Developing Materials for International Students Matriculating into Scientific Fields : Primary Focus on Physics Materials

Through trial and error, the author has been teaching physics to international students. This paper discusses the development of physics materials based on these experiences. Since the international students in this program are high school graduates, there is no need to present the type of information taught in Japanese high schools, as those who have already learned it are not receptive to such repetition. However, students come from a wide variety of countries, beginning with Southeast Asia and including South America, Africa, Europe, etc. Accordingly, their background and the education they've received differs dramatically. On top of that, even though these are prospective science majors, the fields they intend to major in also vary greatly. How to get these international students with vastly different backgrounds and beginner level Japanese, in roughly six months, to be able to follow university level physics lectures has been the strongest consideration in the development of these materials. The answer has been to focus on educating learners mainly on the broad concepts and basic principles they will encounter. Therefore, the materials that have been developed focus primarily on the language necessary for understanding the basic principles of physics