The Impact of Short Visit Program to Learners
on International Collaborative Project~A Case Study of J-CaJa~
Sohei Daifuku
Kansai University, Japans.daifuku.mochi@gmail.com

Abstract: Education is changing these years in Japan through developments in information andcommunication technologies (ICT) and globalization. It is no longer enough to provide justknowledge in the classroom but also to provide social skills such as communication ability,management skill, and intercultural understanding. Because of this perspective, Project-Based
Learning (PBL) is one of the practices to provide social skills to students. Because ofdevelopments in ICT, now it is easy to communicate with those who are in remote places.
International collaborative projects are very popular in PBL. In these practices, students build
relationships with foreigners and accomplish their goals collaborating with each other. Whenthey are in domestic situations, ICT tools such as SNS or teleconference systems play a very
important role to maintain their relationships. However, activities that are done in acollaboration country are still an important part for encouraging students to learn. In thisresearch, we will analyze how activities in a collaboration country affect students from aviewpoint of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP), using the J-CaJa project as an example ofPBL.

Keywords: Project-Based Learning (PBL), international collaborative project, Legitimate PeripheralParticipation(LPP), Short Visit (SV) program

Introduction
Rapid developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and globalization arechanging school education in all over the world. In Japan, information literacy and intercultural understanding
are given much attention. To provide those skills to students, collaborative learning, intercultural learning, orservice learning are often practiced. Project-Based Learning (PBL) is now becoming popular in Japanese higher
education. Through PBL, students can learn social skills, which cannot be easily attained in a regular university
curriculum in university. In PBL, they will learn while actual feeling that they are connecting with others andcontributing to society.
Students in a laboratory of informatics in Kansai University designed collaborative PBL with foreign
universities. One of these projects is called J-CaJa project. In this project, students aim for an international
educational support for Cambodia with Cambodian students and NGOs by designing international exchange studies
or providing a library to elementary schools. The students have the opportunity to visit Cambodia (Short Visit
program: SV program) twice a year, and when they are in domestic, they prepare for SV program. The SV program
plays a very important role for the students because it can become the main opportunity to practice their activity andachieve their goals. However, the SV program can be even more important than that. Comparing students before andafter SV program, they obviously change their behavior. In this paper, we clarify how the SV program affects thestudents in terms of learning from the perspective of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP).

Research Background
Introduction of J-CaJa
J-CaJa is a student group, which mainly consists of Kansai University students who study at
Kubota/Kurokami laboratory. They provide educational support for Cambodia. They mainly work as follows:1.

2.

Library project: In this project, J-CaJa collaborates with a local NGO to set up a library atelementary schools in the local area. They provide picture books and teacher training for continuous
library management. So far, they have established two libraries.
Support of international exchange studies: J-CaJa supports international exchange studies between
Japanese children and Cambodian children. They collaborate with university students in Cambodia
to provide effective exchange studies to the children in both countries. Both Japanese andCambodian teachers of the children are deeply involved in this practice.

J-CaJa visits Cambodia twice a year for about 2weeks each (SV program). In Japan, they have a weekly
meeting to prepare for SV program. Moreover, they communicate with Cambodian cooperators through a Facebook
group and sometimes through as well. Through those projects and collaborations, they learn social skills such as how
to manage an organization and how to communicate with people in a different culture.
What is learning?
From the perspective of LPP, learning is not simple acquisition of structure but the process that learners
are becoming able to participate in works of the community (Lave, Wenger 1991). Lave and Wenger (1993)
mentioned apprenticeship workplaces such as a tailor or a steersman and mutual self-help alcoholic group which ascommunities of practice. LPP is one of characteristics of practice that we can see in not only training orapprenticeship workplaces but also various kinds of activities. Once learners participate in a community of practice,they start from peripheral participation, an initial part of participation, which requires limited responsibility. Thenthey develop increased resources for understanding such as information and opportunity, by establishing
relationships within activities, skilled individuals, and other members of the community of practice. As a result, they
approach full participation to social and cultural practice or part of community getting through change of position oraspect, development of identity, and change of membership (Oshita, Okibayashi 2011). In this paper, based on thistheory, we understand learning as participation and think J-CaJa as one of community of practice. In J-CaJa, themembers change every year when new members participate from peripheral participation, an initial stage.

Research Question (RQ)
The purpose of this research is to learn how the Short Visit (SV) program affects students from theperspective of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP).
Setting for this RQ

The SV program is the main factor of J-CaJa, one of several international collaborative projects. However,
it is not clear how it affects learners especially from viewpoint of LPP. It is important to clarify the impact of this SVprogram.

Research methodology
Data collection
To gather data, we conducted an unstructured interview with one member of J-CaJa.
Appropriateness of research object
The interviewee is one who joined J-CaJa last March and she participated in the SV program twice (SV1,and SV2). In comparison to one year before, her degree of participation obviously increased. Because of these twofactors, it is easy to notice factors for her learning.
Data analysis
To analyze the data, we used this procedure:1.
Made a phonetic transcription of the interview.
2.
Named each content unit.
3.
Categorized each using similar names.
4.
Identified factors that affected the learner’s degree of participation.

Result1.
2.
3.

Utilized 121 names for the content units.
Established 26 categories from all the names
Identified 6 SV program factors that affected learning.

Conclusion
1.

2.

Discussion
1.

2.

At the initial stage of participation, SV program prompts the learner to participate.
Awareness of a gap between image and reality of Cambodia.

Encouragement of understanding of discussion in group interaction.

Deepening the relationship among other members of J-CaJa
At the second stage of participation, SV program is considered a place to practice, and provides
various feedbacks to the participant.
Feeling of responsibilityLack of consideration of proposalImportance of relationship between collaborators

The number of interviewees is too small to validate the result. Moreover, there is a possibility thatthe content of the SV program affected the differences between first and second SV program. To
clarify the relationship between SV programs and degree of participation, more interviewees, whojoined SV2 program for the first time, are needed.
Learning needs to be clarified when learners participate in project activities domestically in order tocompare the differences between learning in the SV program.

Conclusion
We clarified how the SV program affected the learner of J-CaJa. The impact was different depending on
the learner’s degree of participation.
Literature Reference
Lave, J & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge university press.
Kubota, K. & Kishi, M. (2013). Designing higher education -Educational practices based on constructivism-. Koyoshobo.
Saito, H. (2012). Students learning experiences through cultural event from the viewpoint of legitimate peripheral participation.
Bulletin of faculty of contemporary social studies. Nagasaki Wesleyan University. 10(1), 39-46
Oshita, T. & Okibayashi, Y. (2011). The role of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP) on entering different cultures. Faculty ofeducation. Yamaguchi University. 3(61), 71-79