Chirimen Jako”. There has been no case study to verify the teaching effectiveness of using “Chirimen Monster” as a teaching material through previous lesson activities. In this study, classification activities by using a “Chirimen Monster” were added and practiced by the 2^nd grade of lower secondary school science at the beginning and end of teaching the unit “Groups of animals”, and then, the teaching effectiveness was measured by changes in the students’ levels of consciousness and understanding. As a result, the following 5 points were clarified.
1. The classification activity at the beginning was effective in increasing students’ interest.
2. The classification activity at the end was effective in increasing students’ consciousness of their knowledge of “vertebrate animal features”.
3. Through the classification activity at the end, the ceiling effect was observed in the consciousness of students’ knowledge of “invertebrate animal features”.
4. Through the whole course unit, the students kept their minds on “taking care of animals”.
5. The classification activity at the end was more effective than at the beginning in terms of students’ understanding regarding classification.
The above points suggest that the classification activity at the beginning is effective in increasing students’ interest, and, on the other hand, the activity at the end is effective in deepening their understanding.

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In this study, the authors employed science coursework designed to lead to the construction of scientific concepts through “Inquisitive Science Learning” in order to promote science literacy among primary school children. We took the theory of ZPD developed by Vygotsky and the horizontal curriculum design developed by FOSS (USA) as a basis, visualized a model of teaching and learning and the role of teachers presented in the ZPD “Inquisitive Science Learning”, and examined the utility of our model by applying these to the coursework for teaching 3^rd grade primary school children about magnets. The results suggest that when teachers encourage children’s experience-based concepts, pose appropriately difficult questions, present to them appropriately timed course materials, instructions and methods, from “free exploration/inquiry” to “hands-on learning” to “finding links to scientific concepts,” children’s experience-based concepts are likely to interact and go through reformation, thereby opening their eyes to scientific concepts.

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In this paper we suggest a new point of view and development of teaching materials about river flooding caused by a tsunami. Disastrous river flooding was discussed with regard to (1) debris flow, (2) Inundation by river water, (3) Inundation inside the levee, caused by meteorological disaster. The main approach from the ground and the topography as a posterity factor. We give attention to the “East Japan great earthquake disaster” in which the massive tsunami caused by the earthquake flowed backward upriver and brought severe flooding.
We appeal in this paper to the need for “Disaster Prevention Education with regard to the tidal bore caused by a tsunami” that has possibilities to bring a deluge, and we introduce examples of teaching materials.

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In the present study, we developed a micro-scale chemical reactor for the purpose of observing the movement of copper (II) ions in junior high science classes and high school chemistry classes. A micro-scale electrophoresis device with a three-phase structure was prepared using carbon rods as electrodes, a 1.0 mol/L sulfuric acid aqueous solution as an anode phase, and a 1.0 mol/L sodium carbonate aqueous solution as a cathode phase across an agar phase from the anode phase. In performing an electrophoresis experiment of a 1.0 mol/L copper (II) sulfate aqueous solution at a voltage of 9 V, the movement of the copper (II) ions could be observed without any discontinuities up to the vicinity of the electrode. Results of a questionnaire survey showed that this experimental device facilitates students’ observations of ion movements and helps them understand ions, including the concept of particle.

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In order to learn about the body and mechanism of an organism, it is thought that, through direct and indirect empirical observations or experiments, as well as the more subjective degrees of favor, interest in, and concern for living things, all influence pupils’ comprehensive understanding of the structure and functions of the animal body. This study, using university students, emphasizes the cause-and-effect relationship model of various factors that affect comprehensive understanding.
First, a factor analysis was performed on the data gathered from a fact-finding survey and a questionnaire. The following six factors that affect comprehensive understanding were extracted: “interest in and concern for the organism”, “favor of the organism”, “contact with the living thing”, “direct empirical observations/experiments”, “indirect empirical observations/experiments” and “basic knowledge of the human body”. Next, comprehensive understanding was evaluated regarding two aspects: “multiple points of view” and “awareness of cause and effect”. Answers were scored. Furthermore, a path diagram was drawn and analyzed using these eight variables.
(1) Both “direct empirical observations/experiments” and “indirect empirical observations/experiments” directly affected “interest in and concern for the organism”, while “direct empirical observations/experiments” directly affected “many-sided viewpoints” and “basic knowledge of the human body”. In addition, “indirect empirical observations/experiments” indirectly influenced “multiple points of view” through “favor of the organism” and “basic knowledge of the human body”.
(2) “Interest in and concern for the organism” directly influenced “favor of the organism” and “contact with the living thing”. “Favor of the organism” directly influenced “contact with the living thing”. On the other hand, “contact with the living thing” did not affect the other factors extracted in this study.

