japanese education research papers

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

•  We're Hiring!
•  Help Center

Japanese education

• Most Cited Papers
• Most Downloaded Papers
• Newest Papers
• Save to Library
• Last »
• Japanese Studies Follow Following
• Japanese Language And Culture Follow Following
• Philippine education Follow Following
• Sociology of Japan Follow Following
• Textbook Evaluation Follow Following
• School Reform Follow Following
• Immigrant children Follow Following
• Anthropology of Japan Follow Following
• British Culture Follow Following
• Education and Conflict Follow Following

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• Academia.edu Publishing
•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

• © 2021

Science Education Research and Practice from Japan

• Tetsuo Isozaki 0 ,
• Manabu Sumida 1

Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

Ehime University, Ehime, Japan

Presents a unique opportunity to initiate change and/or develop science education research in Japan

Provides historical reasons essential to Japanese students’ success in international science tests such as TIMSS and PISA

Explores aspects of Japanese science education by gathering the latest research findings

1913 Accesses

3 Citations

• Table of contents

About this book

Editors and affiliations, about the editors, bibliographic information.

• Publish with us

Buying options

• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (9 chapters)

Front matter, why research the history of science education/teaching (rika) in japan.

Tetsuo Isozaki

The Pursuit of Understanding Science Classroom Culture in Korea and East Asia

• Jinwoong Song

Addressing the Challenges and Scaffolding of Inquiry-Based Teaching on Secondary School Students’ Efficacy in Conducting Scientific Inquiry

• Aris C. Larroder

Science and Nature: Science Teachers’ Views at the International Collaborative Project Between Japan and South Africa

• Miku Yoshida

Amateur Scientists: Unique Characteristics and Possible Factors Supporting Japanese Amateur Scientists’ Continuous Scientific Practices

• Yuuri Kimura

Lessons of a Veteran Teacher’s Ordinary Instruction in Elementary School Science: Implications to Using an Analysis of Fujio Hiramatsu’s Practice

• Hisashi Otsuji

An Alternative Interpretation of Preservice Science Teachers’ Views of Science

• Kazumasa Takahashi

Towards the Identification of ESD Competencies Required for Pre-service Science Teachers

• Hiroki Fujii

Science Education as Gifted Education: Can We Conduct Gifted Education with Non-gifted Students?

Manabu Sumida

Back Matter

This book project poses a major challenge to Japanese science education researchers in order to disseminate research findings on and to work towards maintaining the strength and nature of Japanese science education. It also presents a unique opportunity to initiate change and/or develop science education research in Japan. It provides some historical reasons essential to Japanese students’ success in international science tests such as TIMSS and PISA. Also, it helps to tap the potential of younger generation of science education researchers by introducing them to methods and designs in the research practice. 

• Japanese science education
• science teacher education
• socio-cultural issues in science education
• science education for the gifted
• nature of science
• history of science education
• teaching and learning in science
• learning and instruction

Tetsuo Isozaki  is professor of science education at Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University. He has taught general principles of science teaching, and history of science education for more than twenty years. His research interest is history of science education using comparative history, and science teacher education.  He is the former vice president of the Japanese Society of Science Teaching, and a former executive member of East-Asian Society for Science Education.

Book Title : Science Education Research and Practice from Japan

Editors : Tetsuo Isozaki, Manabu Sumida

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2746-0

Publisher : Springer Singapore

eBook Packages : Education , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021

Hardcover ISBN : 978-981-16-2745-3 Published: 20 July 2021

Softcover ISBN : 978-981-16-2748-4 Published: 21 July 2022

eBook ISBN : 978-981-16-2746-0 Published: 19 July 2021

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XXII, 199

Number of Illustrations : 25 b/w illustrations, 25 illustrations in colour

Topics : Science Education , Learning & Instruction , Teaching and Teacher Education

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

Japanese Educational Research Association Website

Greetings from the president.

The purpose of the Japanese Educational Research Association is to “advance and promote educational research -- through the presentation of its theory and application, exchange of knowledge, and collaboration with relevant associations, both at home and abroad -- and thus contribute to the development of our nation’s academia” (see the Regulations and Rules of Operation). Founded in 1941, the Association now has some 2700 individual members as one of the leading Japanese research associations with a focus on research areas involving educational studies.

As well as holding a yearly conference every August, the Association publishes a Japanese journal (Kyoikugaku Kenkyu) quarterly and an English journal (Educational Studies in Japan) yearly. Various symposia, research gatherings, and seminars for young researchers are also held frequently, along with research activities and meetings focused within seven geographical sectors of Japan, in order to work toward the further development of educational studies research in this country.

The novel coronavirus pandemic of 2020 on has changed the situation of the world and Japan significantly. Relationships between people, the core of education, have changed forms; the influence of socioeconomic inequality on education has also expanded and become more visible as a grave issue. On the other hand, online education and assembly have become rapidly normalized, widening the potential for people to encounter one another beyond space and time; the issue of handling digital transformation (DX) in education has arisen as well.

The global pandemic has, in tandem with climate change, led to inevitable transformations in the relationship between nature and humans on a worldwide scale. These transformations have also changed the conventional divisions between natural sciences and humanities/social sciences, calling for a reappraisal of pedagogy as an academic field taken for granted as well.

In this way, the environment of educational studies is undergoing tremendous changes; here the Association is called upon to address the following four issues.

First, handling our declining membership. Membership numbers last reached 3000 in 2012 and have been on the decline since, falling to the 2700s in recent years and thus placing strain on Association finances as well. To address this situation, we have been working since the previous year to reform the journal, improving the rate of accepted papers and thus creating a virtuous circle of knowledge. We are also working to improve research accessibility by streaming video of online discussions through our Research Promotion and Public Relations Committees, hoping to arouse greater interest in the Association.

Second, improving operation through the introduction of IT systems. In particular, we are bringing our membership management and journal editing and review systems online, intending to enhance journal production efficiency along with convenience for our membership.

Third, bringing new perspectives into the Association and thus bringing about a revolution of knowledge through the participation of high school students and undergraduates. To this end, we are considering adding a membership category enabling these students to participate in Association activities, with discussion in view regarding the need to amend the Regulations thereby.

Fourth, further internationalizing the Association’s activities. We have already begun the construction of spaces for international collaboration, such as holding the 2019 World Educational Research Association (WERA) conference in Tokyo along with our own yearly conference; we intend to enhance these activities further, working in collaboration with the ESJ editorial process and the International Relations and Research Promotion Committees as well in active pursuit of the international development of educational studies in a post-coronavirus world as we increase opportunities for our membership to access these activities.

The Association hopes to address these issues effectively while becoming an even more meaningful space for the participation of our members. We look forward to working together with a wider range of participants in the ever deeper and more active practice of educational studies.

October 22, 2021

Publication

Publication of the record of the presidential symposium of educational research associations in east asia.

The record of the Presidential Symposium of Educational Research Associations in East Asia on Education Reform in East Asia: Prospects for International Linkage among Educational Research Associations has been published. The symposium, hosted by President Teruyuki Hirota of JERA, was held at the 78th Annual JERA Conference in 2019, featuring the presidents of educational research associations in China and Korea as speakers. The record, available in three languages (Japanese, Korean, and Chinese) is downloadable from the following URL. - Japanese (PDF) - Korean (PDF) - Chinese (PDF)

News and Information

Educational studies in japan (esj).

Our English journal, Educational Studies in Japan (ESJ) welcomes manuscripts related to the topics of particular special issues, as well as general submissions in all fi elds and disciplines of educational research. For details, please refer to the following URL: ESJ Manuscript Submission (PDF) Call for Papers (ESJ No.18) (PDF) Submission deadline: August 31, 2023

Japanese Academic Societies Unite to Release a Joint Statement to Protect the Independence of the Science Council of Japan

For details, please refer to the following page: A Joint Statement to Protect the Independence of the Science Council of Japan

Japan Educational Research Association conducted a webinar series on “Pandemic and Education”

For details, please refer to the following page: Webinar series on “Pandemic and Education”

WERA Focal Meeting 2023, Singapore: 22-24 November 2023 For details, please refer to the following URL: https://wera-tokyo.com/ https://2023eraswera.dryfta.com/ Submissions for the Call must be completed by: First submission round deadline: 15 March 2023; 23:59 Singapore (GMT+8) [Notifications by 30 May 2023] Final submission round deadline: 28 July 2023; 23:59 Singapore (GMT+8) [Notifications by 1 September 2023] JERA Annual Conference 2019 (PDF)

#102, Creart Kanda Bldg. 2-15-2, Kanda-Sudacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo101-0041, Japan Copyright（C）2011-2019 Japanese Educational Research Association All Right Reserved.

