Hiroki Fujii

Innovative Lesson Plans in Chemistry Education for Broadening Sustainable Society

Expanding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is one of the big challenges for education in Japan. Science educators are also tackling the link between science education and ESD, and focusing on promoting students’ understanding of key concepts for sustainable development and enhancing their abilities in making appropriate judgments on science, technology, society, and environment (STSE) issues. We developed chemistry lesson models for upper secondary school that reflect the viewpoints of ESD. The lesson topics cover bioenergy like biodiesel, biological resources like chitin and chitosan, and metal resources like iron. After conducting trial lessons for students in both Japan and Korea, we evaluated the lesson with the outlined objective of promoting students’ abilities to make appropriate judgments based on their knowledge of science. The results show that the lessons achieved a measure of success, and also provided an excellent opportunity for the students to consider the possibilities for establishing a sustainable global society.

Practice and Effect of Lessons on Inquiry Activities in Senior High School Chemistry: Focusing on Students’ Attitudes Toward Chemistry

Inquiry activities in high school science curriculum in Japan were introduced in the 1970s, brought by the influence of a modernization movement of science education in the USA (Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, 1973). The science education in those days was focused on fostering students’ skills in science through inquiry and also on enhancing their understanding of basic concepts of science through the process of inquiry. Ever since, inquiry activities have been considered as of great importance in high school science lessons. Recently, promoting students’ abilities in scientific thinking, judgment, and expression through inquiry learning is also emphasized. In the first part of this chapter, we present the current situations of lessons on inquiry activities in senior high school science, with particular emphasis on chemistry.

A Trial of Placement and Embodiment of Images for Chemical Concepts in the Lesson Model of a “Surface Active Agent” Through SEIC

Trials of a lesson model of a “surface-active agent” through “Special Emphasis on Imagination leading to Creation” (SEIC) were carried out. The lesson model was conducted for an undergraduate science-study class of junior (third-year) level students and during the course for renewal of teachers’ licenses for in-service teachers of primary schools. The operation of making images of a surface-active agent (surfactant) was carried out where a lecture with frequent discussions without memorization was performed. An evaluation of the lesson model through the trials was conducted. Drawings displayed a large variety of representations with vivid and accurate descriptions. Participants used many chemical terms on subsequent practices and properly explained their own understanding of drawings. Answers to questionnaire items implied that drawings and subsequent explanations were influential in enhancing students’ knowledge and vocabulary relating to chemical concepts.