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The importance of providing pupils with situations where they can independently predict and construct hypotheses, and observe and carry out experiments, has been emphasized in science classes. Peirce pointed to abductive reasoning as a way of scientific thinking. This study focuses on abductive reasoning for generating hypotheses and two basic aspects of abduction are incorporated in an introductory process of science classes. As a result, a strategy for hypothesis formation prevailed among the pupils through a process of creating a concrete model of dissolved salt and water, sharing it in class, and encouraging the students to think about the relationship. This study empirically verified that the introductory process aiming for hypothesis formation based on logical reasoning led to the pupils forming a scientific concept concerning the conservation of mass.

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In the field of science education, recent studies have begun to focus on argumentation skills, thereby indicating the importance of intentionally encouraging students to present rebuttals. Based on this trend, teaching strategies have been proposed to encourage such rebuttals. However, within Japanese science education field, a focus on rebuttals is not apparent in almost any known teaching strategy. Hence, using elementary science lessons as a case study, this research aims to investigate, the efficacy of teaching strategies in the IDEAS teaching materials, as proposed by Osborne et al., in promoting rebuttals.
First, this study reviewed teaching strategies as proposed by the IDEAS teaching materials. Next, lessons reflecting these strategies were conducted with elementary school students. Subsequently, records of argumentative utterances collected during lessons were evaluated and measured against the efficacy of the teaching strategy used. As a result of this evaluation, it was revealed that the number of students who developed their argumentation skills, including the skill to offer rebuttals, increased significantly between the beginning and end of the lessons. From this result, it became clear that the teaching strategy indicated by the IDEAS teaching materials has a certain amount of efficacy. It was also apparent, however, that by the end of the lesson, some students were unable to offer rebuttals. Thus, improving teaching strategies should be focused on in the future.

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In this research, a lesson model for lower secondary school chemistry organized by “learning via applying a model” is proposed, and the validity of the learning process is examined from the aspect of students’ understanding of chemical changes in the level of submicroscopic representation. The guideline of the lessons aims to advance an interconnection between the level of macroscopic representation as object/phenomenon and that of submicroscopic representation as particle model. The lessons involve predicting phenomena in chemical changes using the particle model, the verification of the predictions through experiments, and then the confirmation of correct and incorrect predictions.
The evaluation of the lesson was done through questions given to the students, in which they were required to represent phenomena as chemical changes using the particle model. The results were the following:
(1) The lessons based on learning via applying a model provided more effective learning for the students to understand chemical changes, compared with usual lessons based on learning via creating a particle model.
(2) However, there were some cases in which a number of students could not correctly understand chemical changes in the lessons conducted based on learning via applying a model. According to the analysis of the reasons presented, it was shown that the students were having some problems, such as a lack of understanding of chemical changes at the level of macroscopic representation, insufficient understanding of the constituent atom of matter, and so on.

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The trends of awarded subjects in relation to natural science have been investigated by SYOUREI to check into some considerable problems from 2002 through 2011. One of the problems is in the current situation in which the awarded educational subjects and applicants are decreasing for elementary- and secondary-school educators, board of education members and curators of social education, and their decreasing are increasing deviation from the announced objectives and eligibility of the original SYOUREI policy every year. This problem may be caused by the present SYOUREI, which leaves comprehensive and obscure sentences in the announced objectives and eligibility without fundamental revision for 44 years since 1965. The author has proposed the fundamental revision of SYOUREI by going back to the original policy or creating a new one based on state policy by exclusively aiming for the promotion of science education.

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