[Special Feature] Super Science High School (SSH) and Japan's Next Generation Human Resources Development

Although it is said that young people are leaving science, the percentage of doctoral students in engineering at national universities has been flat for nearly 10 years.Leaving science is a common problem not only in Japan but also in developed countries, and efforts are being made in each country to develop next-generation human resources.

This time, we will introduce products related to STEAM education, along with the introduction of Super Science High School (SSH), which is one of the next-generation human resources development projects in Japan.

Related article:

 

 

Super Science High School (SSH) and STEM (STEAM) Education

STEM education is an easy-to-understand example when considering the relationship between science and education. STEM education is an educational model that began in the United States in the 2000s.Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics = Educational fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematicsIs used as a generic term.
In addition to this, there is also the expression STEAM education that is conscious of fostering more creative ideas by adding Arts (liberal arts), and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan also uses the expression of STEAM education.STEM education and STEAM education can be considered the same in that they focus on educational fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Originally, STEM education has been talked about in policy proposals on education and immigration from the perspective of improving the competitiveness of science and technology development in the United States.It was a theme that was taken up as a priority issue during the Obama administration, and is attracting attention in emerging countries other than the United States.

Programming is becoming more compulsory in Japanese educational settings, and educational practices in the STEM (STEAM) field are being promoted.On the other hand"Points of the OECD Program for International Student Assessment 2018 (PISA 2018)"According to the report, Japan has the shortest usage time of digital devices in school classes (national language, mathematics, science), and is the lowest among OECD member countries.

Key points of the OECD Program for International Student Assessment 2018 (PISA 2018)

https://www.nier.go.jp/kokusai/pisa/pdf/2018/01_point.pdf

ICT environment development is already accelerating in the field of education in relation to the new way of education in Corona, but not only the physical environment but also the preparation for acceptance by the instructor and troubles related to digital devices and their use. There are also facts that have surfaced.

Due to these factors, it is often said that Japan is far behind other countries in utilizing digital technology in education and promoting education in the STEAM field.
In such a situation, the existence of Super Science High School (SSH) will be attracting attention as a stake in STEAM education in Japan.

SSH itself started in 2002, and since its start, its budget has been increasing year by year, which is also a system that attracts a lot of attention.
The purpose of SSH is"Development of curriculum focusing on science and mathematics in high schools and junior and senior high schools, promotion of research on effective cooperation measures with universities and research institutes, and development of promising science and technology human resources in the future Contribute toThe point is to be able to organize and implement a curriculum that does not follow the curriculum guidelines and develop a curriculum that focuses on science and mathematics.

In addition, efforts are being made to collaborate with universities and educational institutions, enhance science club activities, and exchange between SSHs nationwide, and SSH designated schools can be said to be the driving force behind STEAM education in Japan. Probably.

Reiwa 3rd year designated school (218 schools)

https://www.jst.go.jp/cpse/ssh/school/list.html

The fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education can be said to be extremely important fields in aiming to promote the SDGs and Society 5.0. Both SDGs and Society 5.0 aim to combine global and regional issues with science and technology to achieve both social and economic development that leaves no one behind and solutions to social issues.

Young people who will be responsible for the future will learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at a deep level as part of their learning, and by digging into the basics and engaging in applied efforts, SDGs and Society 5.0 will be used as daily consciousness and ideas. It seems that it can be said that it will lead to the establishment and improvement of sustainability.

Related article:

In addition, SSH itself is being developed with a view to collaborating with universities and research institutes, but from the perspective of strengthening Japan's international competitiveness, only the framework of schools and systems will be insufficient. ..If cooperation with society as a whole is strengthened, rather than being completed within a narrow framework, the significance of STEAM education will become clearer, and students will be more motivated to enroll in SSH designated schools. May increase.

The results and examples of SSH are posted on the Japan Science and Technology Agency's WEB page, so please take a look.

SSH achievements and examples

https://www.jst.go.jp/cpse/ssh/ssh/public/results.html

 

Education and high technology

As mentioned above, cutting-edge technologies such as STEAM education and their education are common issues around the world.
Many teaching materials related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and products that can be used as teaching materials have been released.

 

Here, we will introduce the products that we handle as typical ones.

Programming learning

  • iRobot Create 2
    A robot development platform based on the cleaning robot "Roomba".

 

  • Raspberry Pi 4
    A small board computer ideal for programming learning and IoT development.

 

  • Kebbi Air
    From elementary and junior high school (visual programming) to high school / university (coding in programming language), this robot is ideal for STEM education and can learn programming according to the learning level.

 

 

 

self-driving

  • Duckietown
    A platform for learning robotics and AI from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

 

  • Donkey car
    Autonomous driving platform kit for radio-controlled cars. A pre-assembled self-driving car that utilizes TensorFlow (an open source machine learning platform).

 

Robotics

  • Pupper Robot
    An open source small quadruped walking robot that is low cost and can be customized and programmed.

 

  • Ned
    A highly flexible 6-axis robot arm that is also used in the field of education and research.

 

  • Crazy flie
    A palm-sized quadcopter assembly kit.As a development platform, the flexibility of abundant extensibility makes it suitable for use in education.

 

Remote learning

  • STEMLab-125-10 Stay @ home kit
    A kit suitable for remote learning while at home.A compact, credit card-sized device that is accurate and versatile.

 

Summary

If STEAM education, including SSH, and next-generation human resources development projects and systems in Japan become a society that has a greater presence, students' values ​​and prospects for the future will become even more noticeable. I think I will.Above all, it will lead to the acceleration of human resource development that will lead the international community in the future, so there is no doubt that even greater backup is expected.

At Tegara, we will actively introduce products and information related to SSH and STEAM education, so information on trends in global education and next-generation human resource development has become a hint for our customers' education and research and development. I would be happy if you could.