The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mutual evaluation activities and students’ understanding of learning content. In order to nurture certain qualities and abilities, we incorporated learning activities into lower secondary school science classes in which students used mutual evaluation sheets, and analyzed students’ understanding of the discussion and their conclusions from the experimental results. The purpose of the learning activities using mutual evaluation sheets is for students to evaluate their own responses, as well as those of other students, using evaluation standards. They then reviewed their responses and the results of the evaluations, developing their expressive ability through proactive learning. As a result of analyzing the survey problems, it became clear that learning activities using mutual evaluation tables are effective for fostering a deeper understanding of the acquired knowledge by synergistically associating knowledge with each other.

We proposed an active learning class to eliminate a common misconception of mechanics among lower secondary school students. The class was delivered to students in Kumamoto Prefecture, and focused on the misconception that “motion implies force”. We used group work and group discussion as methods of fostering active learning during the lesson; students discussed the direction of acting force while carrying out an experiment in mechanics. To compare learning achieved through active learning versus conventional learning, we carried out pre- and post-tests in each class, then evaluated the results. In the class with active learning, students showed remarkable improvements between the pre- and post-test and thus the effectiveness of the active learning method was confirmed.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between critical thinking in science and epistemic curiosity. We used a five-point scale questionnaire, consisting of questions on critical thinking in science and epistemic curiosity. In this study, 346 elementary and 971 junior high school students participated. Our analysis of the results indicated the following: 1) Careful thinking indeed affects epistemic curiosity. 2) The effects of careful thinking on epistemic curiosity do not differ materially between the school types. 3) In the case of junior high school students, cultivating healthy skepticism affects epistemic curiosity.

This study offered a new viewpoint for learning about the lunar cycle by using the concept of imaginary body movements for spatial perspective-taking. To engage in imaginary body movement is to create a mental alter-ego of oneself, and to move it around. While previous studies considered imaginary body movement as promoted through physical actions, they did not produce sufficient results. By contrast, this study displayed an avatar within a conventional system, and implemented a function of superimposing the avatar onto an imaginary body. Results indicated an improved understanding about the waxing and waning of the moon among the students who participated, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the spatial perspective-taking that accompanies imaginary body movement. The following challenges remain. The consequences of continuously utilizing different AR teaching materials, like the old and new AR types, are unknown. It is necessary to conduct investigations on the basis of more experimental planning. It is necessary to examine the effects from the perspective of neuroscience, through the use of MRI and other such means, and to determine whether or not the imaginary body movements were carried out mentally due to utilizing new AR teaching materials.

Based on the revised course of study issued in 1998, which was intended to overhaul the old curriculum, fewer topics of natural phenomenon had been written about in science textbooks as compared with those published 10 years prior. The subsequent revision, in 2008, said that educators should teach natural disasters in relation to real human lives. This change was mainly based on the desire to nurture scientific literacy, which the OECD had suggested following PISA 2006 investigations, and on international discussions about preventing natural disasters during UN/DESD (Decade for Education in Sustainable Development) conferences. In the latest course of study, published in 2017, the term ‘disasters’ on General Provisions shows significant and closer connection with education for preventing/reducing disasters. Moreover, it has been explicitly stated that teachers should help students grasp disasters via instruction from a cross-subject perspective based on the idea of Curriculum Management. Considering the above situation, I would like to raise three issues: ① Since natural disasters have been taught both in social studies and science, some aspects have been double-defined. It would be more effective to clearly divide each category into either social studies or science. The topic of social systems for preventing disasters has been taught in Social Studies in Japan for years, and Science has dealt with natural phenomena themselves. ② For school children, it is particularly challenging to connect natural disasters studied in Science or Social Studies to their daily lives. This is partly due to the MEXT system, which has two independent departments: one for school subjects and the other for school safety, including disasters. ③ It is crucial to teach children how to prevent/reduce natural disasters, especially when following the UN policy of ESD. However, the idea is neither fully understood by school children nor even by teachers, while the international movement to adopt and keep the ESD rules is becoming widely known. Further discussion of these three issues is necessary to enhance the effectiveness of students’ learning on natural disasters in future.

