電気通信大学 ASE II: Fall semester final presentations ・後期末プレゼンテーション

Hello!



Our fall final presentation topic will be your choice! 

Semester themes review

Here is a review of the themes of this semester:

• Comparison & contrasting educational systems in different countries
• Japan and the future

Deadline (締め切り)

We will do these on January 28th (1/28), so you have the next 4-5 weeks to prepare these. That will seem like a long time, but we will go through topic selection and review, plus presentation practice that I will coach you on. 

This process is very important, because as always, I would like to see you make the best presentations you can, so I would like to continue to guide and coach you  - that is why we will take time to prepare and practice! 

Here is our remaining schedule after the holiday, and what we will do in it:

1/7 - open class time for idea/topic generation, developing topic summaries
1/14 - topic summary review, open class for preparation
1/21 - open class for preparation, final presentation practice
1/28 - final presentations 

Guidelines

You can choose one (1) of these themes, but with these guidelines:

1. Developing a topic comparing & contrasting quality of science education in different countries

You can focus on the quality of science education in different countries, in any area of science, with Japan as one of the countries you can focus on. 

Like our two presentations we have done this semester, you must present a two-sided argument about the merits or demerits of the area of science you focus on. 

Special note: If you have focused on science in your presentation on educational systems before, you must present on something different than what you did before, such as a different country for comparison or a different area of science – do not present the same thing about the same country(s) that you already did!

2. Developing a topic about the merits and demerits of the social impact, in the past or present, of key inventions or discoveries in science & technology

You must present on something different than what you did before – do not present the same thing on the same topic that you did also!

In this topic, you can take a historical view - focus on an invention or discovery in science or technology in any area of science you are interested in (chemistry, physics, math, or an applied science like engineering or technology like IT). What has been – or is becoming –  the social impact of the invention or discovery? 

Like our other presentations we have done this semester, you must present a two-sided argument about the topic, and what you would do.

Special note: Once again, you must present on something different than what you did 
before – do not present the same thing about the same invention or discovery that you already did!

3. A topic of your choice
For this, see me on what you have in mind for a topic. It should be science or technology-oriented, and something that you have not done before. 

You should work towards a two-sided argument within your topic choice.

Supporting links
1. Here are some video links to things that relate to the first two theme ideas above. Each one will take you directly to the TED website. With each one you can download the written transcript of the talk in either English or Japanese. (Note - the first link is a longer video than the second.)

  

The Japanese subtitling on the videos that have them may still not be exact for the topic, 
but it generally is better than on most YouTube videos. In the same way, the Japanese transcripts may not be exact, but generally give you good guides that you can follow for a topic if you need them. 

• Cesar Harada - How I teach my kids to love science (2015.10) - click on this link  for this talk. 

• Margaret Gould Stewart – How the hyperlink changed everything (2018.03) -  click on this link for this talk.

2. Here is a link about outlining on a separate blogpage about outline (あらすじ) writing. Go to this link to see it if you wish to try writing an outline. 

I hope these links can help get you going on ideas. 

Good luck! See you in 2020!

Image: By Vanillase - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17300496

東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1b: Fall final writing assignment・後学期末作文

Hello!

How are you? Here is our fall semester final writing assignment (後学期の期末作文). 

Themes
Your choice of topics will be open! You have a choice to develop another topic from 
any one of the different themes we have covered over this semester since 
September: 

• Education & psychology
• Economics
• Engineering & biology 

About the choices 
Here are some notes about the choices of themes and topic ideas in them. 

For the final assignment, you can choose the theme that was most interesting to you and write another paper about a topic area in it. The only thing is that you do not write about 
the same thing you wrote about before – you must have a different topic area! 

For example, if you wrote about an educational system, choose something different about the theme of education – for example, a different approach to education such as Montessori schools, or the Steiner system of education, or within Japan, the terakoya, and how the system worked (did it have grades, or testing, or some kind of promotion to advanced learning based 
on a student’s ability, and so on).

Same with economics, or engineering and biology – as another example, if you wrote about Bitcoin, write about another cryptocurrency, arguing for or against its use based on its 
features. Or within engineering, write about another device or invention and how it works to show cause and effect. 

