Comparative study of earfy stag B educations for specially gifted and all-round talented students-on the basis of investigation of experimental class for science education and grade-skipping system of elementary and lower secondary schools in the past

2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 14310142
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Educaion
• Research Institution: The National Center for University Entrance Examinations
• Principal Investigator: IWATSUBO Shuichi The National Center for University Entrance Examinations, Research Division, Professor, 研究開発部, 教授 (20141997)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KINOSHITA Tomio Koshien University, President, 学長 (10026742) ; SHIKATA Yoshihiro Meijo University, Center for Polymathematics, Professor, 理工学部, 教授 (50028114) ; UCHIDA Tatsuhiro Meijo University, Center for Polymathematics, lecturer, 理工学部, 講師 (50168697) ; ITO Kei The National Center for University Entrance Examinations, Research Division, Assistant Professor, 研究開発部, 助手 (60332144)
• Project Period (FY): 2002 – 2004
• Keywords: Experimental class for science education / Grade-skipping system in elementary and lower secondary school / Grade-skipping system for university entrance examinations / early stage educations for gifted students

Research Abstract

The characteristics of two early stage educations introduced in pre-war times were investigated through the narratives of persons participated in these two educational schemes, to meet the present demand for answering how to develop property the science education of our country. The adopted two early stage educations are :
1.experimental class for science education carried by the Ministry of Education from January 1945 to March 1948, where gifted students of mathematics and natural sciences were selected and educated through advanced lectures,
2.grade-skipping system of elementary and lower secondary schools introduced in pre-war times, where some able students were allowed to skip ordinary courses to study advanced courses in higher school.
Main findings show that :
1.It is very important for gifted students to be provided with human sciences courses as well as advanced natural sciences courses, since the greatness of the works in science and technology depends on how he or she reaches th e ability of universally recognizing and reflecting this world. The economical efficiency will culminate in failure in the early stage educations. However when and how to offer human sciences courses will depend on individual personality.
2.The importance of how to construct teaching scheme is again recognized. The instructors are demanded to be excellent in the skills of both teaching and researching to imbue students with curiosity and enthusiasm for study.
3.The students used to belong to experimental class for science education have made afterwards remarkable contributions to the fields of not only science and technology but human and social sciences, which suggests that intensive science education generally causes to cultivate creative and challenging minds of students. When gifted students should select their professionals is also important problem to meet the sound development of early stage education of our country.
4.The liaison between early stage education and higher education is another problem taken into careful consideration.
The students experienced early stage education are now at the age of more than seventies. A lot of students were passed away. We propose heartily that the national project should be organized as soon as possible to discover and keep their narratives and records of invaluable experiences carried in our country in past time for the development of Japanese science and technology education.