Education in Japan

• Distinctive Features of Education in Japan
• Past and Present of Education in Japan

1. Education System

• Preschool Education and Care
• Primary School
• Lower Secondary School
• Upper Secondary School
• Higher Education
• Teacher Training and Certificate System
• Social Education System
• Educational Administration
• International Student Policy
• Special Needs Education
• Education in Remote and Isolated Areas
• Senmon Gakko (Professional Training Colleges)
• Science Education at the Stage of Compulsory Education in Japan
• Key Points of the Revised Foreign Language National Curriculum Standards (Course of Study) at Elementary School and Lower Secondary School Levels
• Foreign Language (English) Education in Elementary School
• The Safety of School Facilities in Japan
• Current climate of ESD in Japan
• The Work Environment of Teachers in Japan
• Private School in Japan
• Teacher Transfer and Appointment System in Japan
• Local Educational Administration System in Japan
• Parental and community involvement in school management
• Changing Profiles of Teachers
• Recent Developments in Public Financial Assistance for Formal Education
• Public Financial Assistance for Formal Education
• Daily Life of Primary School
• Information Security Education for Students
• Gender Equality in Education
• International Cooperation in Education
• Moral Education
• Schools for Special Needs Education
• School Lunch Program
• Education Statistics of Japan
• New Trends in Preschool Education and Childcare in Japan
• Course of Study

• MEXT Website Usage Policy

• Research on Japanese-Language Education

The construction of a basic foundation for Japanese-language education is a significant part of the programs. Activities include sharing expertise, conducting a survey of overseas Japanese-language institutions, and creating opportunities for information exchange. The Japan Foundation also hosts symposium and issues publications and reports.

The Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Education Bulletin

Japanese Language Education at the Secondary Level in Five Southeast Asian Countries - Developing Students’ Competencies for the 21st Century -（September 2015）

The Library of the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa

• What We Do Top
• Arts and Cultural Exchange [Culture] Top
• Visual Arts Top
• International Exhibition Participation
• Exhibitions Abroad
• Traveling Exhibitions
• Exhibitions in Japan
• Sharing Information
• Visual Arts Online
• Support Programs for Visual Arts
• Performing Arts Top
• Performances Abroad Program
• Performances in Japan
• International Creations in Performing Arts
• Performing Arts Online
• Support Programs for Performing Arts
• Publication Top
• Support Programs for Translation and Publishing
• Film and Broadcast Top
• Japanese Film Screenings Overseas
• Japanese TV Broadcasting Abroad
• Japanese-Language Education Overseas [Language] Top
• Learn Japanese-language Top
• Message for Japanese Language Learners ― It’s fun to study Japanese!
• Learning Materials
• JF Language Course
• Training Programs
• International Speech Contest in Japanese
• The JF Nihongo Network
• Teach Japanese-language Top
• Japanese-Language Specialists Dispatch Program
• Nihongo Kyoiku Tsushin
• Support Program for Organizations in Japanese-Language Education (Grants)
• Take Japanese-Language Test
• Know about Japanese-language education abroad Top
• Survey on Japanese-Language Education Abroad
• Country and Regional Information
• The Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa
• The Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai
• Japanese-Language Programs for Foreign Specified Skilled Worker Candidates
• Japanese Language Education for Japanese Children Resident Overseas and for the Descendants of Migrants
• Japanese Studies and Global Partnerships [Dialogue] Top
• Japanese Studies Top
• Support for Japanese Studies Organizations
• Japanese Studies Fellowships
• Enhancement of Japanese Studies Network
• Japanese Studies Surveys
• Global Partnerships Programs
• Archives Top
• Center for Global Partnership
• JF digital collection
• Other Programs / Programs to Commemorate Exchange Year Top
• Programs to Commemorate Exchange Year
• Countermeasures for the Great East Japan Earthquake
• Awards and Prizes Top
• The Japan Foundation Awards Top
• The Japan Foundation Awards Recipients, Presentation ceremony and Commemorative events in previous years
• The Japan Foundation Prizes for Global Citizenship
• Publications Top
• Overseas Office Publications
• Exhibition Catalogs
• Film Catalogs
• Japanese Language Education
• Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange
• The Japan Foundation Asian Art Archive

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• 25 October 2023

Japanese research is no longer world class — here’s why

• Anna Ikarashi 0

Anna Ikarashi is a science writer based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Japan’s contribution to world-class research continues to decline, despite having one of the world’s largest research communities, according to a report by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), released in English on 25 October.

Access options

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

24,99 € / 30 days

cancel any time

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

185,98 € per year

only 3,65 € per issue

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 623 , 14-16 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03290-1

Reprints and permissions

Related Articles

‘Global swimways’ on free-flowing rivers will protect key migratory fish species

Correspondence 19 MAR 24

How to stop ‘passing the harasser’: universities urged to join information-sharing scheme

News 18 MAR 24

Take these steps to accelerate the path to gender equity in health sciences

Nature Index 13 MAR 24

China–US climate collaboration concerns as Xie and Kerry step down

News 12 MAR 24

Biden seeks to boost science funding — but his budget faces an ominous future

‘Despair’: Argentinian researchers protest as president begins dismantling science

News 07 MAR 24

A fresh start for the African Academy of Sciences

Editorial 19 MAR 24

Is the Mars rover’s rock collection worth $11 billion?

News 19 MAR 24

Bring PhD assessment into the twenty-first century

Editorial 12 MAR 24

Chair Professor Positions in the School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology

SPST seeks top Faculty scholars in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Tianjin, China

Tianjin University (TJU)

Chair Professor Positions in the School of Materials Science and Engineering

SMSE consists of materials science-related majors and research, including metallic materials, ceramic materials, polymeric materials...

Chair Professor Positions in the School of Mechanical Engineering

Aims to cultivate top talents, train a top-ranking faculty team, construct first-class disciplines and foster a favorable academic environment.

Chair Professor Positions in the School of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronic Engineering

We are committed to accomplishing the mission of achieving a world-top-class engineering school.

Chair Professor Positions in the School of Earth System Science

Seeks for applicants in the following or related fields: Earth System Process/Simulation/Governance, Big Data and Smart Geography...

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS. A lock ( Lock Locked padlock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

NSF launches Global Centers 2024 competition in partnership with five countries

Today, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) joined partner funding agencies from Canada, Finland, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom in announcing the launch of the Global Centers 2024 competition , with the theme "Addressing Global Challenges through the Bioeconomy." 

Winning teams will be awarded up to $5 million to implement new Global Centers — international, interdisciplinary collaborative research centers that will apply best practices of broadening participation and community engagement to develop use-inspired research on the bioeconomy. The centers will also create education and workforce development opportunities for students and early-career researchers while enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility across the global STEM enterprise.

"The Global Centers 2024 competition is a testament to NSF's commitment to global partnerships that are advancing critical innovations in the bioeconomy and enabling new solutions to some of our most important global challenges," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "I am especially excited about the range of international partners that are working together on this project. The shared values that underpin our commitments to robust research collaborations are fostering new breakthroughs and supercharging innovation at the frontiers of the bioeconomy."

The 2024 competition is an NSF-led activity, coordinated through NSF's Global Center program with the NEH, and co-sponsored with five other countries' science agencies: Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC); Finland's Research Council of Finland (RCF) and Business Finland (BF); the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST); the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology (MSIT) and National Research Foundation (NRF); and the United Kingdom's U.K. Research and Innovation (UKRI). 

Focused on the bioeconomy — the share of the economy based on products, services and processes derived from living systems — the 2024 competition will prioritize holistic, multidisciplinary projects, that demonstrate large-scale, international collaboration to advance science within the scope of the competition's theme and may include research from any combination of disciplines supported by NSF. To achieve maximal outcomes and benefits, submissions are expected to integrate crosscutting objectives into the project's research outlines and the proposed center's framework. These include plans for public engagement, the collaborative generation of research activities, workforce development, education and strategies and anticipated impacts on the communities the center serves, clearly stated.

The Global Centers program encourages proposal submissions designed to enhance diversity within STEM, with priority given to teams whose projects involve the participation of historically under-represented or underserved populations, minority-serving institutions, primarily undergraduate institutions and/or two-year colleges. Proposals from Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) jurisdictions are especially encouraged. 

Proposals solicited for this competition will fall under two overarching categories: "Leveraging Biodiversity Across the Tree of Life to Power the Bioeconomy" and "Biofoundries."

Leveraging Biodiversity Across the Tree of Life to Power the Bioeconomy includes research on all manner of organisms and how they interact — from microbes to plants to animals — and the application of comparative genomics to identify similarities and differences that can be harnessed in novel biotechnologies and biomanufacturing processes.

Biofoundries include using the design-build-test-learn process in biology to facilitate iterative biological engineering — allowing researchers to test large-scale genetic designs and incorporate state-of-the-art approaches at the interface of artificial intelligence and statistical sciences to enhance the design process.

Examples of research areas encompassed by the two categories include data for the bioeconomy, biocomputing, microbial biodiversity, plant genomics, precision agriculture, green economy, economic and policy perspectives, ethical implications of bioeconomy technologies, metabolomics, bioengineering, synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, rapid prototyping of biological designs and biorefineries. 