Some extra notes
Education:
For education, for example, you can write about an educational system in 
another country, a specific type of education - for example, science education, 
or a specific subject - such as math or chemistry. 

As for educational systems, one challenging and very interesting approach would be for you 
to choose two (2) educational systems and compare and contrast (比較対照して) 
them. If you choose this challenge, look for these points in your comparison and contrast:

Number of years in different levels of school (for example - how many years in elementary school, then junior high school or high school)

Requirements of students on different levels of schooling (for example - entrance exams if 
there are any, passing of certain subjects to advance to the next level of education, and so 
on)

Unique educational subjects or requirements in a certain country (for example - in Vietnam, university students, men and women alike, are required to do military training once a year. Some other countries require some kind of national service - often military, but sometimes 
non-military as part of entering into a higher level of education) 

Once again - you cannot write about what you did before! Write about something different than what you did. 

Economics:
For economics, many of you were very interested, and wrote very well, about new trends 
in economic activity such as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and their impact on economic activity. You can focus on another problem or controversy (問題、議論) with cryptocurrency, such as the possibility of collecting salaries in Bitcoin, or the level of security required to make safe transactions with cryptocurrency possible.  

You are not limited to cryptocurrency in terms of economic topics, but as a recent development it is a good example. 

Once again - you cannot write about what you did before! Write about something different than what you did. 

Engineering: For engineering, you could choose any device or invention from the past or present. It can be something invented and used in Japan, or around the world, invented elsewhere and brought into Japan, or invented in Japan and exported out into the world. If you choose this area, think of these points:

• What it is
• Who invented or first made it
• When it was first made (and sold or marketed)
• Who uses it (- or - who used it)
• What it is (or was) used for
• Very important - what it is (or was) made of (in terms of materials and parts)
• What impact you believe it has has on society or worldwide (including what personal impact it has had on you)
• Any other details you believe are worth noting (especially any materials properties such as tensile strength, with characteristics such as brittleness, elasticity, and so on

Once again - you cannot write about what you did before! Write about something different than what you did. 

Psychology & biology:
I will only note in a short way about psychology and biology as they are possibly a little less interesting overall for many of you - though you are free to write about topics with these themes as well. But in whatever you do with these themes - make sure once again that they are not the same as what you have done before. 

How much to write 

I would like you to write 5-6 paragraphs – but if you can go longer that would be great! I would like you to write as much as you can, and to push yourselves - many of you can now write to great length!

As I have said before, anything shorter than three (3) paragraphs will not be acceptable. Please remember that our time is tight - so you might not have the time to re-write. 

Deadline (締め切り) 

It will be January 20th, 2020 (1/20/20).

Now here are the board notes for our class on 12/16:

Good luck! I will look forward to reading your great writing – and please relax over the break for a job well done in your first year of university!

Image: By Masahiro Hayata from Tokyo, Japan - Alley, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9681059

東京理科大学 Listening & Speaking 1b: 12/16 board notes・12月16日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here are the board notes for our class on 12/16. 

Now below are the other board notes: 

See you next week with your great final presentations!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved. 

東京理科大学 技術英語: 12/10 board notes・12月10日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here are the board notes for our class on 12/10. 

Once again - if you would like to review the final presentation project, click on this link. 

See you next week with your great presentations!

Image: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 AE2Y II: 12/10 board notes・12月10日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Above are the board notes for our class on 12/10. 

Here are the other notes: 

See you next week!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 ASE II: 12/10 board notes・12月10日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here is a short post of the board notes for our class for 12/10. 

Here are the other notes: 

See you next week!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

東京理科大学 Listening & Speaking・Writing & Composition 1b: 12/9 board notes・12月9日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here are the board notes for our classes on 12/9. Above are the board notes for the Listening & Speaking 1b class. 

Now below are the board notes for the Writing & Composition 1b class: 

See you next week!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved. 

東京理科大学 技術英語: 11/26 & 12/3 board notes・11月26日と12月3日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here are the board notes for our class on 12/3. Above are the main board notes. 

