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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 2001 >Chapter3 Section4.2

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   Educational Reform for the 21st Century
Chapter3   BRINGING OUT TALENT AND BRINGING UP CREATIVITY
Section 4:   Promotion of Education for a Nation Based on Creativity of Science and Technology
2   Outline of Measures and Issues



(1) Enhancing Science and Technology Education in Elementary and Secondary Education

In order to cultivate children's scientific knowledge and to develop a wide range of human resources for future science and technology, it is very important to enhance science and technology education at elementary and secondary levels.

  The new Courses of Study, therefore, incorporated more experiential, problem-solving learning such as observations, experiments and project studies to cultivate children's interests in science, to raise their intellectual curiosity and inquisitive minds and to increase the number of children who like science. It also enlarges the range of elective courses in secondary education, and as a result, students can learn more advanced science depending on their interests. In addition, the newly established Period of Integrated Study contributes to the enhancement of scientific education through experiential problem-solving learning such as observations, experiments and project studies since it aims at having children acquire how to learn and think, and to link knowledge and skills of each subject in a comprehensive manner.

  As concrete measures to promote science and technology education, digital educational materials have been prepared along with teacher's reference materials to effectively use them. The digital educational materials utilize advanced research achievements accumulated at science and technology research institutes and other organizations, and aim at making science more understandable to students. Another measure is to designate model areas for the further promotion of science education. In addition, science education facilities and equipment including those for experiments at a school or an educational center have been systematically provided in accordance with the equipment standards for science education. With respect to teaching staff, each prefecture has dispatched a researcher or engineer without a teacher certificate to public elementary or lower secondary school as a special part-time teacher, expanding students' opportunities to learn directly from experts. Elementary and secondary school teachers in charge of science on the other hand have been given opportunities to study new methods of experiments and to research development of new educational equipment at a university, so that they can improve their teaching abilities.


(2) Developing Human Resources for Science and Engineering in Higher Education

Japan's development as a "nation based on creativity of science and technology" requires the development of creative and high quality human resources for science and engineering. The unprecedented advancement of science and technology in recent years has drastically changed the content of basic scientific knowledge that university students should learn. Students with a scientific or technological major also have to acquire a broad range of scientific knowledge and judgment that is not limited to their major field. From this standpoint, it is important to enhance general education, which contributes to the cultivation of students' ability to judge with a broad outlook.

  Specific measures include the enhancement of education and research in cutting-edge technology fields such as information, biotechnology, new material and environment through the establishment of graduate departments and majors and the realignment of courses, responding to the needs of this day and age appropriately. Educational environments, laboratories for example, in fields with major technological innovations have also been upgraded and modernized.

  Another measure is the development and implementation of educational programs to improve students' creativity and practical ability while making good use of their own ideas. Educational programs in high technology fields have also been developed and implemented, based on social needs perceived through university-industry cooperation.

  Furthermore, the internship system has been promoted, so that students can have work experience related to their major or future career at a company.

  As for efforts to improve attractiveness and to send out information in the field of science and engineering, universities and colleges of technology have offered the opportunity for experiential enrollment with a view to raising young people's interests in science and engineering.


(3) Increasing Public Awareness of Science and Technology

In the advancement of Japanese science and technology, it is particularly important to increase public motivation in and awareness of science and technology which constitutes an important part of our society, by taking advantage of various opportunities. Public understanding of science and technology is an indispensable social foundation for a "nation based on creativity of science and technology."

  For this purpose, the function of scientific museums, which are important learning places concerning science, has been enhanced and effectively used. More specifically, model museums as the center of communities, in coordination with other museums, schools and related organizations in the community, have developed educational materials for experiments by exploiting the expertise and characteristic of each museum. It has also introduced interactive exhibits and experiential activities, where children can enjoyably learn nature, technology, history and traditional culture on holiday Saturdays and other available days. The achievements of these model projects have been diffused across the nation.

  The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation opened in FY2001 in order to deepen public understanding of the significance and roles of science and technology. It develops new exhibition and learning experience methods that bring hard-to-crack high technology closer to the people, and holds exhibitions by actually implementing those methods. It also disseminates information on innovative methods of understanding and interaction with scholars. In addition, the science channel project has been promoted to present television programs on scientific topics and experiments in order to provide a wide range of people with opportunities where they can feel science and technology familiar to them. Other measures to facilitate public awareness include a science festival for youth, and support for museum awareness campaigns and the Robot Festival.

Ryoji Noyori, Professor at Nagoya University
Professor Ryoji Noyori receiving a congratulatory call from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi

The 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded for His Work On Chirally Catalyzed Hydrogenation Reactions

  Professor Ryoji Noyori was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on chirally catalyzed hydrogenation reactions. He pioneered the field of asymmetric synthesis reaction in organic chemistry and succeeded in obtaining desired chemical compounds with high optical purity. The prize was for his achievement to establish a technology that was indispensable for many industrial syntheses of pharmaceutical products and other biologically active substances.

  The Nobel prize-winning by Professor Noyori, follow Japanese Nobel Laureates Shirakawa last year, indicated high scientific standards of Japan and, at the same time, served as a source of encouragement and pride among the Japanese people. In this sense, Professor Noyori provided a precious opportunity to raise public awareness of science and technology.

Japanese Nobel Laureates


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