Global Centers program anticipates awarding 5 to 7 teams from the 2024 competition, with NSF and NEH supporting U.S.-based researchers up to $5,000,000 for four to five years.  Foreign researchers will be supported by their respective country's funding agency (NSERC, SSHRC, RCF, BF, JST, MSIT, NRF and UKRI) with similar amounts of funds. 

The Global Centers 2024 competition is poised to create prominent, enduring, international centers of research excellence that generate crucial knowledge, empower communities and develop innovative solutions that address global challenges. Outcomes fueled by the 2024 class of Global Centers will also strengthen the foundations of international cooperation between partner nations and make valuable and unique contributions to key areas highlighted in President Joe Biden's  "Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy"  and the report developed pursuant to the order:  Bold Goals For U.S. Biotechnology And Biomanufacturing .

To learn more about this funding opportunity and how to submit a proposal, visit the NSF Global Centers  webpage . 

Research areas

Help | Advanced Search

Computer Science > Computation and Language

Title: evaluating the application of large language models to generate feedback in programming education.

Abstract: This study investigates the application of large language models, specifically GPT-4, to enhance programming education. The research outlines the design of a web application that uses GPT-4 to provide feedback on programming tasks, without giving away the solution. A web application for working on programming tasks was developed for the study and evaluated with 51 students over the course of one semester. The results show that most of the feedback generated by GPT-4 effectively addressed code errors. However, challenges with incorrect suggestions and hallucinated issues indicate the need for further improvements.

Submission history

Access paper:.

• Download PDF
• HTML (experimental)
• Other Formats

References & Citations

• Google Scholar
• Semantic Scholar

BibTeX formatted citation

Bibliographic and Citation Tools

Code, data and media associated with this article, recommenders and search tools.

• Institution

arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs .

• Journal home
• About the journal
• J-STAGE home
• THE JAPANESE JOURNAL OF EDUCAT ...
• Volume Vol 90 Vol 89 Vol 88 Vol 87 Vol 86 Vol 85 Vol 84 Vol 83 Vol 82 Vol 81 Vol 80 Vol 79 Vol 78 Vol 77 Vol 76 Vol 75 Vol 74 Vol 73 Vol 72 Vol 71 Vol 70 Vol 69 Vol 68 Vol 67 Vol 66 Vol 65 Vol 64 Vol 63 Vol 62 Vol 61 Vol 60 Vol 59 Vol 58 Vol 57 Vol 56 Vol 55 Vol 54 Vol 53 Vol 52 Vol 51 Vol 50 Vol 49 Vol 48 Vol 47 Vol 46 Vol 45 Vol 44 Vol 43 Vol 42 Vol 41 Vol 40 Vol 39 Vol 38 Vol 37 Vol 36 Vol 35 Vol 34 Vol 33 Vol 32 Vol 31 Vol 30 Vol 29 Vol 28 Vol 27 Vol 26 Vol 25 Vol 24 Vol 23 Vol 22 Vol 21 Vol 20 Vol 19 Vol 18 Vol 17 Vol 16 Vol 15 Vol 14 Vol 13 Vol 12 Vol 11 Vol 10 Vol 9 Vol 8 Vol 7 Vol 6 Vol 5 Vol 4 Vol 3 Vol 2 Vol 1
• Issue Issue 4 Issue 3 Issue 2 Issue 1
• Issue 3 Pages 409-
• Issue 2 Pages 247-
• Issue 1 Pages 1-
• Issue 4 Pages 513-
• Issue 3 Pages 397-
• Issue 2 Pages 181-
• Issue 4 Pages 531-
• Issue 3 Pages 381-
• Issue 2 Pages 145-
• Issue 4 Pages 467-
• Issue 3 Pages 329-
• Issue 2 Pages 178-
• Issue 4 Pages 459-
• Issue 3 Pages 385-
• Issue 2 Pages 162-
• Issue 4 Pages 419-
• Issue 3 Pages 283-
• Issue 2 Pages 137-
• Issue 4 Pages 397-
• Issue 3 Pages 287-
• Issue 2 Pages 129-
• Issue 4 Pages 384-
• Issue 3 Pages 289-
• Issue 2 Pages 140-
• Issue 4 Pages 520-
• Issue 3 Pages 389-
• Issue 2 Pages 188-
• Issue 3 Pages 297-
• Issue 2 Pages 138-
• Issue 4 Pages 402-
• Issue 3 Pages 309-
• Issue 2 Pages 160-
• Issue 4 Pages 354-
• Issue 3 Pages 275-
• Issue 2 Pages 144-
• Issue 4 Pages 336-
• Issue 3 Pages 251-
• Issue 2 Pages 114-
• Issue 4 Pages 346-
• Issue 3 Pages 255-
• Issue 2 Pages 132-
• Issue 4 Pages 400-
• Issue 2 Pages 172-
• Issue 4 Pages 356-
• Issue 3 Pages 263-
• Issue 2 Pages 146-
• Issue 4 Pages 427-
• Issue 3 Pages 321-
• Issue 2 Pages 139-
• Issue 4 Pages 323-
• Issue 3 Pages 207-
• Issue 2 Pages 97-
• Issue 2 Pages 174-
• Issue 1 Pages 2-
• Issue 4 Pages 382-
• Issue 3 Pages 290-
• Issue 2 Pages 154-
• Issue 4 Pages 473-
• Issue 3 Pages 292-
• Issue 2 Pages 136-
• Issue 4 Pages 442-
• Issue 3 Pages 322-
• Issue 2 Pages 185-
• Issue 1 Pages 147-
• Issue 4 Pages 351-
• Issue 3 Pages 259-
• Issue 2 Pages 171-
• Issue 1 Pages 160-
• Issue 3 Pages 269-
• Issue 1 Pages 111-
• Issue 4 Pages 379-
• Issue 2 Pages 163-
• Issue 1 Pages 149-
• Issue 4 Pages 293-
• Issue 3 Pages 205-
• Issue 2 Pages 121-
• Issue 1 Pages 118-
• Issue 4 Pages 417-
• Issue 2 Pages 161-
• Issue 1 Pages 157-
• Issue 4 Pages 373-
• Issue 3 Pages 213-
• Issue 2 Pages 109-
• Issue 4 Pages 329-
• Issue 3 Pages 189-
• Issue 2 Pages 47-
• Issue 4 Pages 343-
• Issue 4 Pages 307-
• Issue 3 Pages 211-
• Issue 4 Pages 487-
• Issue 3 Pages 245-
• Issue 2 Pages 153-
• Issue 4 Pages 299-
• Issue 3 Pages 195-
• Issue 2 Pages 111-
• Issue 4 Pages 321-
• Issue 3 Pages 229-
• Issue 2 Pages 127-
• Issue 2 Pages 123-
• Issue 4 Pages 361-
• Issue 3 Pages 247-
• Issue 4 Pages 347-
• Issue 3 Pages 241-
• Issue 2 Pages 151-
• Issue 4 Pages 365-
• Issue 4 Pages 359-
• Issue 3 Pages 249-
• Issue 2 Pages 155-
• Issue 4 Pages 333-
• Issue 3 Pages 233-
• Issue 4 Pages 285-
• Issue 2 Pages 99-
• Issue 4 Pages 279-
• Issue 3 Pages 177-
• Issue 2 Pages 73-
• Issue 3 Pages 185-
• Issue 2 Pages 83-
• Issue 4 Pages 273-
• Issue 3 Pages 175-
• Issue 2 Pages 79-
• Issue 4 Pages 300-
• Issue 3 Pages 209-
• Issue 2 Pages 64-
• Issue 4 Pages 263-
• Issue 4 Pages 267-
• Issue 3 Pages 179-
• Issue 2 Pages 89-
• Issue 4 Pages 80-
• Issue 2 Pages 72-
• Issue 4 Pages 301-
• Issue 2 Pages 85-
• Issue 2 Pages 87-
• Issue 4 Pages 235-
• Issue 3 Pages 157-
• Issue 4 Pages 277-
• Issue 3 Pages 173-
• Issue 2 Pages 95-
• Issue 4 Pages 289-
• Issue 3 Pages 201-
• Issue 4 Pages 305-
• Issue 3 Pages 186-
• Issue 2 Pages 107-
• Issue 4 Pages 217-
• Issue 2-3 Pages 87-
• Issue 4 Pages 243-
• Issue 3 Pages 141-
• Issue 2 Pages 71-
• Issue 3 Pages 163-
• Issue 4 Pages 229-
• Issue 3 Pages 161-
• Issue 2 Pages 81-
• Issue 4 Pages 245-
• Issue 3 Pages 165-
• Issue 4 Pages 253-
• Issue 4 Pages 249-
• Issue 3 Pages 169-
• Issue 6 Pages 2-
• Issue 5 Pages 2-
• Issue 4 Pages 2-
• Issue 3 Pages 2-
• Issue 2 Pages 2-
• Issue 4 Pages 1-
• Issue 2 Pages 1-
• Issue 6 Pages 1-
• Issue 5 Pages 5-
• Issue 3 Pages 1-
• Issue 5 Pages 1-
• Issue 4 Pages 56-
• Issue 6 Pages 345-
• Issue 5 Pages 297-
• Issue 2 Pages 65-
• Issue 12 Pages 857-
• Issue 11 Pages 805-
• Issue 10 Pages 755-
• Issue 9 Pages 677-
• Issue 8 Pages 595-
• Issue 7 Pages 511-
• Issue 6 Pages 425-
• Issue 5 Pages 341-
• Issue 4 Pages 257-
• Issue 12 Pages 1079-
• Issue 11 Pages 991-
• Issue 10 Pages 899-
• Issue 9 Pages 811-
• Issue 8 Pages 709-
• Issue 7 Pages 619-
• Issue 6 Pages 511-
• Issue 5 Pages 427-
• Issue 12 Pages 1227-
• Issue 11 Pages 1107-
• Issue 10 Pages 1007-
• Issue 9 Pages 891-
• Issue 8 Pages 781-
• Issue 7 Pages 665-
• Issue 6 Pages 555-
• Issue 5 Pages 453-
• Issue 3 Pages 239-
• Issue 2 Pages 119-
• Issue 12 Pages 1253-
• Issue 11 Pages 1127-
• Issue 10 Pages 1009-
• Issue 9 Pages 903-
• Issue 8 Pages 789-
• Issue 7 Pages 685-
• Issue 6 Pages 585-
• Issue 5 Pages 459-
• Issue 2 Pages 115-
• Issue 12 Pages 1299-
• Issue 11 Pages 1171-
• Issue 10 Pages 1035-
• Issue 9 Pages 927-
• Issue 8 Pages 815-
• Issue 7 Pages 705-
• Issue 6 Pages 605-
• Issue 5 Pages 491-
• Issue 4 Pages 381-
• Issue 12 Pages 1391-
• Issue 11 Pages 1255-
• Issue 10 Pages 1107-
• Issue 9 Pages 971-
• Issue 8 Pages 863-
• Issue 7 Pages 743-
• Issue 6 Pages 627-
• Issue 5 Pages 485-
• Issue 4 Pages 369-
• Issue 12 Pages 1377-
• Issue 11 Pages 1251-
• Issue 10 Pages 1097-
• Issue 9 Pages 957-
• Issue 8 Pages 835-
• Issue 7 Pages 719-
• Issue 5 Pages 475-
• Issue 4 Pages 363-
• Issue 12 Pages 1349-
• Issue 11 Pages 1233-
• Issue 10 Pages 1105-
• Issue 9 Pages 987-
• Issue 8 Pages 865-
• Issue 7 Pages 749-
• Issue 5 Pages 515-
• Issue 4 Pages 383-
• Issue 3 Pages 253-
• Issue 2 Pages 131-
• Issue 12 Pages 1515-
• Issue 11 Pages 1291-
• Issue 10 Pages 1163-
• Issue 9 Pages 1027-
• Issue 8 Pages 897-
• Issue 7 Pages 781-
• Issue 6 Pages 637-
• Issue 5 Pages 517-
• Issue 3 Pages 261-
• Issue 12 Pages 1413-
• Issue 11 Pages 1287-
• Issue 10 Pages 1153-
• Issue 9 Pages 1023-
• Issue 8 Pages 891-
• Issue 7 Pages 757-
• Issue 6 Pages 633-
• Issue 5 Pages 505-
• Issue 4 Pages 389-
• Issue 2 Pages 135-
• Issue 12 Pages 1431-
• Issue 11 Pages 1295-
• Issue 10 Pages 1167-
• Issue 9 Pages 1039-
• Issue 8 Pages 907-
• Issue 7 Pages 779-
• Issue 6 Pages 645-
• Issue 5 Pages 507-
• Issue 4 Pages 385-
• An Inquiry from the Perspective of Teaching Methods into Connecting Early Childhood Education with Elementary Education: A Critical Examination of Developmental Stage Theory Akira SAKAI 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 384-395 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_384 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Show abstract Hide abstract  Many children experience problems during the process of transiting from nursery schools or kindergartens to elementary schools. One of the reasons is the difference of teaching methods between early childhood education and elementary education. Educational administrators explain this difference as corresponding to the two different developmental stages; early childhood and childhood.  This study describes in detail the teaching methods of early childhood education and elementary education, and examines their historical and social backgrounds. It then analyzes the dominant discourse which connects the difference with developmental stage theory and suggests an alternative approach to integrating the teaching methods by considering kindergartners and elementary school students as children in an integrated way.  Early childhood education in Japan accomplishes its aims through children’s lives and play. The key phrase of its method is “educating children through the environment.” The major role of kindergarten teachers as well as nursery school teachers is to constitute the environment surrounding children from an educational point of view. Children are supposed to engage independently in various activities which interest them.  The aims of elementary education are accomplished by integrating all the outcomes of activities in schools, such as subject teaching, moral education, and extracurricular activities. Teachers make their teaching plans based on the annual teaching schedule and are to teach systematically and progressively.  The difference of teaching methods between early childhood education and elementary education is partly explained by the historical backgrounds of the two education systems. The Japanese early childhood education system was introduced separately from the elementary school system during the Meiji era. The present gap is also caused by different methods of handling the educational reform movement during the 1980s, which emphasized students’ individualization and their independent minds.  However, educational administrators often explain the dissimilarities of these teaching methods as a result of the difference between the two developmental stages. This development theory functions to justify the existing difference. But the theory has been questioned for many years by educational psychologists, and many scholars report that five-year-olds should be treated like elementary school pupils. There are some possibilities of lowering the elementary school entrance age to five if we depend too much on the psychological developmental stage theory.  We need to start to discuss methods of educating children based on the findings of educational theory as well as those of early childhood education theory. In order to start the discussions which will connect teaching methods, we need to examine the three themes below. 1. Composing an overall curriculum which considers children’s cumulative experiences. 2. Capturing young people as children in an integrated way. 3. Connecting the two teaching methods; the method of “educating through the environment” and the theory of class design. View full abstract Download PDF (633K)
• Trends and Issues in the Connective Curriculum between Preschool and Elementary School: Two Approaches in Education Policy Mayumi FUKUMOTO 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 396-407 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_396 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Show abstract Hide abstract  This paper aims to outline trends in Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) policies on the connective curriculum between preschool and elementary school education in Japan, and to discuss features of the content of this curricular reform. To this end, policy directions are divided into two approaches for analysis. The first approach concerns reform of the structure of schools and the second concerns problems in Grade 1 of elementary school.  The paper first examines the school-restructuring approach, clarifying that a concept for the preschool curriculum, Fundamentals for Learning, was debated and a conflict arose over whether play or learning was more appropriate as the core principle of preschool education. Since the 2000s, with globalization and the emergence of the knowledge-based society and international academic abilities surveys (e.g. PISA), moves have been made to promote education policy as a national strategy and reform of the connective curriculum between preschool and elementary school has become more zealous. Thus, the connection between preschool and compulsory education has been enshrined in legislation through changes to the Fundamental Law of Education and the School Education Law; furthermore, schools have also called for the creation of a connective curriculum. The concept of collaborative learning was suggested based on project-centered lesson practice; in preschool education, the principles of collaboration and learning were adopted in addition to the existing principles of initiative and play. Collaborative learning is an idea for reforming both the teaching of play and life skills in preschool and subject study among school-aged children. However, this concept was never widely adopted in preschool education.  Subsequently, this paper examines the approach to preventing problems in Grade 1 of elementary school. It clarifies that the debate around Grade 1 problems has centered on the gap between preschool and elementary school education and that the Start Curriculum, which aims to prepare students to adapt to elementary school life, was proposed in the Education Guidelines. The debate has problematized the anxiety and confusion experienced by children due to the various differences in teaching method, content, and environment between preschool and elementary school. The Start Curriculum, which has been proposed in living environment education, poses the problem of changing the aims of lesson practice in this subject area: rather than the creation of individualistic educational content, the adaptation of students to school life should be the goal.  Today, new principles and concepts for the connective curriculum between preschool and elementary school continue to be generated and attempts are moving forward to build a curricular system. As the curriculum is being reconceptualized based on the principle of collaborative learning, drawing on the core idea of continuity between development and learning, concepts and explanations for the transition from preschool outcomes to elementary school education still require investigation. View full abstract Download PDF (641K)
• How Japan’s “New System of Children and Childcare Support” will Disrupt the “ Hoiku ” Concept Noriyuki YAMAUCHI 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 408-422 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_408 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Show abstract Hide abstract  The purpose of this paper is to examine the catastrophic effects of the “New System of Children and Childcare Support,” which starts April 2015, on the “ Hoiku ” concept.  The concept of “ Hoiku ”—original to Japan—has a history dating back to the Meiji era. Despite being interpreted in various ways, it came to have two essential aspects in the post-war era :“ Hoiku as the integration of child care and early childhood education” and “ Hoiku as a public service”. People involved have taken the “ Hoiku ” concept very seriously.  In Japan, two systems, “nursery as child welfare” and “kindergarten as school,” have been followed since World War II. However, under the “New System of Children and Childcare Support”, new “Certified Children Centers” will be instituted legally as child welfare facilities and schools. In these Centers, the concept of “ Hoiku as an integral part of child care and early childhood education” will collapse. In spite of opposition by researchers of Hoiku , the concept will be divided into “childcare” and “education”. “Childcare” will be for children from 0 to 2 years old ;“childcare” and “education” will be for children three years or older. In this way, the “ Hoiku ” concept will lose simplicity and comprehensibility.  In the post-war era, local governments have maintained a system of “nurseries” and “kindergartens” as public institutions and have guaranteed the “quality of Hoiku ” in Japan. But when the revised “Child Welfare Act” for this “New System” takes effect, the local governments will have their hands tied with respect to the implementation of “public nurseries.” Focusing on children from 0 to 2 years old, the intervention of child care industry companies will be permitted. These companies will be able to receive subsidies from the national government. At the same time, subsidies related to new construction and renovation of nurseries, which have been supplied by the national government to local governments, will be cut. Even though nurseries in Japan have over two million children in their charge, they face a crisis. In fact the “New System” is being established not for Childcare Support Services, but for the industrialization of Hoiku . “ Hoiku as a public service” will certainly collapse.  The new system destroys the two great ideas of “ Hoiku as the integration of child care and early childhood education” and “ Hoiku as a public service.” What can we do to remedy this situation? First, researchers in Hoiku studies should reflect on the fact that they were uncritical of the new system. They should present ways to deal with the new system and the grand design of the Hoiku system in Japan. Fundamental research into the “ Hoiku ” concept is necessary, so that we can fight against future detrimental reform of the Hoiku system. Second, we should request the holding of “local meetings on Children and Childcare Support.” With this type of gathering, we can continue to monitor the “ Hoiku plans and issues” of local governments in order to prevent the decrease of Hoiku quality. View full abstract Download PDF (777K)
