Situation and problems of

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Situation and problems of decrease of Japanese
students in Science and Technology fields
Yasushi Ogura National Institute for
Educational Policy Research of Japan OECD/GSF
Declining interest in science studies among
young people committee member OECD/PISA Science
Expert Group member
OECD/Japan Seminar in Tokyo, June 23-24, 2005
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Is there a problem of declining interest among
young people in studying ST?

• PISA tells us the situation of how well young
  people are prepared to meet the challenges of
  todays knowledge societies.
• PISA does not tell the situation of preparation
  of young people who are coming to Science and
  Technology (ST) fields to study and work and
  then engage in researches, developments or
  productions in ST.
• Researches on situations and causes of and
  effective measures to the problem have been
  analyzed.

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Japanese students in Science and Technology are
decreasing

• Decrease of the number of young people in ST
  fields will lead the lack of human resources in
  researches, developments or productions in ST
  fields.
• Number of students who study in ST fields has
  been decreased in Japan.
• It is predicted that the number of students who
  study in ST fields will be rapidly decreased.

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Change in the number of new entrants to
universities
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Change in the number of candidates to universities
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Decrease of younger population

• Number of high school graduates will be decreased
  20 in 2010 and 23 in 2020 from the in 2000.

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Japanese students are less interested in ST
fields internationally

• Making it higher the proportion of students who
  want ST studies and jobs in the same cohort can
  solve the problem of lacking human resource in
  ST fields.
• There is a large room to elevate the level of
  interest among young people in ST fields in
  Japan.

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Interest in ST jobs
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Motivation comparison among OECD countries
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Motivation comparison with other subjects
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Researches on effective activities

• Increasing the number of students in ST fields
  is urgent need in Japan. There have been various
  activities at elementary and secondary education.
  In 2002, MEXT has started national initiative
  called as Kagaku-Gijyutsu Rika Daisuki Plan
  (Science Literacy Enhancement Initiatives, in
  english) in which various activities for
  promoting ST education has been organized and
  supported.
• Some effective activities have been found from
  questionnaire surveys on randomly sampled schools
  and schools under the national support.

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Effective activity Science learning from
science experts
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Effective activity Science learning by visiting
science museums and research institutes
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Effective activity Science learning by going
out (field study)
15
Effective activity Science learning by doing a
project
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Effective activity Independent scientific
research
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Rika-daisuki schools

• As a national measure, 105 elementary and 62
  lower-secondary schools in 19 areas had been
  designated as Rika-daisuki schools for two
  years since 2003.
• In designated schools, science and mathematics
  programs with focusing on observations and
  experiments, enrichment of elective subjects and
  advanced learning had been practiced.
• Designated schools were not special ones, and
  participated students were not selected and
  essentially the same group of students in normal
  schools at the start of the program.

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Super Science High schools

• As a major national measure, 26 upper-secondary
  schools had been designated as Super Science
  High-schools (SSH) for three years since 2002.
  (This program has been expanded and continued.)
• In designated schools, special programs focusing
  on science, mathematics and technology, with
  emphasis on cooperative measures with
  universities and research institutes had been
  practiced.
• Designated schools were relatively high
  achievement schools, and participated students
  have had higher level of interest in science
  learning from the start of the program.

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Suggestions Providing for more students and in
more frequently

• A. opportunities to learn science from science
  experts
• B. opportunities to visit science museums and
  research institutes to learn science
• C. opportunities to go for field and study
  science in nature with living things
• D. opportunities to do science projects in
  science lessons
• E. supports to develop their own scientific
  researches
• As the level of interest in ST fields improves,
• F. expanding the proportion of admission of new
  entrants in Engineering Science and Natural
  Science