The purpose of this research was to gather and organize research on hypothesis setting, and to comprehensively consider research trends and issues with attention to differences between domestic and overseas science education. Research on hypothesis setting was classified into 4 types: “definition of hypothesis”, “evaluation of actual situation”, “thought process”, and “teaching method”. From the results of examining the trends and issues of research in each classification, the following four points were revealed. 1) The diversity of the definitions of the hypothesis is not found in the whole elements that make up the definition of the hypothesis, it is derived from the difference in the object to be explained. 2) There is a trend difference in domestic and overseas in the evaluation method of hypothesis setting. 3) In research on thinking processes, it is necessary to improve so that we can capture the thought process of hypothesis setting in actual science classes. 4) Domestic teaching methods research is more effective than that of foreign studies based on its concrete nature, but there are equally valid issues to be taught in each teaching method.

The process from problem finding to hypothesis formulating is called the context of discovery, and traditionally its instruction and evaluation have not been much emphasized. Therefore, this research aims to clarify the necessity of evaluation in the context of discovery, as well as the problem of evaluation methods in this context, and analyzes the evaluation method from the preceding research. As a result, the necessity of evaluation can be asserted in the context of discoveries, and the evaluation of the context of discovery in previous research is divided into 4 types; (A) evaluation of create number, (B) logicality evaluation, (C) evaluation of verifiability, (D) evaluation of ability. In addition, it became clear that there are several problems in each evaluation method. Specifically, they are: evaluation that is not returned to the instruction method (A), does not consider the thought process (B), applies an evaluation method oriented to the context of justification of the discovery (B&C), the difficulty of judging the possibility of verification (C), the ability required in the context of discovery has not been disclosed (D), the relationship between ability and actual performance is not disclosed (D).

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the status of scientific evolutionary concept formation among lower secondary school students by using two learning plans. There is much misunderstanding concerning “biological evolution”; for example, many misconceptions, such as the “inheritance of acquired characteristics” (which is repeatedly mentioned), have been pointed out in many previous studies. In this study, we focused on the idea that “Natural selection explains how living things evolve” to enable lower secondary school students to understand the mechanism of biological evolution. To this end, three objectives, Adaptation, Variation, and Selection, were incorporated into the learning goal. According to the learning goal, we developed two learning plans using the theory of “backward design,” including both 1st year and 2nd year students, and covering both “biology and geology.” In addition, as the central task of the learning plan for biology, we prepared a “performance task” to infer the evolutionary hypothesis based on the theory of natural selection. In conclusion, through analyzing the performance assessment and the questionnaire survey comparing “biology and geology,” we could explain a part of the process of scientific evolutionary concept formation among lower secondary school students.

The study explored pupils’ recognition of diagrammatic representation in science learning by comparing it to their recognition of linguistic representation, including textual and oral expressions. An instrument for measuring recognition of both these representations was developed, and its psychometric characteristics were scrutinized using Rasch Rating Scale models. Eventually, the instrument, which comprised 29 items, was validated for the measurement. No statistically significant difference in recognition between boys and girls was found in the study. Pupils’ recognition of diagrammatic representation was argued from four perspectives as follows: Regarding the attitude towards diagrammatic representation, pupils preferred diagrammatic representations of a learning activity to text or oral representations. While they recognized the significance of both modes of representation in science learning, they tended to feel rather incompetent with regard to the representation. Regarding evaluation of understandability of diagrammatic representation, the pupils valued the diagrammatic representation because the expressions were easy to understand, regardless of the creators. Regarding engagement in science learning by using diagrammatic representation, compared to the case of linguistic representation, the pupils did not consider that explaining the structure and state of things and events in nature and externalizing their own ideas through diagrams were included in a their usual learning process. Regarding communication through diagrammatic representation, it was most difficult for them to admit to the involvement of learning activities, including using a diagram, discussing with peers, depicting natural mechanisms and states, and communicating their own ideas. These findings have implications for the teaching and learning of diagrammatic representation in elementary science classes. They include: the emphasis on learning to draw, the enhancement of pupils’ commitment to drawing in science as social practice, and giving them opportunities to recognize the usability of diagrammatic representation.