• The Inquiry into “Yonen-Kyoiku” (Early Childhood Education) in the 1950s-1960s:An Examination of Teacher Discourse in the Japan Teachers Union Sachiko ASAI 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 423-435 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_423 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Show abstract Hide abstract  The relationship between preschool education and primary school education has been an issue for a long time. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of the inquiry into “Yonen-Kyoiku” (early childhood education) in the 1950s-1960s. This concept was mainly used in the educational research conferences of the Japan Teachers Union. With a focus on the teachers’ discourses in the movement, this paper examines various viewpoints from which teachers have inquired into the relationships between preschool education and primary school education. The conferences of the Japan have been a unique space where teachers from the three different sectors (kindergartens, nursery schools and primary schools) met and discussed how to cooperate together.  The conception of “Yonen-Kyoiku” was presented to the teachers in the preschool education session of the conference of the Japan Teachers Union in 1953, by Hiroshi Sugo (Ochanomizu University) and Setsuko Hani (Jiyu Gakuen School) as an ideal to be inquired into. They gave the concept the following three meanings. First, preschool education and the first two years of primary school education should be coherent. Second, preschool education should not become no more than a preparation for primary school. Third, “Yonen-Kyoiku” should be different from existing pre-school and primary school education. In 1957, the preschool education session of the conference was named “Yonen-Kyoiku”. As an advisor, Hani encouraged teachers to join dialogues with the teachers from other sections of the educational system. Many trials to make connection between preschool education section and primary school education section were made in each prefecture.  It seems that dialogue exploring the concept of “Yonen-Kyoiku” was not easy. Many of the primary school teachers’ discourses seemed to be based on the idea that preschool education should prepare children for primary school. Three points emerge from the examination of the teacher discourses. First, kindergarten and nursery school were still in the process of expanding at that time. Second, the perspective of primary school education functioned in the discussions too strongly, and it was difficult to make an equal partnership between the preschool and primary school sections. Third, the conception of “Yonen-Kyoiku” focused on the reform of the existing 6-3-3 educational system. In 1970, as the policy makers made a proposal for school reform called “Yonen-Gakko” (early childhood school) which was similar to the ideal of “Yonen-Kyoiku,” they gave this concept the meaning of early instruction. After that, The inquiry into “Yonen-Kyoiku” was defeated.  However, in reading the texts of the conference attentively, small possibilities in the concept of “Yonen-Kyoiku” for new education emerge. Some primary teachers learned from preschool education and changed their practices. Some kindergarten teachers inquired into approaches to literacy education that were different from those of primary school.  Preschool education has spread among almost all children in Japan. Now, can we imagine another education with the concept of “Yonen-Kyoiku”? View full abstract Download PDF (747K)
• The Space Between Early Childhood Education and Care and School Education Based on the Emotional Expression and Suppression of Early Childhood and School Teachers Fuminori NAKATSUBO 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 436-447 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_436 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Show abstract Hide abstract  In this study, behaviors of early childhood teachers in nursery centers were compared with those of elementary, junior high and high school teachers discussed in previous studies with respect to the way they express and suppress emotions toward children/students. The practical significance of the result is also discussed.  A documentary film, Yomogi Dango Jiken (“The Mugwort Dumpling Incident”), set at Osaka Atom Day Care, Japan, was shown on TV (NHK) in 2003; it was used in this study as a stimulus medium to induce spontaneous answers from six early childhood teachers who were the subjects of a “focus group interview”. The model of this study was the research conducted by Tobin (1989).  The results revealed the following points: 1) When early childhood teachers dealt with children’s interior lives, empathy was consciously suppressed and a neutral expression was mainly shown. Such emotional suppression was also indicated in elementary, junior high and high school teachers. The difference between these two groups was, however, that early childhood teachers suppressed their emotional expressions in order to motivate children’s independent behavior, while elementary, junior high and high school teachers suppressed their emotions in order to maintain their systematized authoritative influence toward students. 2) Intentional emotional suppression was seen in both groups: early childhood teachers used this technique to motivate children while elementary, junior high and high school teachers used it to control their classroom atmosphere. The striking difference between the two groups were that the varying emotional control of elementary, junior high and high school teachers was used to avoid any stagnation in classroom activities, while that of early childhood teachers was used to let children decide on their actions, even if that caused a temporary stagnation.  The results showed that emotional suppression in early childhood teachers has the practical significance of allowing children to learn to be independent in a real-life setting. View full abstract Download PDF (690K)
• “Course of Study for Kindergarten” in the Heisei Era (1989-) and Professionalism among Practitioners in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) of Japan Junko HAMAGUCHI 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 448-459 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_448 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Show abstract Hide abstract  This study aims to explore the influence on practitioners of early childhood and care (ECEC) of the modification of the “Course of Study for Kindergarten” of 1989 (the first year of the Heisei Era), along with two minor reforms following it, and to find solutions for the present problematic issues.  The Course of Study did cause confusion at workplaces due to its characteristics emphasizing ‘educating young children through their environment’ and ‘encouraging children to undertake voluntary activities’, despite its lack of clarity _in defining the roles and leadership of practitioners. Nevertheless, it led to the development of some advantages, as it has fostered discourse among teachers on expressing ‘the child’s personal growth’ and developed a circulatory system of assessing the child’s growth based on his/her initiative through reflection in and on practice (by means of, for example, conferences with their colleagues and daily documentations), as well as practitioners’ “mimamori (observation)” in which the leadership factor is hard to trace.  However, the structure of Japanese ECEC is said to be difficult for outsiders to judge. It seems that a decontextualization of Japanese ECEC education from insiders will become more necessary in order to take part in essential discussions on education theories. View full abstract Download PDF (701K)
• International Trends in Early Childhood Education and Care: Improving Quality of ECEC and Policy Based on Discussions in OECD Early Childhood Education and Care Network Masatoshi SUZUKI 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 460-472 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_460 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Show abstract Hide abstract  All countries recognize that early childhood education and care (ECEC) is worth investing in for their future development. In this paper, the author analyzes best practices in early childhood programs nominated by OECD, as well as methods and policies of evaluating early childhood programs.  As examples for good practices in early childhood education, those in Reggio Emilia (Italy) and New Zealand were introduced. Both practices involve project-oriented activities of children, and adopt documentation as their method of evaluation. The quality of ECEC is likely to shift from academic teaching to such a project-oriented inquiry model of children’s activities.  Evaluation of ECEC also shifted its focus from structural quality to process quality. External evaluation systems such as NAEYC accreditation and England’s OFSTED inspections tried to include more elements of self-evaluation. ECERS and ITERS focused more on the structural quality of facilities for young children, but SICS in Belgium tried to evaluate children’s well-being and involvement in their daily activities in the facilities. In doing so, each teacher/caregiver becomes involved in improving their own practices. Examples from New Jersey (USA) and the EPPE Project (UK) were described as good practices for improvement of quality in ECEC.  Based upon the analysis of such practice, evaluation methods, and policies, the following recommendations are made for the Japanese educational research community; 1) to work to convey messages to the general public drawing attention to the importance of investment in ECEC; 2) to establish a new system for improvement of ECEC quality; and 3) to promote collaboration between ECEC and researchers in pedagogy for longitudinal studies to prove the effectiveness of ECEC. View full abstract Download PDF (898K)
• Debates on the Conceptualization of Educational Issues of Early Childhood Education and Care in Germany Sayaka NAKANISHI 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 473-483 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_473 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Show abstract Hide abstract  The purpose of this paper is to clarify the contents of debates on the conceptualization of educational issues of early childhood education and care in Germany, with a particular focus on two readings of the concept of Bildung: ‘self-formation (Selbstbildung)’ and ‘co-construction/development of competency’.  In recent years, early childhood education and care have been receiving public policy attention in many countries around the world. The main themes of early childhood education and care are children’s learning and connectivity from preschool to primary school. Accordingly, early childhood education and care is at a turning point.  Traditionally, early childhood education and care has its own role to play, distinct from that of schools. Early childhood education and care has been characterized by an emphasis on children’ play and subjective activities derived from their own interests. However, demands for learning have brought fundamental change to the field of early childhood education and care. How should we respond to this situation?  This paper focuses on debates on the conceptualization of educational issues of early childhood education and care in Germany. Currently, the results of the OECD-PISA are acting as a catalyst in terms of reforming early childhood education and care. Educational policy measures concerning early childhood education and care were (1) to improve language and literacy competence in the early years and (2) to improve the link between kindergarten and school, with the aim of earlier entry into public schooling. In this situation, the role of German early childhood institutions is changing from ‘care’ to ‘education (Bildung)’. In response to this change, professional discourse on the early childhood education and care centres around the conceptualization of educational issues.  German experts in this field have suggested two readings of education (Bildung): ‘self-formation’ and ‘co-construction/development of competency’. ‘Self-formation’ is a reading focusing on children’s construction of inner worlds, while ‘co-construction/development of competency’ focuses on the interaction between children and adults. These two readings of Bildung are contrasted in various respects. The important thing, however, is to focus on the issue in relations between these two readings of Bildung. Results suggest that it is a matter of the starting point of pedagogical ideas. This debate in Germany suggests a possibility of rethinking Japanese early childhood education and care radically. View full abstract Download PDF (633K)
• Issues Concerning Starting School at Age 5 in the United Kingdom Hodaka FUJII 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 484-495 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_484 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Show abstract Hide abstract  Japan has a rigid system which distinguishes preschool facilities and primary schools. Therefore there are few arguments on how to divide early years education and primary education. In the UK, where children start school at age 5, there are a lot of discussions on the appropriate school starting age compared to Japan. In this paper, we examine the issues to be discussed when the school starting age is under question.  According to research evidence reviews, there is no compelling educational rationale for a school starting age of five. Research on the relationship between school starting age and academic attainment has shown that school starting age has little influence on later educational outcomes. It is not the educational setting per se that is advantageous for children’s learning, but the nature of that setting and the quality of teachers.  In 2000, Foundation Stage was introduced for children aged 3 through the end of reception year in England. For the first time in this country, reception year children were provided with a curriculum of their own, relevant to their needs. But at the same time, it must be pointed out that developments in early years education policy coincided with a drive to raise standards of academic achievement, with a particular focus on literacy and an emphasis on teaching and assessment.  The English government has commissioned a series of reports focusing on the significance of early years education in preparing children for success in later life. They are very concerned with children’s “readiness” to start primary education. The model of “readiness for school” has merits for the government as it prepares children who conform to classroom procedures and possess basic literacy skills.  From the point of view of early-years educators and researchers, the early years are recognized as a crucial stage in their own right, but the government persists in viewing it simply as a preparation for school. The demand of the educators and researchers is that the government stop such inappropriate intervention and leave early years education in the hands of those who truly understand the developmental needs of early years. They also advocate applying the principles of early education to Key Stage 1.  In 2008, Foundation Phase was introduced for children aged 3 to 7 in Wales. It aims to apply the principles and practice of early years education to Key Stage 1. It is the flagship policy of the Welsh government, but inspection reports evaluate that while generally the benefits are verified in children’s motivation and enjoyment of learning, it is not sufficient, particularly in the teaching of reading and writing skills.  Education reform comes downward from primary education to preschool education in England, while it comes upward from preschool education to primary education in Wales. So the vectors of reform seem contrary, but the two countries have the same issue to address: that is, the difficulty of the realization of principles of early years education within the primary school framework. View full abstract Download PDF (671K)
• [title in Japanese] [in Japanese] 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 496-498 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_496 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Download PDF (510K)
• [title in Japanese] [in Japanese] 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 498-500 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_498 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Download PDF (487K)
• [title in Japanese] [in Japanese] 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 500-502 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_500 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Download PDF (487K)
• [title in Japanese] [in Japanese] 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 502-504 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_502 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Download PDF (486K)
• [title in Japanese] [in Japanese] 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 504-506 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_504 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Download PDF (478K)
• [title in Japanese] [in Japanese] 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 507-508 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_507 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Download PDF (433K)
• [title in Japanese] [in Japanese] 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 508-509 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_508 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Download PDF (414K)
• [title in Japanese] [in Japanese] 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 509-510 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_509 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Download PDF (413K)
• [title in Japanese] [in Japanese] 2014 Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages 511-512 Published: 2014 Released on J-STAGE: June 25, 2015 DOI https://doi.org/10.11555/kyoiku.81.4_511 JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Download PDF (1751K)

