Abstract:

In recent years, Japan, which has been advocating itself as a country of science and technology, has long been complaining of a decline in the number of young people studying science. Under these circumstances, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is strongly promoting education in mathematics, data science, and artificial intelligence (AI) at universities. In addition, there are reports that MEXT is supporting the establishment of new science departments or conversion from existing departments, targeting private universities, especially those in the humanities or social sciences, and that it is imposing a mathematics requirement in the entrance examination for economics departments.

On the other hand, the shift to ICT (Information Communication Technology) in education under the COVID-19 Disaster has accelerated in the last three years, and new standard educational platforms utilizing ICT as well as traditional face-to-face classes are becoming established. In light of these trends, there is a strong demand for the cultivation of science-related knowledge, such as mathematics and information, among students in the humanities and social sciences.

In this paper, we introduce a new approach to mathematics education for social science students, such as remote learning using ICT, and describe its effectiveness. In addition, a mock exam was given in the week before the regular exam for grading purposes, and the difference in scores between students who took the mock exam and those who did not take the exam is discussed. The results and effects of various methods of grading tests over the past five years will be discussed based on the background of the practice.

Keywords:

STEM Education, Data Science, Distance Learning, Social Science Student, Mock Test.