As a reminder - if you would like to review the final presentation project, click on this link. 

Now one more thing - I'm very sorry about this! I overlooked uploading last week's (11/26) board notes. Before doing so, here are the other board notes for our class on 12/3:

Now here are the board notes for our class on 11/26: 

My apologies for this!

So see you next week!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 AE2Y II: 12/3 board notes・12月3日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here is a very short post for today - the board notes for our class on 12/3. 

See you next week!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

電気通信大学 ASE II: Presentation topic 4・プレゼンテーション 4

Hello!

How are you? Today I will introduce our 4th presentation topic - on Japan and the future. 

Topic

Here you can present about scientific, technological, social, or cultural trends and issues that you see could happen in Japan in the future. 

This is a little different kind of topic as this will be more of an imagined sense of what you feel or see for Japan in the future – though any data you can find and show will strengthen your content, and you should work to make a basis in fact.

You must work towards a two-sided argument about what you see or believe for Japan in the future – things such as technological or scientific breakthroughs, but also some social and economic difficulties and dangers that you believe Japan should take care for, and work to avoid.

Deadline (締め切り) 

We will do these on December 17th (12/17), so you have two (2) weeks to prepare these. Aim to make a presentation of around 5 minutes, including a Q&A from others you will present to. 

Guidelines

1. Prepare a summary (要約) about what you want to present on. The summary will be due next week for check on December 10th (12/10). 

On 12/10, bring a computer or tablet with you and I can give you time in class to work on your presentation and practice it. 

2. Finalize your presentation outside of class and be ready to present on 12/17!

Now here are the board notes for our class on 12/3:

Good luck! See you next class!

Image: By ころぞう - Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2149120/Board notes - personal photographs. All rights reserved.

東京理科大学 Listening & Speaking 1b: Fall final presentation assignment & Writing & Composition 1b: Writing assignment 5・後学期末プレゼンテーション・作文5

Hello!

How are you? This is a post for both the Listening & Speaking and Writing & Composition classes. 

For the Listening & Speaking class, this is our fall semester final presentation assignment. For Writing & Composition, this will be writing assignment 5 - the third (3rd) writing assignment for the fall semester. 

Themes

For both classes, here are your choice of topics. You can choose one (1) of these: 

• A currency, or unique, non-capitalistic economic system from another country or period of history
• Key mistakes or accidents involving engineering (in any kind of engineering, such as chemical, electrical, or mechanical engineering)
• Principles (原理) of biology or biochemistry
• Explaining details and use of a chemical compound or a medicine

Deadlines (締め切り) 
For Listening & Speaking:

Your presentation day will be on December 23rd (12/23), so you have three (3) weeks to prepare. 

For Writing & Composition:
It will be on December 16th (12/16), so you have two (2) weeks to prepare. 

Guidelines 
For Listening & Speaking:

1. Prepare a summary (要約) about the topic you want to present on. The summary will be due for check on December 16th (12/16). 

As we did before with the mid-term presentations, you will evaluate your classmates' presentations in groups.

2. Be ready for me to review your progress on 12/16 and for you to practice your presentation in-class. You can practice with me and/or other groups of students.

* This is very important! You don't have to have the presentation 100% finished - but you have to have enough content so you can practice!

3. Finalize your presentation outside of class and be ready to present on December 23rd!

For Writing & Composition:
Have a rough draft ready to read aloud to your classmates next week on December 9th (12/9). I will give you time in class to work on it - but it must be finished and handed in on December 16th (12/16). 

* This is very important! I will immediately show you the final presentation assignment on 12/16 - so you need to have writing assignment 5 finished and handed in so you can start on the final writing assignment! 

Now here are the board notes for our classes on 12/2. The first set of notes are for Listening & Speaking 1b:

Now here is Writing & Composition 1b:

Good luck to all of you! See you next week!

Image: By photo credited to the firm Levy & fils by this site. (It is credited to a photographer "Kuhn" by another publisher [1].) - the source was not disclosed by its uploader., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=710925/Board notes - personal photographs. All rights reserved.