Register with J-STAGE for free!

Already have an account? Sign in here

• March 20, 2024
• Melayu ( Malay )

UTM RMC Delegation Embarks on a Benchmarking Visit to Tokyo, Japan

• Collaboration & Networking

Siti Rahimah

Tokyo, Japan – In a significant move aimed at fostering international exposure and exchange, a delegation of 17 staff members from the Research Management Centre (RMC) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has embarked on a benchmarking visit to Tokyo, Japan. This week-long journey, from the 2nd to the 8th of March 2024 stands as a pivotal moment in the efforts of the Department of Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation) (DDVCRI). It underscores a significant commitment to bolstering staff competencies, particularly in enhancing confidence and exposure to international working environments. Moreover, to explore new opportunities for academic and research partnerships.

The delegation, led by RMC Director, Prof. Dr. Zulkurnain Abdul Malek, includes Dr. Ezza Syuhada Sazali, RMC Deputy Director (Research University and Impact) along with RMC administrators, and support staff from various divisions at RMC. The visit is the result of the DDVCRI Global Outreach Program and serves as an excellent platform for exchanging knowledge and fostering a culture of innovation that transcends geographical boundaries.

Throughout their stay in Tokyo, the UTM RMC staff engaged in a series of meetings and site visits designed to exchange knowledge, share best practices in research management, and discuss future trends in technology and innovation. Among the highlights of the trip are scheduled visits to Chiba University, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Global Plaza, E&E Solutions Inc., and Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN).

The delegation’s visit also includes cultural activities aimed at deepening the understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture, history, and society among the UTM staff. These activities are seen as vital for building strong, respectful, and lasting relationships with their Japanese counterparts.

Explore More

• March 19, 2024

From Istanbul to the World: UTM’s Journey at EURIE 2024

• March 17, 2024

Fortifying Malaysia-Japan Bilateral Relations Through ODA Facilities

Strengthening infrastructure:utm ikg, fka and prolintas collaborate on advanced bridge health monitoring training, utm and kmutt collaborate for the fsci-utm educational trip to bangkok 2024, pgss utm 2024 strategic planning workshop and teambuilding, gcrf water security hub’s action-based community engagement training course.

• Administration
• Submit News
• Research Nexus
• Achievement

• The Star ePaper
• Subscriptions
• Manage Profile
• Change Password
• Manage Logins
• Manage Subscription
• Transaction History
• Manage Billing Info
• Manage For You
• Manage Bookmarks
• Package & Pricing

Committee set up to ensure quality of research papers by universities, Dewan Rakyat told

Monday, 18 Mar 2024

Related News

Loans largest chunk of household debt, Dewan Rakyat told

Hot weather's impact on padi planting dewan rakyat's focus today, govt approved 898 fdi projects worth rm281.5bil from 2022 to 2023, dewan rakyat told.

-Bernama filepic

KUALA LUMPUR: A special committee to oversee research papers before being published in journals has been established to uphold quality and credibility, says Datuk Mustapha Sakmud.

The Deputy Higher Education Minister said the committee, which consists of experts from public universities, aimed to study publication trends in “predatory journals” that were merely profit-based.

He added that the government has spent millions of ringgit paying such publishers that did not emphasise quality and had weak evaluation criteria.

“The committee will also put forward several motions to improve publications of papers and curb the publication in predatory journals such as through sharing the list of such journals and criteria projection as stipulated in the Malaysia Research Assessment (MyRA),” he said during Ministers’ Questions Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (March 18).

Mustapha was earlier responding to a question by Tan Hong Pin (PH-Bakri) who had asked the government to state the steps taken by the Ministry to address the issue of the high paper withdrawal rates in academic journals.

The deputy minister also said that the Higher Education Department has also issued a circular that prohibits the use of government grants to pay publications at certain publishers.

