Interests and Concerns Property on the Regional Characteristics of Natural Environment for the Students Who Attend a Subject of Social Studies Education

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to clarify the interests and concerns property of the regional characteristics of natural environment. In this study, the questionnaire survey was conducted in February of 2006 in Tokyo for 102 university students who attend subjects of the social studies education. The matters of the questionnaire survey are about students' interests and concerns both on the form of the natural environment phenomena and the degree of its attribute contents of the phenomena. The attribute contents are the characteristics of the region of phenomenon, mechanism, time variation, and the relationship the phenomenon and modern society.The students considered the multiple natural environment phenomena. For example, there were climate and topography, mountain, river and so on. Theses are classified into five categories of that kind's atmospheric, geosphere, hydrosphere and biospheres and another.For the atmospheric phenomena, the students indicated more interests and concerns the relationship the phenomena and modern society than the characteristics of the region of phenomena. These are synthesis phenomea, which are climate, and also are included social problems such as global warming. These phenomena are so abstract image with which wave spatial and time variation and invisible phenomena. The other hand, the students also indicated the interests and concerns both the relationship the phenomenon and the modern society and the characteristics of the region of phenomenon on the geosphere phenomena. These phenomena are visible to students, therefore they image with ease about occurrence of the phenomena over the region and ground in this category. However, the student indicated hardly interests and concerns the characteristics of the region of phenomena for hydrospheric phenomena, which can be visible nevertheless. In this case, the students have interests and concerns in and around their residential area. In the biospheric phenomenon, the students indicate interests and concerns both relationship the phenomena and the modern society and the characteristics of region of phenomena, but it did not show a marked so tendency.Moreover, the students researched the natural environment phenomena by different ways every various phenomena in this time, and what's more they are going to recognize by the same means with which got to research the natural environment phenomena.It is concluded that the teachers should support by using the CAI teaching materials when the students learn about invisible phenomenon such as the atmospheric phenomena. And they should expand student' interests and concerns area on the hydrospheric phenomena in lecture.