理科教材の試作とその学習効果の測定 : 第1報告:「わゴム」による「てこ」の学習

In the teaching of the principle of levers and pulleys, weights and balances have been used as conventional teaching aids. We have found, however, that we can use rubber bands instead of weights for this purpose, and have devised a simple experimental board using ordinary rubber rings and a scale by means of which pupils can perform various kinds of force experiments. (Fig. 2.7 ) By replacing weights with rubber bands we have found that this board is of advantage in presenting illustrative examples of force which an ordinary weight-balance apparatus fails to present. For instance, a lever model with its fulcrum at one end can be eaily made, and even the magnitude of the force exerted at the fulcrum can be shown by the number of stretched rubber bands. (Fig. 2.6 ) Besides being economical and easy to handle children soon get familiar with the apparatus because of their play experiences with rubber bands. It is to be noted that in the learning of force by our device, force is regarded as a dynamic tension produced by the expansion of rubber, rather than as a static gravitational force exerted. by the suspended weights. Thus we have introduced a new learning situation. The purpose of the present study was to attempt to construct and evaluate a more effective apparatus for the teaching of force and quilibrium. We have been also concerned with the sequence of the study in close relation to children\u27s understanding of force through their everyday activities. A preliminary study was made of 147 pupils (4th and 6th grades) at an elementary school. The procedures of the experiment and evaluation test were revised on the basis of an analysis of the findings in the preliminary study, and a later, full-scale experiment (using a "before-after" design) was made of 328 fourth-grade pupils of two different schools, each divided into four classes. In each school, two classes studied the principle of the lever with the rubber band apparatus, one being conducted mainly through teacher\u27s demonstration experiments and the other through pupils\u27 group experiments. The other two classes were used as control groups to cover the same subject using conventional apparatus (weights and balances). Several tests were given to examine the homogeneity of the four classes, and it was found that there were no significant differences among the classes. The findings obtained from the tests and the problems suggesting further investigation are summarized as follows: 1) The analysis of the before and after tests revealed that there was no significant difference in the effectiveness of learning between the "rubber band" groups and the "weight" groups, although there was a difference in the amount of learning between the two schools. This means that our teaching device was as effective as the conventional weight-balance apparatus. The precise functional difference in effectiveness of the two different approaches is still to be investigated further through continuing studies having more detailed design. 2) A correlation analysis, especially devised for this study, showed that there was a considerable amount of individual difference in the gains between before and after tests. The scores of the before test were negatively correlated with the gains. This means that the lower ability group in the before test made greater gains through this experiment. 3) An item analysis for the paired problems, one using rubber bands and the other with weights, indicated that these two types of learning were transferable, because both the "weight" and the "rubber band" groups equally gained on the problems using the material (rubber band or weight) which they did not actually use in the class

「流体の力学」(工学基礎科目)における工業用テレビとオーバーヘッド・プロジェクターの教育機能の研究

Since 1962, Kanto Gakuin University has been concerned with a method for large group instruction, especially for the students majoring Engineering. During the four years, 1962 through 1966, a series of pilot studies was made for the possibilities of effective presentation of several college courses by television as by regular-sized conventional classroom teaching. Various demonstration devices for the televised lectures have been tested and made, while adequate arrangements of TV receivers and other audio-visual facilities have also been checked (Fig. 2.1, 2.19, 3.7). This study was an attempt to investigate the nature of the contributions of closed-circuit television and of large transparencies to the acquisition of information and to the development of learning attitude associated with Fluid Mechanics, one of the college foundation courses. The investigation compared the attainment of 155 freshman instructed over CCTV (TV class) with that of 142 equally individuals instructed with the use of large transparencies (OHP class). A series of materials and devices, especially designed for the OHP class, has also made (Fig. 2.8, 3.6). A Before-After experimental design was used to test the hypothesis: the effectiveness of each medium could be accelerated if it was properly applied to a certain stage of the conceptualization (Fig. 1). The Before Test (BT) consists of 20 multiple-choice questions, having four alternatives each (reliability index r:. 68). It was constructed from the view point of basic understanding and knowledge of the course. After the students of both classes had participated for five months experimentation, 25 more professional questions, eight of which were the same that tested before, were given for the After Test (AT). Quiz scores and note-book grades, along with results of a questionaire of student opinion, were also taken into consideration for the final analysis of this study. Selected findings were as follows: With respect to the learning of factual information, as a whole, students of OHP class did better than those of TV. BT: X^^-_≒X_^^-(no significant difference) AT: X^^-_>X^^-_ (1% significant level) The difference obtained from AT might be considered as the one resulted from the fact that low ability students in TV could not follow the lecture contents, partly because of their note-taking difficulties. Student achievement under either method, was positively related to their active participation in the lecture. No relation, however, was found between their AT scores and the note-book grades. From the results obtained with the questionaire, there appeared to be some correlation between the demonstrations, which students might think impressive, and their correct answers of certain questions, particularly related to the demon strations. That means, in a certain demonstration, the use of TV is a superior method than of OHP, and, in other case, vice versa. In the sequence of the lecture, it is necessary to find the most effective usage of the media, whatever they are, through accumulations of such findings