“The ministry will provide further emphasis on universities to focus on their specific niche.

“With this, it could assure the quality of education of the university,” Mustapha added.

He also acknowledged that Malaysia ranked sixth as the countries with the highest retraction rates with 17.2 articles retracted for every 10,000 publications.

However, Mustapha said the figure was small compared to the total publications.

“It is true that Malaysia has been ranked sixth (in the chart) but this is not a concern. We have worked to ensure that our researchers and their studies are scrutinised as best as possible, starting from the university level itself until before publication.

“If there’s any issue with their papers, we will return the study (and not be published). The statistics showed that (in Malaysia) only 17.2 articles out of 10,000 were retracted,” he said responding to Tan’s supplementary question.

Last year, an analysis by Nature on research papers found that Malaysia was ranked among the top eight countries with the most retractions.

The chart, showing the number of articles retracted per 10,000 publications in 2023, was topped by Saudi Arabia with 30.6 articles, followed by Pakistan (28.1 articles) and Russia (24.9 articles).

Tags / Keywords: Dewan Rakyat , Higher Education Ministry , research papers , Mustapha Sakmud , Parliament

Found a mistake in this article?

Report it to us.

Thank you for your report!

FOSTERING, EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES

Next in nation.

Trending in News

Air pollutant index, highest api readings, select state and location to view the latest api reading.

• Select Location

Source: Department of Environment, Malaysia

Others Also Read

Best viewed on Chrome browsers.

We would love to keep you posted on the latest promotion. Kindly fill the form below

Thank you for downloading.

We hope you enjoy this feature!

A generative AI reset: Rewiring to turn potential into value in 2024

It’s time for a generative AI (gen AI) reset. The initial enthusiasm and flurry of activity in 2023 is giving way to second thoughts and recalibrations as companies realize that capturing gen AI’s enormous potential value is harder than expected .

With 2024 shaping up to be the year for gen AI to prove its value, companies should keep in mind the hard lessons learned with digital and AI transformations: competitive advantage comes from building organizational and technological capabilities to broadly innovate, deploy, and improve solutions at scale—in effect, rewiring the business  for distributed digital and AI innovation.

About QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI arm, helps companies transform using the power of technology, technical expertise, and industry experts. With thousands of practitioners at QuantumBlack (data engineers, data scientists, product managers, designers, and software engineers) and McKinsey (industry and domain experts), we are working to solve the world’s most important AI challenges. QuantumBlack Labs is our center of technology development and client innovation, which has been driving cutting-edge advancements and developments in AI through locations across the globe.

Companies looking to score early wins with gen AI should move quickly. But those hoping that gen AI offers a shortcut past the tough—and necessary—organizational surgery are likely to meet with disappointing results. Launching pilots is (relatively) easy; getting pilots to scale and create meaningful value is hard because they require a broad set of changes to the way work actually gets done.

Let’s briefly look at what this has meant for one Pacific region telecommunications company. The company hired a chief data and AI officer with a mandate to “enable the organization to create value with data and AI.” The chief data and AI officer worked with the business to develop the strategic vision and implement the road map for the use cases. After a scan of domains (that is, customer journeys or functions) and use case opportunities across the enterprise, leadership prioritized the home-servicing/maintenance domain to pilot and then scale as part of a larger sequencing of initiatives. They targeted, in particular, the development of a gen AI tool to help dispatchers and service operators better predict the types of calls and parts needed when servicing homes.

Leadership put in place cross-functional product teams with shared objectives and incentives to build the gen AI tool. As part of an effort to upskill the entire enterprise to better work with data and gen AI tools, they also set up a data and AI academy, which the dispatchers and service operators enrolled in as part of their training. To provide the technology and data underpinnings for gen AI, the chief data and AI officer also selected a large language model (LLM) and cloud provider that could meet the needs of the domain as well as serve other parts of the enterprise. The chief data and AI officer also oversaw the implementation of a data architecture so that the clean and reliable data (including service histories and inventory databases) needed to build the gen AI tool could be delivered quickly and responsibly.

Creating value beyond the hype

Let’s deliver on the promise of technology from strategy to scale.

Our book Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI (Wiley, June 2023) provides a detailed manual on the six capabilities needed to deliver the kind of broad change that harnesses digital and AI technology. In this article, we will explore how to extend each of those capabilities to implement a successful gen AI program at scale. While recognizing that these are still early days and that there is much more to learn, our experience has shown that breaking open the gen AI opportunity requires companies to rewire how they work in the following ways.

Figure out where gen AI copilots can give you a real competitive advantage

The broad excitement around gen AI and its relative ease of use has led to a burst of experimentation across organizations. Most of these initiatives, however, won’t generate a competitive advantage. One bank, for example, bought tens of thousands of GitHub Copilot licenses, but since it didn’t have a clear sense of how to work with the technology, progress was slow. Another unfocused effort we often see is when companies move to incorporate gen AI into their customer service capabilities. Customer service is a commodity capability, not part of the core business, for most companies. While gen AI might help with productivity in such cases, it won’t create a competitive advantage.

To create competitive advantage, companies should first understand the difference between being a “taker” (a user of available tools, often via APIs and subscription services), a “shaper” (an integrator of available models with proprietary data), and a “maker” (a builder of LLMs). For now, the maker approach is too expensive for most companies, so the sweet spot for businesses is implementing a taker model for productivity improvements while building shaper applications for competitive advantage.

Much of gen AI’s near-term value is closely tied to its ability to help people do their current jobs better. In this way, gen AI tools act as copilots that work side by side with an employee, creating an initial block of code that a developer can adapt, for example, or drafting a requisition order for a new part that a maintenance worker in the field can review and submit (see sidebar “Copilot examples across three generative AI archetypes”). This means companies should be focusing on where copilot technology can have the biggest impact on their priority programs.

Copilot examples across three generative AI archetypes

• “Taker” copilots help real estate customers sift through property options and find the most promising one, write code for a developer, and summarize investor transcripts.
• “Shaper” copilots provide recommendations to sales reps for upselling customers by connecting generative AI tools to customer relationship management systems, financial systems, and customer behavior histories; create virtual assistants to personalize treatments for patients; and recommend solutions for maintenance workers based on historical data.
• “Maker” copilots are foundation models that lab scientists at pharmaceutical companies can use to find and test new and better drugs more quickly.

Some industrial companies, for example, have identified maintenance as a critical domain for their business. Reviewing maintenance reports and spending time with workers on the front lines can help determine where a gen AI copilot could make a big difference, such as in identifying issues with equipment failures quickly and early on. A gen AI copilot can also help identify root causes of truck breakdowns and recommend resolutions much more quickly than usual, as well as act as an ongoing source for best practices or standard operating procedures.

The challenge with copilots is figuring out how to generate revenue from increased productivity. In the case of customer service centers, for example, companies can stop recruiting new agents and use attrition to potentially achieve real financial gains. Defining the plans for how to generate revenue from the increased productivity up front, therefore, is crucial to capturing the value.

Upskill the talent you have but be clear about the gen-AI-specific skills you need

By now, most companies have a decent understanding of the technical gen AI skills they need, such as model fine-tuning, vector database administration, prompt engineering, and context engineering. In many cases, these are skills that you can train your existing workforce to develop. Those with existing AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities have a strong head start. Data engineers, for example, can learn multimodal processing and vector database management, MLOps (ML operations) engineers can extend their skills to LLMOps (LLM operations), and data scientists can develop prompt engineering, bias detection, and fine-tuning skills.

A sample of new generative AI skills needed

The following are examples of new skills needed for the successful deployment of generative AI tools:

• data scientist:
• prompt engineering
• in-context learning
• bias detection
• pattern identification
• reinforcement learning from human feedback
• hyperparameter/large language model fine-tuning; transfer learning
• data engineer:
• data wrangling and data warehousing
• data pipeline construction
• multimodal processing
• vector database management

The learning process can take two to three months to get to a decent level of competence because of the complexities in learning what various LLMs can and can’t do and how best to use them. The coders need to gain experience building software, testing, and validating answers, for example. It took one financial-services company three months to train its best data scientists to a high level of competence. While courses and documentation are available—many LLM providers have boot camps for developers—we have found that the most effective way to build capabilities at scale is through apprenticeship, training people to then train others, and building communities of practitioners. Rotating experts through teams to train others, scheduling regular sessions for people to share learnings, and hosting biweekly documentation review sessions are practices that have proven successful in building communities of practitioners (see sidebar “A sample of new generative AI skills needed”).

It’s important to bear in mind that successful gen AI skills are about more than coding proficiency. Our experience in developing our own gen AI platform, Lilli , showed us that the best gen AI technical talent has design skills to uncover where to focus solutions, contextual understanding to ensure the most relevant and high-quality answers are generated, collaboration skills to work well with knowledge experts (to test and validate answers and develop an appropriate curation approach), strong forensic skills to figure out causes of breakdowns (is the issue the data, the interpretation of the user’s intent, the quality of metadata on embeddings, or something else?), and anticipation skills to conceive of and plan for possible outcomes and to put the right kind of tracking into their code. A pure coder who doesn’t intrinsically have these skills may not be as useful a team member.

