What kind of problem will be asked?
On March 2021, 3, the National Center for University Entrance Examinations released a sample question of "Information I" (prior to this, in November 24, there was also a "prototype question (image for examination)").
There are also programming problems, and many faculty members around me think that it is "difficult!", But I think that this level is appropriate for university entrance exams that set the national average to about 5-6%. ..If you haven't seen it yet, please take a look at it on the website of the National Center for University Entrance Examinations.
Web page of the National Center for University Entrance Examinations
This was widely covered in the press.The general tone was "programming is compulsory in high school as well as elementary and junior high school!", So for the time being, the image is "learn programming in the information department!" Or "information department enters the university entrance examination!" Seems to have succeeded to some extent in spreading the word throughout Japan.
But here comes the big question.It is a question whether the content of the subject "information" can be so "programming-oriented" and "computer-centered".This spring, the sample of new official textbooks distributed to each school was flooded with characters such as "programming" and "computer", giving the impression that the content suddenly turned toward "science".I have to say that this extreme movement feels strange.
I would like to elaborate on this discomfort.
In the first place, the goal of the subject "Information" is [図].In other words, in the subject "information", it is important to learn "what is information" first and foremost.The subject "Information" is not just a subject to study programming and computers.With the biased perceptions mentioned above, many high school students will misunderstand that "information = computers".This is really unpleasant.
It is clear that the concept of "information" is not limited to computers.For example, even in daily life, it is possible that "there was little information obtained from this thick book", but in this case, "information" is related to "amount of data" such as bits and bytes. Is there?Isn't it the subject "information" to understand these things properly?
Here, I would like to introduce the researchers who are directly challenging the question "what is information" and the content of their studies.
Toru Nishigaki, an informatics professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, advocates a discipline called "basic informatics."Basic informatics is exactly the study of "information", and "what is information" is clearly defined.In basic informatics, information is defined as "things that cause semantic action" for living things, and is classified into three types: "life information", "social information", and "machine information".
In basic informatics, we focus on the "meaning" of information.The "meaning" here is, in other words, "value".In other words, it is important for information to be "who (which life) has meaning (value)".In basic informatics, "information" is considered to be an inseparable entity that is closely related to life.
