Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2024

Presentation information

[J] Oral

U (Union ) » Union

[U-10] Science Council of Japan and JpGU

Mon. May 27, 2024 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM Convention Hall (CH-B) (International Conference Hall, Makuhari Messe)

convener:Kenji Satake(Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo), Nobuko Saigusa(National Institute for Environmental Studies), Takashi Oguchi(Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo), Yukihiro Takahashi(Department of Cosmosciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University), Chairperson:Nobuko Saigusa(National Institute for Environmental Studies), Kenji Satake(Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo)

4:30 PM - 4:45 PM

[U10-11] JpGU's Activities of Education and Human Resource Development

*Natsue Abe1,2 (1.Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology , 2.Graduate School of Natural Science& Technology, Kanazawa University)

Keywords:Geoscience education, completion rate of geoscience course, Educational Affairs Committee, Earth Science Week Japan, Committee for Diversity Management and Talent Pool Awards Committee

According to a 2015 MEXT survey, the percentage of high schools nationwide offering and taking "Basic Earth Science" is 43.7% and 26.2%, respectively, indicating that when it comes to "Earth Science," the percentage is as low as 8.8% and 0.9%. In high school, about 30% of the students took "Earth Science" or "Basic Earth Science," while roughly 70% did not. The percentage of students taking Earth Science or Fundamentals of Earth Science is meager among those entering science courses. In Japan, where natural disasters occur frequently, the lack of opportunities to study geology is a significant problem for disaster prevention and mitigation efforts.
JpGU has been discussing various issues related to geoscience education at the primary and secondary levels and conducting several activities related to human resource development, including the Education Review Committee. For example, the Education Review Committee holds teacher training sessions (formerly teacher license renewal workshops), provides training opportunities for teachers, and is involved in teaching and leading the Earth Science Olympiad. In addition, in cooperation with the American Geoscience Institute (AGI), the committee holds Earth Science Week Japan in October, which includes educational activities for the general public in various parts of Japan. In January 2023, the AGI and NASA collaborated to establish an online connection between high school students in Japan, including SSH students, researchers from the U.S. and Europe, and NASA and Japan. In addition, a session on disaster education was held at the JpGU Congress. In addition, the committee is working on various issues in teacher training programs.
The Diversity Promotion Committee has taken the lead in participating in the Summer School for Girls every year, and from 2020 to 2022, we held a public session to introduce the work of Ph.D.s and researchers. This is a way of introducing young human resources, exceptionally high school students, in a way that is close to their needs. Along with the activities of Earth Science Week Japan, we have been conducting field observations and live broadcasts from outdoor research sites, such as research vessels, from the field, and posting the videos on YouTube.
However, geoscience education cannot be completed only in our field; cooperation in a wide range of STEM and disaster prevention education is vital. In this presentation, I would like to introduce educational and human resource development activities in JpGU and discuss issues to be addressed.