2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Starry sky to classroom! Changing science education in Japan with the first Ovesea Internet Obserbatory.
| Project/Area Number |
15403001
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 海外学術 |
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| Research Field |
Science education
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| Research Institution | Kumamoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
SATOH Takehiko Kumamoto University, Faculty of Education, Associate Professor, 教育学部, 助教授 (10297632)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MAEDA Kengo Kumamoto University, Faculty of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (00040048)
SAKAKIBARA Yasushi Shinshu University, Faculty of Education, Associate Professor, 教育学部, 助教授 (90273060)
YAMAZAKI Yoshio Chiba University, Faculty of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (10210402)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2004
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| Keywords | Science Education / Astronomy Education / Internet / Remote Control / Observatory / Real Time |
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| Research Abstract |
In FY2003, we have installed the "first" oversea Internet Observatory to Tema Secondary School, Ghana, after 2 times of visits to that country : during the first visit(August 2003), all the negotiations were done and the observatory site was determined ; and actual construction work was done during the second visit(November through December 2003). Ghana Internet Observatory was used at class at elementary schools in Hondo-shi and Shinwa-machi, Kumamoto, for the first time(15 and 16 December 2003). Night sky of Ghana was successfully viewed via the Internet and it was promising that real-time viewing of night sky with the Internet Observatory would become a useful tool for astronomy education.
In FY2004, the observatory has received continuous minor improvements and some maintenance works, while it has been used intensively at classrooms : such activities took place at elementary schools in Hondo-shi and Shinwa-machi, a junior high school in Kumamoto-shi, an elementary school in Sapporo-
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shi, and elementary schools attached to Kumamoto University, Hokkaido University of Education, and Chiba University. It is noteworthy that students showed strong interests in images of heavenly bodies received from Ghana Observatory and in such activities(we have surveyed before and after how they are interested in the subjects). The class at the elementary school attached to Kumamoto University(February 2005) was reported on a TV news, indicating our project is now getting public attentions.
In addition to the classroom uses, the Internet Observatory was utilized in Life-long Education, at a Science Museum, and demonstrated at a symposium of Center for Educational Computing. Reports were made in both years at the annual meetings of Astronomical Society of Japan.
As there have been so many things to do(installation of observatory and teaching at classrooms), we were not able to write up a comprehensive report of the project. However, important results have been summarized in two graduate theses so that we should soon be able to publish papers. To summarize, the project has been so successful and this new tool surely will open a new era in science education, we believe. Less
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Research Products
(2 results)
