2013/01/27

What Young People Should Know About Energy and Nuclear Power Issues:

Lessons from Content-based University English Classes

Speaker: Keiko Kikuchi

Summary:

Kikuchi strongly believes in content-based teaching. When the 3/11 disaster and meltdown occurred, it gave her a chance to introduce the topic of nuclear power, a topic she has strong feelings about, to her students. Kikuchi started her presentation as she starts her classes, by giving attendees a survey gaging their knowledge and opinions about nuclear energy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, her students generally know little about the science behind nuclear power, and are split evenly as to its necessity and perceived danger. The results from Gunma JALT attendees were not much different. Next, Kikuchi laid out her justification for using nuclear power as a subject of study in an English class: simply that it is such an important issue with such wide-ranging societal effects that teachers of all diciplines should touch on it in their classes. Interspersed with questions and discussion, Kikuchi use the rest of her time to introduce attendees to some of the numerous information sources she shares with her students before allowing them to draw their own conclusions. Many are freely accesssable on the web via youtube, and are worth sharing here. Please find a list of links on the right.