In this paper, the functions of metacognition related to promotion of problem-solving learning activities in science were studied. We expanded the metacognitive concepts to include social metacognition based on the theory advocated by Chiu & Kuo (2009) and analyzed the functions and five benefits of social metacognition in elementary school science classrooms. Results indicate that: (1) Five benefits of social metacognition promoted problem-solving learning in elementary school science classrooms. (2) Children were monitoring the other children’s cognition and metacognition, and acquired meaningful cognition. As a result, the children’s individual metacognition was promoted, and consequently they could construct scientific concepts more effectively.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in carrying out criterion-referenced tests for quantitatively evaluating as well as improving physics classes at high schools and universities. It is desirable to make the multiple-choice tests which are easy to use and we can get quantitative survey results in the physical field of elementary school science. To do that, it is necessary to improve accuracy by analyzing and evaluating the validity of the problems and choices. Accordingly, in this study, to obtain information above the response rate of choices, I analyzed the response trends using item response charts. I found that quantitative analysis using item characteristic charts is effective for the evaluation of validity and improvement of the investigation problems in the physics field of elementary school science, taken together with the qualitative analysis based on the description of the reason for the answers.

For this research, we developed a sundial application which can easily display the movement of the sun with the shadow of the sundial and used it in a lower secondary school class to help students learn the cause of season changes. Based on the degree of comprehension of the students’ teaching materials, the usefulness of the teaching materials, and the students’ growing interest in astronomy learning, the following three points were clarified from the results: 1) Students could understand why the seasons change through classes and explain the phenomenon by connecting their known information and the results of this research, 2) Students thought that the sundial application is a useful teaching material and wanted to use it for the purpose of verifying the forecast, and 3) The participation rate in the extracurricular observation was the highest in the class using the sundial app in the lesson, and almost all the students were able to observe continuously until the end. From the above results, it was suggested that the sundial application developed in this research is an instructive teaching material in astronomy learning.

In this research, we developed a teaching material that can reveal reversible shape changes with temperature changes of several degrees Celsius and used it in the “Volume and Temperature” unit of a science class in the fourth grade of elementary school. From the results of investigating the students’ comprehension of the lesson contents and the usefulness of the teaching materials, the students understood the contents of the study and the principles revealed via the teaching material, demonstrating the effectiveness of the teaching material. It was suggested that this teaching material is useful to foster pupils’ learning about volume change of solids with temperature change.

In physics, various phenomena are expressed theoretically, and, in the theoretical explication, physics concepts are basically idealized. In the field of physics education, one important issue is how to provide clear guidance on these physics concepts while linking them to practical events. In this study, the mass point has been taken up as a typical example of a physics concept, and an effective teaching method for the mass point has been considered through practice in a physics lesson. In the practice, learners dropped a box made of paper from a height of 150 cm and measured the free-fall time. At this time, they investigated the change in the free-fall time while gradually decreasing the size of the box and graphed the results. Then they inferred the free-fall time of the mass point from the graph and confirmed consistency with a theoretical value. As a result, the value inferred from the graph differed from the theoretical value only approximately 5% on average. This result indicates that the theoretical value can be lead from actual measurements. Moreover, it was confirmed that the learners’ understanding of the mass point significantly improved. Consequently, this study indicates the effectiveness of a new teaching method for physics concepts in the field of physics education.

The “species benefit fallacy” or “group selection fallacy” claims that selection operates at a higher level than the individual, i.e., at the level of the group or species. Accordingly, individuals engaging in reproductive behaviors that preserve their species are selected for. However, current research in evolutionary biology does not support this idea, and instead suggests that individuals behave optimally to transmit their own genes to the next generation. Recent educational research has implied that even university students retain the misconception that organisms reproduce to preserve their own species. Thus, this study used a questionnaire to determine whether students at universities harbor this misunderstanding (five universities, n = 629). Two major findings were made. First, more than half of the students surveyed had the above misconception. Second, neither having taken biology class in high schools nor evolutionary biology class in universities affected the degree of their misconception. A higher number of students who had completed at least one biology course in high school or university claimed to know “kin selection” and “altruistic behavior” well. To correct their misconception, teachers should aim to improve teaching methods in biology classes that address these concepts.