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Lecture Held Under JSPS Science Dialogue ProgramOn 18 December 2008, a lecture was held at Fukushima Prefectural Soma High School under the JSPS Science Dialogue Program. The high school was designed a "super-science high school (SSH)" in FY 2004. As such, its educational program places emphasis on science, math and technology. The high school uses the Science Dialogue Program as a means to enhance its science curriculum. Under the Science Dialogue Program, JSPS recruits volunteer lecturers from among young overseas researchers who are residing in Japan under its postdoctoral fellowship programs. They give lectures on their research activities and backgrounds and their home countries at Japanese high schools in the vicinity of their host institutions. It is a unique program in that it allows young researchers from other countries who are doing frontline joint research at Japanese universities and research institutes to go in person to high schools in their communities and give the students specialized lectures in English. In this case, JSPS postdoctoral fellow Dr. Louis J. Irving, who is doing research in the Plant Nutrition and Function Laboratory of Tohoku University's Graduate School of Agricultural Science, went to Soma High School to give a lecture. He was accompanied by his colleague Mr. Shinya Wada. Held in the afternoon, the lecture was attended by 72 first and second-year students. Titling it "My Life in Science," Dr. Irving started his lecture by introducing the students to his home country of Scotland. He, then, told them about what is was that motivated him to become a researchers and the path he took to getting there, while elaborating the wonders of scientific inquiry and discovery. In giving the lecture, Dr. Irving used simple English, complimented by projecting key words in both English and Japanese on a screen. This allowed the students to follow the lecture without getting lost or falling behind. They listened intently throughout the 45-minute English lecture, and asked Dr. Irving many questions during following Q&A period. Afterwards, Dr. Irving walked around the room engaging the students in conversation. After Dr. Irving's lecture, his colleague Mr. Wada gave a 30-minute lecture in Japanese, which he started by giving the students a picture of the life and research activities of university graduate students, followed by a more specialized presentation on what makes leaves wither and die. In the following very-animated Q&A period, questions led to a discussion on how to prepare oneself for graduate school. The session ended with words of thanks by a student representative to Dr. Irving and Mr. Wada for their stimulating lectures in English and Japanese.
This lecture program was very interactive with the students tossing the lecturers volleys of questions, whose interspersed jokes were, in turn, answered with smiling faces. This valuable experience not only helped the students to improve their English but also, it is hoped, acted to stimulate their interest in scientific research, while deepening their international understanding. Lectures under the Science Dialogue Program are held at high schools throughout Japan. See the following website for information on program implementation during the current fiscal year: http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-plaza/e-sdialogue/04_cl.html JSPS solicits the participation of Japanese high schools in the Science Dialogue Program, placing particular focus on "super-science high schools (SSH)" and "super-English language high schools (SELHi)" and other high schools with strong science and English curriculums. For related information, see the following website: http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-plaza/e-sdialogue/02_how_fellows.html The website of Fukushima Prefectural Soma High School is as follows: http://www.soma-h.fks.ed.jp/ The website for the Ministry of Education and Science's super-science high schools is as follows: http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/20/04/08040905.htm |
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