Rocks and minerals are familiar words in everyday life, but previous surveys show that many university students are not able to distinguish between them, despite having studied them in school. This indicates that the understanding gained of the scientific concept of rocks and minerals in elementary, lower secondary, and upper secondary school is insufficient. I conducted a science class (the experimental group) using “visual teaching materials incorporating words” with sixth graders, explained the relationships among rocks and minerals, and examined the differences. I taught the students about volcanoes in 2 classes (18 in the experiment group and 16 in the control group) and had them observe volcanic ash. Concept maps were created before and after this lesson. In both classes, I explained volcanic eruptions and the resulting volcanic ash. In the experimental group, I presented “visual teaching materials incorporating words” and visually explained that a rock is a collection of minerals. When the experimental group was compared to the control group, the concept map results indicated that the concept: “rocks form when minerals gather” was significantly better understood. These results demonstrate that “visual teaching materials incorporating words” are effective when scientific concepts are constructed.

The purpose of this study was to help lower secondary school students understand that 1) “evolution” led to the existing “diversity” of organisms that emerged from “common” ancestors, and 2) “biological evolution” occurred by means of genetic mutation whereby adaptions that were advantageous for survival have been transmitted from parents to their offspring. In the new course of study guidelines for lower secondary schools, the “Biodiversity and Evolution” unit has shifted from the eighth-grade textbook to the ninth-grade one, and it will be taught immediately after the “Law of Heredity and Genes” in the “Genetic Continuity” unit. “Evolution” and “Genetics” were opposing concepts in the history of biology, however they were later synthesized (Modern Synthesis). In the new course of study guidelines for lower secondary schools, the circumstances via which these opposing concepts were synthesized are not described. Therefore, in this study, we developed the learning plans that integrated the “Evolution” and “Genetics” units based on the new course of study guidelines. We prepared a primary genetics activity and evaluation tasks based on “Pasta Genetics”, which was developed at the University of Washington. Through analyzing the data from this study, it became clear that this instructional strategy was effective for the promotion of scientific and evolutionary understanding among the participating lower secondary school students.

When the course of study was revised in 2017, the “Species Diversity and Biological Evolution” study unit of the lower secondary school science curriculum was shifted from the 8th grade to the 9th grade. Consequently, the students studied the “Law of Heredity and Genes”, and “Organisms and the Environment” units in the same school year. The subjects of biodiversity can be roughly divided into three subtopics: (1) genetic diversity, (2) species diversity, and (3) ecosystem diversity. Ecosystem diversity is studied as it exists in the present era. Biological evolution underlies existing species diversity among living things that have descended from common ancestors. In this research, we have developed a learning plan that integrates the spatial concept of “ecosystem diversity,” with the temporal concept of “evolution”. The purpose of this study was to help lower secondary school students understand ecosystem diversity, examine to what extent they grasp scientific evolutionary concepts, and assess to what extent the students eradicate misconceptions during the learning process. Based on the quantitative analysis of student performance task results, the qualitative analysis of student performance, and their answers to a questionnaire, it was clear that understanding of “ecosystem diversity” was prompted to a certain extent, but preexisting misconceptions were persistently retained. To be more precise, we found it difficult to correct misconceptions such as those held by students regarding the concept “survival of the fittest”.

The purpose of this research is to devise a teaching method to improve the motivation for science learning by promoting students’ recognition of the significance of science learning via fostering their recognition of “scientific ability”. The teaching methods devised in this research are (1) learning to teach directly about “scientific ability”, and (2) to be conscious in ordinary science learning. After carrying out model lessons in a high school “Basic Earth Science” class, the results demonstrated that: (1) The learners were able to recognize “scientific ability”, and (2) when the learners think that one of the significant aspects of science learning is “scientific ability”, facets of motivation such as “internal regulation”, “identified regulation and growth”, and “identified regulation and future” were improved among the participating students.

