An Investigation into the Method of Education on Radiation and Radioactivity in Primary and Lower Secondary Schools.

调查了日本目前小学和初中使用的所有科目的教科书中关于“辐射”和“放射性”的描述。据透露，小学生第一次接触到这些概念是在社会科教科书中，涉及1945年广岛和长崎的原子弹爆炸、1954年比基尼环礁氢弹试验和1986年切尔诺贝利核电站事故等历史事件，而没有教授辐射和放射性的科学概念。在初中后期，学生们在自然科学课本上学习了一些关于辐射和放射性的入门知识，但他们更多地了解了上文介绍的与核能利用有关的悲惨社会事件。不同学科的教材之间几乎没有发现任何协调。对500名初中社会科学和自然科学教师进行的问卷调查表明，许多教师认为首先呈现辐射或放射性的负像是合适的，因为他们认为这些因素实际上是有风险的。本研究还指出了一些关于辐射和放射性的不恰当描述，并试探性地提出了一些科学上更合适的解释例子。出版了一份约200页的报告，其中包括在辐射和放射性领域的一些值得称赞的教育做法的例子。

School textbooks of all subjects currently used in primary and junior high-schools in Japan were investigated regarding the descriptions about "radiation" and "radioactivity". It was revealed that the schoolchildren are first exposed to those concepts in the textbooks of social studies dealing with historical events such as the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atolls in 1954, and the accident of Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, without being taught about scientific concepts of radiation and radioactivity. Later in junior highschool, students learn some introductory knowledge about radiation and radioactivity in the textbook of natural science, but they learn more about tragic social events regarding the utilization of nuclear energy as introduced above. Almost no coordination was observed between the textbooks of different subjects. A questionnairing was conducted on the teachers of social studies and natural sciences of 500 junior highschools, which suggested that many teachers have a feeling that it is appropriate to first present minus image of radition or radioactivity because they think these factors are actually risky.The present research also pointed out a number of inappropriate descriptions about radiation and radioactivity, and tentatively proposed some examples of scientifically more appropriate explanations. A report of some 200 pages was published including some commendable examples of educational practices in the fields of radiation and radioactivity.