Problems in the evaluation of children's compositions in Japanese schools : Historical and theoretical considerations of criterion-referenced evaluation

This paper discusses the changes of the objectives of the Japanese language education and Japanese writing in the Japanese National Standards after World War II and researches that examined the validity and reliability of the criteria for evaluating writing in the fields of Japanese language education and educational psychology. Results of the review show that objectives of the Japanese language education and Japanese writing have been changing. In the 1947-1968 Japanese National Standards, the objectives were activity-based, that is, developing children's speaking, listening, writing and reading skills. In 1977-1989, however, these objectives have changed to ability-based, focusing on the children's ability to express and understand. And in the New Japanese National Standards (1998), the objectives changed again to activity-based. Likewise, the system for evaluating children's compositions have also changed, that is, the criteria used for each grade level have been integrated, resulting in three sets of criteria; one each for low grade (Grades 1 and 2), middle grade (Grades 3 and 4), and high grade (Grades 5 and 6). Thus, teachers need to use the criteria more carefully, taking into consideration the actual grade level of the children. In terms of research, there is a need to clearly define the evaluation items and for the teachers to experience the use of these items in order to improve the validity and reliability of the evaluation of compositions

Transition in the Treatment of Number Line Diagrams in Textbooks I

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Seismic Exploration Using Active Sources at Kuchierabujima Volcano, Southwest Japan

Seismic exploration using artificial sources was conducted at Kuchierabujima volcano, southwest Japan in November 2004 by 40 participants from 9 national universities andJapan Meteorological Agency to investigate the subsurface seismic structure. The exploration was the 11th joint experiment under the National Project for Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions. A total of 183 temporal stations equippedwith a 2 Hz vertical component seismometer (including 75 3component seismometers) and a portable data logger were deployed on Kuchierabu Island. Dynamite shots with charges of 10-115 kg were detonated at 19 locations, and seismic signals were successfully recorded. To reveal the P-wave velocity structure, 2955 arrival times of the first motion were picked from the seismograms, and 2187 were classified into ranks A and B. From the record sections and the arrival time data, characteristics reflecting the geological structure were identified. Refracted waves of 5 km/s were observed at stations＞5km from the shot points. Apparent velocities near the shot points depend on the surface geology around the shots. P-wave arrived earlier at stations near the summits. Strongly scattered waves were observed similarly near the summits

Determining the Criteria that Can Predict Children's Writing Ability : An Examination of Teachers' and Students' Evaluation of Children's Compositions

This study aimed to determine the criteria that can predict developmental changes of elementary school children's composition writing ability. Participants were 21 elementary school teachers and 29 college students. Using the 18 evaluation criteria derived from the Japanese National Standards, participants were asked to evaluate narrative compositions written by children from different grade levels: low grade (grades 1 and 2), middle grade (grades 3 and 4) and high grade (grades 5 and 6). Based on their attitude towards compositions, participants were divided into two groups (low and high attitude groups). The one-way ANOVA was used to determine if evaluation scores of the different grade levels were different. Results showed that in some items, the grade level had a significant effect on the composition scores. Comparing the predictive ability of the criteria, results showed that more evaluation criteria cannot predict the grade level of the child in the teachers group and in the high-attitude group of teachers and students. Findings suggest that the 18 evaluation criteria were not followed as specified in the Japanese National Standards. Personal interpretation of the criteria seems to be an important factor in evaluating children's compositions

数直線図の教科用図書における取り扱いの変遷Ⅰ

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算数科で求められる「能力」「資質」の評価項目の開発

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