While current upskilling is largely based on a “learn on the job” approach, we see a rapid market emerging for people who have learned these skills over the past year. That skill growth is moving quickly. GitHub reported that developers were working on gen AI projects “in big numbers,” and that 65,000 public gen AI projects were created on its platform in 2023—a jump of almost 250 percent over the previous year. If your company is just starting its gen AI journey, you could consider hiring two or three senior engineers who have built a gen AI shaper product for their companies. This could greatly accelerate your efforts.

Form a centralized team to establish standards that enable responsible scaling

To ensure that all parts of the business can scale gen AI capabilities, centralizing competencies is a natural first move. The critical focus for this central team will be to develop and put in place protocols and standards to support scale, ensuring that teams can access models while also minimizing risk and containing costs. The team’s work could include, for example, procuring models and prescribing ways to access them, developing standards for data readiness, setting up approved prompt libraries, and allocating resources.

While developing Lilli, our team had its mind on scale when it created an open plug-in architecture and setting standards for how APIs should function and be built.  They developed standardized tooling and infrastructure where teams could securely experiment and access a GPT LLM , a gateway with preapproved APIs that teams could access, and a self-serve developer portal. Our goal is that this approach, over time, can help shift “Lilli as a product” (that a handful of teams use to build specific solutions) to “Lilli as a platform” (that teams across the enterprise can access to build other products).

For teams developing gen AI solutions, squad composition will be similar to AI teams but with data engineers and data scientists with gen AI experience and more contributors from risk management, compliance, and legal functions. The general idea of staffing squads with resources that are federated from the different expertise areas will not change, but the skill composition of a gen-AI-intensive squad will.

Set up the technology architecture to scale

Building a gen AI model is often relatively straightforward, but making it fully operational at scale is a different matter entirely. We’ve seen engineers build a basic chatbot in a week, but releasing a stable, accurate, and compliant version that scales can take four months. That’s why, our experience shows, the actual model costs may be less than 10 to 15 percent of the total costs of the solution.

Building for scale doesn’t mean building a new technology architecture. But it does mean focusing on a few core decisions that simplify and speed up processes without breaking the bank. Three such decisions stand out:

• Focus on reusing your technology. Reusing code can increase the development speed of gen AI use cases by 30 to 50 percent. One good approach is simply creating a source for approved tools, code, and components. A financial-services company, for example, created a library of production-grade tools, which had been approved by both the security and legal teams, and made them available in a library for teams to use. More important is taking the time to identify and build those capabilities that are common across the most priority use cases. The same financial-services company, for example, identified three components that could be reused for more than 100 identified use cases. By building those first, they were able to generate a significant portion of the code base for all the identified use cases—essentially giving every application a big head start.
• Focus the architecture on enabling efficient connections between gen AI models and internal systems. For gen AI models to work effectively in the shaper archetype, they need access to a business’s data and applications. Advances in integration and orchestration frameworks have significantly reduced the effort required to make those connections. But laying out what those integrations are and how to enable them is critical to ensure these models work efficiently and to avoid the complexity that creates technical debt  (the “tax” a company pays in terms of time and resources needed to redress existing technology issues). Chief information officers and chief technology officers can define reference architectures and integration standards for their organizations. Key elements should include a model hub, which contains trained and approved models that can be provisioned on demand; standard APIs that act as bridges connecting gen AI models to applications or data; and context management and caching, which speed up processing by providing models with relevant information from enterprise data sources.
• Build up your testing and quality assurance capabilities. Our own experience building Lilli taught us to prioritize testing over development. Our team invested in not only developing testing protocols for each stage of development but also aligning the entire team so that, for example, it was clear who specifically needed to sign off on each stage of the process. This slowed down initial development but sped up the overall delivery pace and quality by cutting back on errors and the time needed to fix mistakes.

Ensure data quality and focus on unstructured data to fuel your models

The ability of a business to generate and scale value from gen AI models will depend on how well it takes advantage of its own data. As with technology, targeted upgrades to existing data architecture  are needed to maximize the future strategic benefits of gen AI:

• Be targeted in ramping up your data quality and data augmentation efforts. While data quality has always been an important issue, the scale and scope of data that gen AI models can use—especially unstructured data—has made this issue much more consequential. For this reason, it’s critical to get the data foundations right, from clarifying decision rights to defining clear data processes to establishing taxonomies so models can access the data they need. The companies that do this well tie their data quality and augmentation efforts to the specific AI/gen AI application and use case—you don’t need this data foundation to extend to every corner of the enterprise. This could mean, for example, developing a new data repository for all equipment specifications and reported issues to better support maintenance copilot applications.
• Understand what value is locked into your unstructured data. Most organizations have traditionally focused their data efforts on structured data (values that can be organized in tables, such as prices and features). But the real value from LLMs comes from their ability to work with unstructured data (for example, PowerPoint slides, videos, and text). Companies can map out which unstructured data sources are most valuable and establish metadata tagging standards so models can process the data and teams can find what they need (tagging is particularly important to help companies remove data from models as well, if necessary). Be creative in thinking about data opportunities. Some companies, for example, are interviewing senior employees as they retire and feeding that captured institutional knowledge into an LLM to help improve their copilot performance.
• Optimize to lower costs at scale. There is often as much as a tenfold difference between what companies pay for data and what they could be paying if they optimized their data infrastructure and underlying costs. This issue often stems from companies scaling their proofs of concept without optimizing their data approach. Two costs generally stand out. One is storage costs arising from companies uploading terabytes of data into the cloud and wanting that data available 24/7. In practice, companies rarely need more than 10 percent of their data to have that level of availability, and accessing the rest over a 24- or 48-hour period is a much cheaper option. The other costs relate to computation with models that require on-call access to thousands of processors to run. This is especially the case when companies are building their own models (the maker archetype) but also when they are using pretrained models and running them with their own data and use cases (the shaper archetype). Companies could take a close look at how they can optimize computation costs on cloud platforms—for instance, putting some models in a queue to run when processors aren’t being used (such as when Americans go to bed and consumption of computing services like Netflix decreases) is a much cheaper option.

Build trust and reusability to drive adoption and scale

Because many people have concerns about gen AI, the bar on explaining how these tools work is much higher than for most solutions. People who use the tools want to know how they work, not just what they do. So it’s important to invest extra time and money to build trust by ensuring model accuracy and making it easy to check answers.

One insurance company, for example, created a gen AI tool to help manage claims. As part of the tool, it listed all the guardrails that had been put in place, and for each answer provided a link to the sentence or page of the relevant policy documents. The company also used an LLM to generate many variations of the same question to ensure answer consistency. These steps, among others, were critical to helping end users build trust in the tool.

Part of the training for maintenance teams using a gen AI tool should be to help them understand the limitations of models and how best to get the right answers. That includes teaching workers strategies to get to the best answer as fast as possible by starting with broad questions then narrowing them down. This provides the model with more context, and it also helps remove any bias of the people who might think they know the answer already. Having model interfaces that look and feel the same as existing tools also helps users feel less pressured to learn something new each time a new application is introduced.

Getting to scale means that businesses will need to stop building one-off solutions that are hard to use for other similar use cases. One global energy and materials company, for example, has established ease of reuse as a key requirement for all gen AI models, and has found in early iterations that 50 to 60 percent of its components can be reused. This means setting standards for developing gen AI assets (for example, prompts and context) that can be easily reused for other cases.

While many of the risk issues relating to gen AI are evolutions of discussions that were already brewing—for instance, data privacy, security, bias risk, job displacement, and intellectual property protection—gen AI has greatly expanded that risk landscape. Just 21 percent of companies reporting AI adoption say they have established policies governing employees’ use of gen AI technologies.

Similarly, a set of tests for AI/gen AI solutions should be established to demonstrate that data privacy, debiasing, and intellectual property protection are respected. Some organizations, in fact, are proposing to release models accompanied with documentation that details their performance characteristics. Documenting your decisions and rationales can be particularly helpful in conversations with regulators.

In some ways, this article is premature—so much is changing that we’ll likely have a profoundly different understanding of gen AI and its capabilities in a year’s time. But the core truths of finding value and driving change will still apply. How well companies have learned those lessons may largely determine how successful they’ll be in capturing that value.

The authors wish to thank Michael Chui, Juan Couto, Ben Ellencweig, Josh Gartner, Bryce Hall, Holger Harreis, Phil Hudelson, Suzana Iacob, Sid Kamath, Neerav Kingsland, Kitti Lakner, Robert Levin, Matej Macak, Lapo Mori, Alex Peluffo, Aldo Rosales, Erik Roth, Abdul Wahab Shaikh, and Stephen Xu for their contributions to this article.

This article was edited by Barr Seitz, an editorial director in the New York office.

Explore a career with us

Related articles.

The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier

Rewired to outcompete

Meet Lilli, our generative AI tool that’s a researcher, a time saver, and an inspiration