Current Situation and Challenges of Formative Assessment in Developing Countries

This paper defined “formative assessment” as frequent and interactive assessment regarding learners’ understanding and progress of learning achievement in order to confirm learners’ needs and deliver appropriate lessons. This paper aimed at revealing the research question “How does formative assessment defined in this paper appear in policies and practices in each participating country?”. As a result, it was found that while learning improvement was stipulated as goals in policy objectives and various implementing measures were presented, scores based on formative assessment were emphasized for judgement of progressing grades or promoting to higher level of education and/or accountability to guardians. Reflecting practices on the field, implementation of formative assessment has various challenges including teachers’ professional capacity, which was observed through their predictions and reactions of pupils’ answers before and after a simple maths test. This paper uncovered that in developing countries, measures after lessons, which include conducting quiz, collecting and analyzing its result, and planning remedial classes based on the result, were taken into consideration, however, it was confronted with limitation of time. With regards to this challenge, Japanese teachers emphasized using formative assessment before and during lessons. Such experiences can be shared in the JICA-supported Knowledge Co-Creation Program and be utilized in developing countries Finally, the authors expect that dialogues between research and development aid will continue as this paper did and more practices on formative assessment will be accumulated for the sake of pupils’ learning and lesson improvement both in Japan and developing countries

A Mathematical Approch to Enhance the Fundamentals (2) : To curry out a guidance which is connected with evaluation

The purpose of this study is to examine whether it is valid to curry out a guidance which is connected with evaluation. In order to achive the purpose,we made a guidable plan which is connected with evaluation,appreciated the aspects which students learnt,attached importance to look back a series of lesson. From now on,we will examine the validity of this study succesively

ある私立大学教員養成における算数関連科目の教育目標の設定に関する一考察 －私立大学小学校教員志望学生の数学観・授業観の調査を通して－

本研究の目的は，A 私立大学小学校教員志望学生がもつ数学観，授業観を分析し，大学における算数関連科目の適切な教育目標の設定について考察することである。そのために，まず，A 私立大学を含む3 地区3 私立大学の小学校教員志望学生の数学観，授業観の違いを調査した結果，A 私立大学が全く特殊な事例ではないことが明らかになった。さらに，A 私立大学の小学校教員志望学生がもつ数学観，授業観の傾向から，「数学的活動」，「数学のよさ」，「数学学習の有用感」，「数学学習への効力感」をキーワードに目標設定をすべきであることを指摘した

学習援助プログラムは学生カウンセラーにどのような効果を及ぼすのか（3）―援助者である小学校教員志望学生A の数学的アイデンティティ形成に着目して―

　本稿の目的は，Zoom を用いた遠隔による学習援助プログラムが，援助者として関わった学生A の数学的アイデンティティ形成に与える効果を明らかにすることである。本稿における数学的アイデンティティ」を定義した上で，抽出した学生Aの学習支援初期段階（2020 年5 月28 日）と学習支援最終段階（2020 年7 月9 日）におけるプロトコールおよび考察記録と全10 回の学習支援終了後（2020 年7 月17 日）の支援のふり返りについて，数学的アイデンティティの視点から談話分析的手法を用いて比較し，その変容の要因を教育心理学などの知見を援用して質的に分析した。その結果，この算数の学習援助プログラムのもつ「真正性のある活動」，「評価主体」，「自己調整学習の強化」という性格が，学生A の数学的アイデンティティ形成に寄与することを明らかにした

学習援助プログラムは学生カウンセラーにどのような効果を及ぼすのか

　児童を対象に実施した学習援助プログラムが，学生カウンセラーに及ぼす効果を考察することが本研究の目的である。本研究では，認知カウンセリングを中核に据えて，構成的グループ・エンカウンターを支援的機能として構成した学習援助プログラムを全10 回実施した。その結果，ほとんどの学生カウンセラーが自己の成長を感じることができた。学生カウンセラーが成長を感じていた主要な点は，「仮想的教示」と「つまずきの個別性の理解」である。「仮想的教示」を用いた学習援助は，クライエントである児童だけではなく，学生カウンセラーの指導観の変容が期待できるものである。一方「仮想的教示」と比較すると，学生カウンセラーにとって「教訓帰納」を用いた指導を効果的に実践することは容易ではなかった。問題解決モデルや問題解決ストラテジーに関する学生カウンセラーの知識を豊かにする指導が必要である

教員養成におけるICTを活用した授業改善に関する実証的研究－タブレット端末を活用した算数科演習授業の取り組み－

小学校教員志望の学生を対象に，タブレット端末を主要な教具として模擬授業を計画・実施する講義を行い，学生の「模擬授業におけるタブレット端末活用」の意識の変容を明らかにすることを通して，教科指導法の授業改善の視点を得ることを目的とした。その結果，学生たちに次の3 つの変化（①ICT は授業の目標を達成するためのツールであるという認識が強まったこと，②ICT を活用することで，教材研究の必要性を再認識したこと，③ICT を活用することへの抵抗が小さくなり，ICT をさらに学びたいという意欲が向上したこと）が現れた

Elevated levels of plasma lactate dehydrogenase is an unfavorable prognostic factor in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer, receiving treatment with gefitinib or erlotinib.

Treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) has been shown to prolong survival in patients with EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The present study performed a retrospective analysis to investigate the association between the plasma lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels and survival in patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC receiving treatment with EGFR-TKIs. The medical charts of patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC who were receiving treatment with EGFR-TKIs at Toyama University Hospital between 2007 and 2014 were assessed. The data from 65 patients were included in the analysis. Patients with higher plasma LDH levels exhibited shorter progression-free survival (6.2 vs. 13.2 months; P<0.01) and overall survival (10.5 vs. 36.1 months; P<0.01) periods compared with patients with lower plasma LDH levels. A Cox proportional hazards model identified that the plasma LDH level was associated with the progression-free survival (P=0.05) and overall survival (P<0.01). An association was demonstrated between the pretreatment plasma LDH level and the survival in patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC receiving treatment with EGFR-TKIs. Close observation is required in EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC patients exhibiting high plasma LDH levels following the initiation of treatment with EGFR-TKIs.出版社サイトへのリンク：https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2016.77

Plasma neuron-specific enolase level as a prognostic marker in patients with non-small cell lung cancer receiving gefitinib.

Determination of the presence of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutation is useful for predicting the efficacy of gefitinib. However, the survival rate following the initiation of treatment with gefitinib varies among individuals. A retrospective study was conducted to investigate the associations of the pretreatment serum pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (pro-GRP) and plasma neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels to the patient survival rate following initiation of treatment with gefitinib in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving gefitinib treatment. Patients with NSCLC harboring EGFR gene mutations who received gefitinib therapy between 2004 and 2012 were included in the study. Data from a total of 41 patients were analyzed. The serum pro-GRP level was measured in 31 patients and the plasma NSE in 22 patients. The progression-free survival (PFS) (P=0.013) and overall survival (OS) (P=0.014, log-rank test) rates decreased as the plasma NSE level increased. Statistical analysis using a Cox proportional hazards regression model adjusted for age, gender, performance status (PS) and disease stage showed that higher NSE levels were associated with shorter PFS (P=0.021) and OS (P=0.0024). By contrast, no association was detected between the serum level of pro-GRP and survival rate. The results suggest that pretreatment NSE measurement could be clinically useful in patients with NSCLC scheduled to receive gefitinib treatment.出版社サイトへのリンク: https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2015.56

Usefulness of the Palliative Prognostic Index in patients with lung cancer.

The usefulness of the Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) has been successfully validated in a variety of clinical settings. However, while lung cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, patients with lung cancer accounted for only 6.9-25.8 % of the study populations in these previous studies. We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the usefulness of the PPI for survival prediction in patients with lung cancer. Patients with lung cancer who were admitted to our hospital between 2009 and 2013 to receive palliative care were enrolled. The association between the Palliative Prognostic Index, determined based on the data recorded in the clinical charts at the last admission to our hospital, and survival was evaluated. The patient group with a PPI of >6 showed a significantly shorter survival time than the patient group with a PPI of ≤ 6 (P < 0.0001, log-rank test). The sensitivity and specificity of the PPI determined using the cutoff value of 6 for predicting less than 3 weeks of survival were 61.3 and 86.8 %, respectively. However, the sensitivity decreased to 50.0 % when the assessment was carried out in only patients with small cell lung carcinoma. Our findings suggest the existence of a close association between the PPI and survival in patients with lung cancer receiving palliative care. However, the sensitivity of the index for predicting less than 3 weeks of survival was relatively low in patients with small cell lung carcinoma

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Teaching Mathematics in a Smaller Class to doing so in a Regular Class II : Through the Teaching of Simultaneous Equations to Eighth Graders

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of teaching mathematics in a smaller class with one teacher to that of a regular class with two teachers. The results did not seem to show significant differences in achievement tests. The smaller class with one teacher, however, showed higher motivation than the regular class did.(課題番号15907038)平成15年度科学研究補助金(奨励研究