A study of children’s play transition in the forest environment : Focus on the play area and play activity <Research papers>

This study attempts to clarify the process of play transition in the forest and its environs. The play activity of children in kindergarten is constantly evolving alongside changes of the components of play, including activity (action or movement), roles, rules, and the physical environment (Sato, 2004). By observing children who were playing in nursery-rooms, playrooms, and playgrounds, Sato discovered that the scale of communications among children at play is wide. To clarify how play transitions to the forest, an observational study of children playing in the forest near their kindergarten was conducted. The results affirmed three forms of play transition: transition of place, transition of activity, and transition of both place and activity. By analyzing the circumstances of the three forms of play transition, it was found that discoveries and applications of the natural environment are related to the opportunities arising from play transition. Furthermore, the observations of transitions of both place and activity revealed that the transition of place itself is often seen by the children as a type of play activity. This may be related to both the much wider expanse offered by the forest and the ongoing communication between the children

The Process of a Child’s Play from Start to Finish: A Case of a Boy who Finds Amusement in his Own Play

The purpose of this study was to explore a child’s play process from start to finish as it led to making choices for further play. The target child was a four-year-old boy in kindergarten. We video recorded and took field notes about him during a session in which he was first playing with a top while chatting with other children and his teacher in the main play room. He then switched to jump-roping, which he seemed to enjoy doing by himself. We analyzed the data qualitatively using the Trajectory Equifinality Model(TEM). This model follows the time series in analysis. The results indicated that the recorded process could be broken down into three parts :1) the boy played with only tops during the “exploring stage” ; 2) the boy played with tops while also showing interest in jump-roping in the “mixed play stage” ; 3）the boy decided to end his play with the tops and switch to jump-roping, in the stage we call the “self-directed stage”. We also analyzed the boy’s influence on his own play process, including third stage, in which he seemed to find amusement in his own play.本研究は，2014年度後期「幼児教育学総合研究」（授業担当者：中坪史典准教授）にて収集・分析したデータに加筆したものである。また，本研究の成果の一部は，日本乳幼児教育学会第26回大会で発表した

The Process of a Child’s Play from Start to Finish: A Case of a Boy who Finds Amusement in his Own Play

The purpose of this study was to explore a child’s play process from start to finish as it led to making choices for further play. The target child was a four-year-old boy in kindergarten. We video recorded and took field notes about him during a session in which he was first playing with a top while chatting with other children and his teacher in the main play room. He then switched to jump-roping, which he seemed to enjoy doing by himself. We analyzed the data qualitatively using the Trajectory Equifinality Model(TEM). This model follows the time series in analysis. The results indicated that the recorded process could be broken down into three parts :1) the boy played with only tops during the “exploring stage” ; 2) the boy played with tops while also showing interest in jump-roping in the “mixed play stage” ; 3）the boy decided to end his play with the tops and switch to jump-roping, in the stage we call the “self-directed stage”. We also analyzed the boy’s influence on his own play process, including third stage, in which he seemed to find amusement in his own play.本研究は，2014年度後期「幼児教育学総合研究」（授業担当者：中坪史典准教授）にて収集・分析したデータに加筆したものである。また，本研究の成果の一部は，日本乳幼児教育学会第26回大会で発表した

Sensing and surface morphological properties of a poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-bithiophene] liquid-crystalline polymer for optoelectronic applications

The sensing properties of a poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-bithiophene] (F8T2) polymer were investigated at different concentrations and volume percentages. The effects of the concentrations and volume percentages on the sensing parameters were investigated. The sensitivities of F8T2 were found to be 3.190, 1.434, and 0.362 dB/vol % at 290, 580, and 940 nm, respectively. The response of the F8T2 increased with increasing concentration. F8T2 exhibited good sensitivity and response behaviors. Then, the optical parameters based on the refractive indices of the F8T2 at different molarities were calculated. The dispersion energy, moment of the dielectric constant optical spectrum (M-1, M-3), oscillator strength, and contrast of the F8T2 increased with increasing molarity, whereas the average excitation energy or single-oscillator energy decreased with increasing molarity. The surface morphological properties of the F8T2 polymer film were investigated, and the roughness parameters were obtained. The F8T2 polymer could be used in the fabrication of various sensors because of the good solubility, sensitivity, and response behaviors. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc