『愛媛大学社会共創学部紀要』第６巻第１号

論

2022年

p.53－55

説Study on High School-Industry-College Collaboration: Focusing on Energy Education
Noriko IRIE（Environmental Design）
入江賀子（環境デザイン学科）

Keywords: high school-university cooperation, industry-university cooperation, energy education
キーワード：高大連携、産学連携、エネルギー教育【原稿受付︰2022 年 1 月 17 日

受理・採録決定︰2022 年 1 月 31 日】

Abstract
Education through collaboration among universities, high schools, and industries is valuable and high-quality,
as it would be based on both theory and application, enabling students to obtain various perspectives on themultiple stakeholders within society. However, such collaboration may face challenges in terms of ensuring
stakeholders are in agreement regarding objectives and collaborative activities, and managing cumbersome
administrational procedures. This study introduces a method of double collaboration between high schoolcollege and industry-college while focusing on energy education and examines its significance and challenges.  
要旨
高大連携や産学連携での教育は、理論と実践の両方に基づいた教育となる点や、学生が多様なステークホルダーの視点を学ぶことができる点で、質の高い貴重な教育となる。一方で、高大連携や産学連携は、関係者の意識合わせや事務作業の煩雑さの点の課題もある。この論文では、エネルギー教育のテーマでの、高大連携と産学連携のダブル連携の取組を紹介し、当該取組の重要性と課題について検討する。
1．Background and overview of high schoolindustry-college collaboration.
1.1 Background
High school-industry-college collaboration regarding
energy education was initiated as a single industrycollege collaboration. The collaboration was a partof project exercises implemented by the Faculty ofCollaborative Regional Innovation, Ehime University
along with Shikoku Electric Power Co. Inc. There
was no precedent for collaborative activities between
the faculty and the electricity company, and it wasconsidered challenging.
Nonetheless, the possibility and merits ofcollaboration between the university and the electriccompany were discussed. Moreover, a strong interest
was observed among students in the department tocollaborate with the electric company on any topic,
which accelerated the collaboration.
The collaboration was analyzed so that the thirdyear students, who had little expertise on any topic,
could sufficiently engage with it within half a yearof starting the project. After assessing various
possibilities, we noted that provision of educationfrom university students to high-school students
could be both probable and interesting. Thereafter,
the idea of collaboration with an interested highschool was explored, which altered the framework
into high school-industry-university collaboration.
Although the institutes were not finalized and theinitiative was challenging, it was necessary to decide
on an idea for collaborative activities. The themesof collaboration, repeatedly consulted among thethree university students and the electric company,
included "energy-mix",“supplying a stable electricpower" and "advancing environmental preservation
activities" in light of CSR and SDGs.  
Then，the Institute for Collaborative Relations atEhime University approached Misaki high school，anEhime prefectural high school, for collaboration. Theconsultations among the high school，the electricpower company, and the three students determinedthe collaborative activities，which would be a debate－ 53 －

『愛媛大学社会共創学部紀要』第６巻第１号

on energy-mix among the high school’s 55 firstyear students moderated by the three university
students. The content would include a discussion on
future energy-mix. Although energy choice, whichis indispensable for everyday life, is an importantconcern, information about its production, procurement,
and merits and demerits of alternative energy choices
may not be well known. Energy education to harness
this knowledge is important and can be effective in
educating high school students.
1.2 Overviews of the collaboration
The collaboration was undertaken from April
to August in 2021 as part of project exercises forthird-year students in the Faculty of Collaborative
Regional Innovation. The content for the debate
on energy-mix was complicated, and the threestudents moderators needed to have sufficient
prior knowledge about the topic before the debate.
Therefore, while students and the electric company
closely examined the content and schedule, fromApril to July for about 10 hours, the three students
learned about energy issues, taught by the electriccompany. Most of this pre-education was conducted
through online video conferences due to COVID-19,
but the university allowed some lectures to beprovided face-to-face to improve students’incentives.
The energy lessons taught to students from thecompany included the merits and demerits of various
power production methods, professional knowledge
regarding energy mix, and other energy issues.
The interpretation of energy-related news and theirdiscussions among the students and the electricity
company further increased students’knowledge andinterest in the subject. Moreover, they participatedin a pre-debate to prepare for the possible problems
that may arise during the debate.
Two pre-studies on general energy topics werealso provided to high school students to participate
in the debate sufficiently well. The three university
students were the ice-breakers during the pre-studies
to make them enjoyable. Finally, the energy-mix
debate was conducted in the high school（Picture. 1）.
After the debate, high school students engaged inself-introspection, and an overall evaluation meeting
was held.
1.3 Content and evaluation of the debate
The debate was conducted on July 14, 2021, with
55 first-year students from Misaki High School in2022

Picture. １ Debate in the high school

three classrooms. The university students weremoderators for the three classes, with one student
assigned to each class. One person from the electriccompany was also present in each class. The highschool students were divided into three groups withdifferent types of electricity production methods.
They discussed the merits of these methods
and criticisms. They also defended their power
production methods by rebutting the criticisms.
When the debate did not proceed well because
of insufficient information, students searched forrelevant effective information using the Internet
during the debate. The debate was completed within
100 minutes and voting was used to decide the most
preferable electricity production method.
For an effective debate on energy-mix, several
perspectives were needed. The pre-studies
conducted by the electricity company for thethree university students provided the necessary
information or viewpoints regarding the amount ofpower generation, land area required for energy
facility siting, stability of fuel procurement, amountof CO 2 emission, and facility costs of alternative
power generation methods. These viewpoints
were also shared with high school students to help
them understand energy issues before conducting
the debate. These perspectives can be difficult tocomprehend for high school students and generaladults, and pre-studies may not be sufficient in
helping students understand such issues correctly;
however, the students in the study seemed to learn
that there were various types of energy production
methods, each with various merits and demerits.
A staff of Misaki high school later informed thatthe debate and collaboration with university
students also stimulated the high school students.
Moreover, the three university students found their－ 54 －Study on High School-Industry-College Collaboration: Focusing on Energy Education

experiences studying and discussing with the powercompany, moderating the debate, and watching highschool students’ardent participation as valuable.
All three students participated in their initiativewith a sense of responsibility until the end of thedebate. The above-mentioned findings suggest that
this collaborative activity provided a considerably
favorable educational opportunity for high school anduniversity students.  

scheduling becomes more difficult and relevant
office work increases. This may seem trivial but it
can be a significant hurdle for the involved parties.
The additional office work generated because ofcollaboration would further increase the burden
on the collaborative staff, including teachers
and lecturers in high schools and universities.
Enhancement of support systems should be seriously
considered to increase effective collaboration.  

2．Discussion: Significance and challenges ofcollaboration
High school-industry-college collaboration has
become an effective device for students’ selflearning. Additionally, students can grasp practicaland societal knowledge that is difficult to obtainthrough university lecturers, and which could bevaluable for their future.
However, the collaboration also has challenges.
First, it is difficult to ensure that institutes are inagreement regarding the objectives and collaborative
activities and managing cumbersome administrative
procedures, especially when the collaboration
involves new themes and institutes. However, suchcollaborations would be most effective because they
could provide fresh learning experiences and more
findings. Collaborative activities with the same
themes among the same institutes for multiple years
would render fewer new findings; furthermore, theinitiative could become mechanical, although there
could be some gradual accumulation of knowledge
and experiences.
However, ensuring an effective new collaborationis also challenging as collaborative aims and activities
will need to be sufficiently well-defined from theoutset. Each collaborative institute participates inactivities with various aims, and the institutes usuallytake time to understand each other’s aims. Moreover,after understating the collaborative aims among
the institutes, deciding on collaborative themes is
not easy as it requires trial and error, which needs
additional time. There is a risk of the collaboration
being unsuccessful, which should be accounted for at
the outset.  
Second, the adjustment of schedules among thecollaborating institutes is difficult and cumbersome.
In general, collaboration with many institutes
would make the activities more effective, but

Acknowledgment
I would like to acknowledge all the students andstaff members of the high school-industry-college
collaboration, including the students and staff
members of Misaki High School; Shikoku ElectricPower Co. Inc.; the Institute for Collaborative
Relations at Ehime University; and the three
students, Rin Kikugawa, Mio Matsuda, and Shunichi
Muroga, from the Faculty of Collaborative Regional
Innovation at Ehime University.

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