Changes in qualities and abilities of Japanese teachers through participation in Global Lesson Study on mathematics

[Purpose] The authors aim to determine the effects of Global Lesson Study (GLS) - a two-year, one-cycle program defined as “international cooperative lesson study through international exchange among teachers using ICT” - on intercultural competence for lesson study based on pre- and post-survey conducted for Japanese teachers. [Design/methodology/approach] In accordance with the GLS program, mathematics lesson studies on mathematics between Japanese and Singaporean elementary school teachers were conducted over a two-year period. Questionnaire surveys on intercultural competence for lesson study was conducted using 7-point Likert scale and descriptive questions with Japanese teachers (N 5 5). Analysis of Wilcoxon’s signed rank test and correlation analysis were conducted. [Findings] Followings are identified as the effects of GLS for Japanese teachers: (1) Japanese participants felt improvement of their competence in areas of attitude, internal outcomes and outward impact. (2) Participating in a GLS led to the improvement of Japanese teachers’ qualities and abilities for subject teaching related tomathematics education. (3) Improvement of intercultural competence for lesson study was related to each other, and GLS led to improvement of these competences. (4) It was meaningful to have a two-year period to assimilate and adjust to independent experience of the host and guest. [Originality/value] The GLS led to teacher empowerment among this sample, not only as cooperative research, but also at the individual level of teachers where participants continued to develop lessons based on the GLS learning after study completion. This has important implications for the implementation and dissemination of the GLS

The Potential of the Global Lesson Study as PDCA+E : Verification through a Case Study in Mathematics

In this study, based on the Global Lesson Study (GLS) program, an mathematics lesson study was conducted between teachers in Japan and Singapore, with Japan as the host school. In the process of the GLS, it was confi rmed that the GLS functions as a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle and that it is eff ective to implement the GLS in a two-year cycle when it is implemented among in-service teachers. As an “Extension”, we proposed the following two points: (1) the possibility of action research by combining survey research and classroom practice, and (2) the possibility of a “GLS package” in the context of international educational cooperation

Transformation of Mathematics Classes through Global Lesson Studies

In this study, based on the Global Lesson Study (GLS) program, a mathematics lesson study was conducted between teachers in Japan and Singapore, with Singapore as the host school. During the GLS process, the childrenʼs ideas̶diff ered greatly between the two countries̶were shared, and the lesson plans were improved to move toward integrated learning, which could not have been conceived during the in-school research discussions in Singapore, and then, the improvements were refl ected in the lessons. This suggests that GLS is eff ective in improving the teaching of Mathematics

Practical study on environmental education based on the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD) in a rural area of Zambia

"Education for sustainable development (ESD)" has been globally promoted with the rise of our concern of socio-ecological risk standing on the outcomes from United Nations Decade of ESD (UNDESD) from 2005 to 2014. The aim of ESD is to raise the good adults or citizens, who have the will, attitude and skills to contribute to build a sustainable society. On the basis of the idea of ESD and collaborating with teachers of three schools in a rural area of Zambia, we conduct our practical study on the development of site-specific environmental education program. It is the three-year research from FY 2013 to FY 2015 of Japan (April 2013-March 2015). Our research purpose is "What EE program would be possible and acceptable to the teachers of schools in a rural area of Zambia?" Then the research questions are "how to link the environmental elements of life in this area with learning activities in the EE program?" and "How does the developed EE program relates to the idea of ESD?" We developed the EE program with lesson plans focusing on water as well as its supplementary materials including environmental quality data (annual change in air temperature and water quality), the booklet entitled as "Story of Mukuyu". In this paper, the structure of our developed environmental education program as well as its relation to the learning in the ESD are primarily described

ザンビア キョウワコク ノウソンブ ノ ガッコウ デ ミラレル ジュギョウ コウセイ ノ ルイジセイ ニ カンスル イチ コウサツ : ヒカク セイド ブンセキ オヨビ クリティカル・リアリズム ノ シテン カラ

We have conducted lesson development workshops, observations and demonstrations of Social and Development Studies (SDS) lessons from November 2013 in three schools in a rural area of Zambia. It revealed a clear difference in composition between lessons of teachers in rural schools and that demonstrated by us in terms of positioning of hands-on activities. Furthermore, as long as the lessons we observed in two out of three schools, all four SDS lessons had nearly the same lesson composition regardless of schools, topics and grades. In this paper, we discussed how we can grab nearly same pattern of lessons by applying comparative institutional analysis as well as critical realism theories and significance of their application in research of international development in education

Randomized trial of an intensified, multifactorial intervention in patients with advanced‐stage diabetic kidney disease: Diabetic Nephropathy Remission and Regression Team Trial in Japan (DNETT‐Japan)

Aims/Introduction We evaluated the efficacy of multifactorial intensive treatment (IT) on renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced‐stage diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Materials and Methods The Diabetic Nephropathy Remission and Regression Team Trial in Japan (DNETT‐Japan) is a multicenter, open‐label, randomized controlled trial with a 5‐year follow‐up period. We randomly assigned 164 patients with advanced‐stage diabetic kidney disease (urinary albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio ≥300 mg/g creatinine, serum creatinine level 1.2–2.5 mg/dL in men and 1.0–2.5 mg/dL in women) to receive either IT or conventional treatment. The primary composite outcome was end‐stage kidney failure, doubling of serum creatinine or death from any cause, which was assessed in the intention‐to‐treat population. Results The IT tended to reduce the risk of primary end‐points as compared with conventional treatment, but the difference between treatment groups did not reach the statistically significant level (hazard ratio 0.69, 95% confidence interval 0.43–1.11; P = 0.13). Meanwhile, the decrease in serum low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol level and the use of statin were significantly associated with the decrease in primary outcome (hazard ratio 1.14; 95% confidence interval 1.05–1.23, P Conclusions The risk of kidney events tended to decrease by IT, although it was not statistically significant. Lipid control using statin was associated with a lower risk of adverse kidney events. Further follow‐up study might show the effect of IT in patients with advanced diabetic kidney disease

Pneumonia Caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and Influenza Virus: A Multicenter Comparative Study

Background: Detailed differences in clinical information between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia (CP), which is the main phenotype of SARS-CoV-2 disease, and influenza pneumonia (IP) are still unclear. Methods: A prospective, multicenter cohort study was conducted by including patients with CP who were hospitalized between January and June 2020 and a retrospective cohort of patients with IP hospitalized from 2009 to 2020. We compared the clinical presentations and studied the prognostic factors of CP and IP. Results: Compared with the IP group (n = 66), in the multivariate analysis, the CP group (n = 362) had a lower percentage of patients with underlying asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P < .01), lower neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (P < .01), lower systolic blood pressure (P < .01), higher diastolic blood pressure (P < .01), lower aspartate aminotransferase level (P < .05), higher serum sodium level (P < .05), and more frequent multilobar infiltrates (P < .05). The diagnostic scoring system based on these findings showed excellent differentiation between CP and IP (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.889). Moreover, the prognostic predictors were different between CP and IP. Conclusions: Comprehensive differences between CP and IP were revealed, highlighting the need for early differentiation between these 2 pneumonias in clinical settings