Science education researchers and teachers consider cultivating students’ metacognitive abilities to be important. Therefore, measurement questionnaires have been developed to take stock of these abilities. However, recent studies have pointed out that it is challenging to measure metacognition via self-reported measurement methods (off-line method) such as the questionnaire method. This study aimed to confirm whether questionnaires can truly measure metacognition in science learning. We verified the convergent validity and discriminant validity of metacognition measurement questionnaires developed for science education thus far. The results of our literature survey and analysis revealed that no substantial positive correlation between metacognition measurement questionnaires and academic achievement in science had yet been found. Genuinely positive correlations, however, were found between metacognition measurement questionnaires and narcissism or social desirability bias. Neither convergent validity nor discriminant validity was supported. Based on the above results, in this paper we further consider the limitations of metacognition measurement methods in current science educational research and corresponding strategies in the future.

The purpose of this study was to propose basic data for discussing the scientific meanings of cultivation activities in kindergarten. This study examined whether children could understand the relationships between water absorption and the function of plant roots and stems, utilizing a longitudinal design（Time 1 = last year of kindergarten, Time 2 = first year of elementary school）. 33 young children participated in the study. The main results were as follows: the children developed a more sophisticated understanding the functions of plant roots and stem in the first year of elementary school. However, it was difficult for the first-grade children to fully understand the function of stems. The children eventually came to a point where they did not have to use personification to explain the function of plants. In this paper, I discuss these results from the perspectives of a rich sense of humanity, the germ of scientific ideas, and early childhood collaboration.

The received wisdom is that the concept of direction and magnitude of an electric current is difficult for students to understand. Science textbooks in lower secondary school have included “conventional context” in Japan since 1984. Conventional context and “zero context” consist of an electrical series and a parallel circuit connecting two bulbs, two dry cells, a circuit switch, and leads. Although the bulb (3.8 V-0.3 A) is brighter than the other bulb (2.5 V-0.3 A) in the series circuit in conventional context, only one bulb (3.8 V-0.3 A) lights in the series circuit (the other bulb, 2.5 V-0.5 A, does not) in zero context. We have obtained the results that many 3rd grade lower secondary school students who learn this concept using conventional context do not overcome their context-dependency in a previous study. We practiced the following lesson program that we developed and obtained the following results in this case study: The students learn the concept using zero context again after learning the kinetic energy of an object. They presume the direction and magnitude of an electric current in these circuits, following which they ascertain whether their presumption is true or not by using an ammeter. They observe that water and many globular sodium algin gels wrapping India ink move smoothly in tubes in the circuit models, thereby forming an image of the free electrons moving smoothly in the circuits. The free electrons collide with the metallic atoms in the bulbs, causing the atoms to vibrate. A part of the vibration energy transforms into heat and ray energy. The students calculate the quantity of the kinetic energy of free electrons and the electric power in the bulbs on the principle of a resistor, thereby understanding the differences in the bulbs’ brightness. The program thus effectively encourages students who have a misconception and ad hoc thinking to acquire the correct conception.

In this study, based on the results of a questionnaire survey targeting university students in the elementary school teacher_training course, a causal model in which “interest in science” influences “proactive, interactive, deep learning” via “mediating factors” was assumed and its validity was examined. The results demonstrated that “interest in science” (“Factor 4: thinking activity type”, “Factor 5: surprise discovery type”), through the “mediated factor” (“Factor 7: critical thinking”, “Factor 8: learning behavior”), directly and indirectly influenced “proactive, interactive and deep learning” (“Factor 13: deep learning”, “Factor 14: interactive learning”, and “Factor 15: proactive learning”). The assumed causal model was thus confirmed to be valid. In science classes, when teachers devise the presentation of thought-provoking phenomena with surprises and discoveries, the learners’ interests, “critical thinking” skills, and “learning behaviors” are improved. As a result, “proactive, interactive and deep learning” is realized. The findings of this study are consistent with the current revised course of study which holds that it is necessary to improve teaching methods for the realization of “proactive, interactive and deep learning”. In order to establish “proactive, interactive and deep learning” in science classes, it is important to promote improvement that fosters students’ “interest in science”, “critical thinking” and “learning behavior”.

