論文

査読有り
2018年

Japanese Astronomy Curriculum in Schools and the Spatial Cognitive Ability of Elementary and Junior High School Students

Journal for Geometry and Graphics
  • Okada, Daiji
  • ,
  • Matsuura, Takuya

22
1
開始ページ
139
終了ページ
147
記述言語
掲載種別
研究論文(学術雑誌)
出版者・発行元
HELDERMANN VERLAG

In 1998 Japanese astronomy classes were shifted from grade 7 to grade 9, as advanced spatial cognition is required to understand astronomy. Consequently, students didn't learn astronomy from grade 5 to grade 8 because of this change. AGATA [1] reported in 2004 that elementary school students had low recognition of astronomical events. However, detailed data was insufficient to consider this impact on the spatial cognition of students. The major aims of this study are as follows. (1) To provide a comparison of the spatial cognition of elementary and junior high school students in 1985 and 2007. (2) To study the impact based on the difference of the astronomy curriculum. This study investigates the spatial cognition of 1968 students from grade 4 to grade 9, specifically, the relationship between the age when astronomy was learned and the understanding of the hemispherical concept, the left-right concept and the spherical concept. A paper test was used, asking what some spheres would look like in a dark room with a single bright light source. The major results of this study are as follows. (1) The hemispherical concept in 2007 is generally less well understood than in 1985 between grade 5 and 8. (2) The understanding of spherical concepts does not decrease, compared to understanding of the left-right concept after students learn it. (3) The spatial cognition improved between grades 5 and 8 although students did not learn astronomy; so other effects can be considered. (4) At grade 9, understanding of each concept of spatial cognition in 2007 is almost the same or better than that in 1985. Although AGATA [1] stated that science education collapsed with the revision of 1998, in this study it is considered that the shift of astronomy classes from grade 7 to 9 led to a general improvement of spatial cognitive ability.

リンク情報
URL
https://www.heldermann.de/JGG/JGG22/JGG221/jgg22013.htm
Scopus
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85050277505&origin=inward
Scopus Citedby
https://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85050277505&origin=inward
ID情報
  • ISSN : 1433-8157
  • SCOPUS ID : 85050277505

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