This study focuses on the thinking that transforms the interrogative of “why”, which has no prospect of inquiry, into the question of “what” or “how”, which has utility for scientific inquiry, and aims to develop this thought process in elementary school students. Such a transformation process, from interrogative to question, has already been revealed by previous research; in the literature the process is known as “Recognition of interrogatives - Formation of hypothesis - Generate question.” However, there has been no study investigating elementary school students’ thinking process with regard to transforming interrogatives into questions. We therefore focused on this transformation process, from hypothesis into question (“Formation of hypothesis - Generate question”), and to this end developed tests and a questionnaire on the students’ thinking processes that transform hypotheses into questions. After carrying out the tests and questionnaire, the results revealed that the elementary school students could not adequately transform hypotheses into scientific inquiry-based questions, and, moreover, that the causes were partially attributable to a lack of knowledge about the form of questions that have utility for scientific inquiry.

Recently, there have been remarkable advances in the intersecting fields of biology and chemistry. Knowledge of biomolecules is important to learning in these fields; however, many students struggle to excel in biochemistry. The use of physical models may be a good method for understanding molecular structures, by providing a sense of the spatial relationships. In teaching students using molecular models, we identified the two following concerns. First, the number of model parts required would place an extra burden on schools’ available financial resources. Second, the required skills involved to assemble the models might be different among the students. These concerns could be solved by the introduction of group learning to the classroom. Students could use their time more efficiently by teaching each other and sharing the kits. In this study, we conducted group learning, in which molecular models were assembled in a university level biology class. The attendees of the class were first-year students who had received a low score on a biology class placement test. We attempted to improve their knowledge of biomolecules through group learning using molecular models. In each group, which consisted of four to five students, the students learned about several biomolecules and assembled the models. The majority of groups completed the task of assembling the models with few instructions from the teacher. On the final day of the class, the students individually took part in a written examination. Compared with their previous examination results, there was a decrease in the number of students whose response accuracy was less than 40%, and none of the students achieved a score of under 20%. Thus, students could improve their knowledge of molecules with the teaching materials through group learning. These results suggest that students can acquire basic knowledge in the intersecting fields of biology and chemistry effectively by using molecular models in cooperation with their learning group.

“Earth and the Universe: Solar System and Stars” is studied in lower secondary school third-grade science classes. The purpose of this learning is to find out about the characteristics of the Sun, including its size and surface features. In these classes, students have never attempted any experiment that determines the Sun’s actual diameter. However, there is an experiment that can be done using the pinhole method. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the introduction of the student experiment and to improve students’ interest levels in the subject. Hypothetically, the diameter of the Sun is 1,391,400 km. 70 percent of students in 2016 and 80 percent of students in 2017 could determine the diameter of the Sun to within less than 30 percent error by utilizing the pinhole method. The pinhole experiment’s central equation states that: diameter of the Sun/distance from Sun to Earth=diameter of image of the Sun/distance from pinhole to image. I examined the relationship between the slope of the theoretical value and the slope of the students’ actual values for the diameter of the light and the distance from the pinhole to the light. The calculation of the t-test showed a statistically significant result in 2016 (df=44, p<0.01), whereas in 2017 the result of the calculation was not statistically significant (df=29, p=0.4332). Surveys about the Sun were administered before and after the class. In the first survey about 50% of the students answered that they were interested in the Sun, while results of the second survey showed that the percentage of students’ interest about the Sun increased to 70%. Moreover, the survey also revealed an increase in interest in learning about other planets. Another survey result illuminated a remaining issue with regard to operation of the experiment: finding the diameter of the light clearly.