English Abstracts

215

How Class Size Affects Teaching and Learning
NAKAI Toshiki

This paper examines how class size affects teaching and learning atNagoya University. The findings from the analysis of large-scale samples of student ratings at Nagoya University are summarized as follows:− There are 169 courses comprising large undergraduate classes
offered by the Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences.
− Class size has a significantly negative correlation with the following variables: “student motivation”, “chance for questions and comments”, “study outside the classroom”, “enthusiasm of instructor”,“satisfaction with class size”, “satisfaction with the environment”,“student understanding”, “intellectual stimulation”, “studentachievement” and “student overall satisfaction”.
− Significant differences between large class courses and small classcourses are particularly evident in the following items: “chance forquestions and comments” and “study outside the classroom”.
− Outcome related variables such as “student understanding”, “intellectual stimulation”, “student achievement” and “student overallsatisfaction” are slightly increased when class size increases over100 students.
− Effective teaching methods in large classes are similar to those ofregular courses.
− Students do not appear to be as dissatisfied with large class courses as their instructors.
Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,
Nagoya University217

Large Scale Class in Specialized Subjects ofHumanities: An Unsuccessful Attempt
KIMATA Motokazu

The objective of this present article is to report on my own exprerience of a large scale class in a specilized subject: “On holy image”(2004−2005). In order to teach highly specialized contents to a large
audience composed of many students from various departments andwith diverse levels of academic attainments, I had changed the goal of
the class and attached importance to that students regard historicalfacts on holy images in the distant past from their own interests andquestions based mainly on the current culture: original and its copies,
photograph, etc.
Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Nagoya University

218

Actual Examples in Training Lecture Using
Computer Systems
KITA Eisuke

This paper introduces the actual lectures for classes of more than
one hundred students using personal computers. Lecture schedules,
students, texts and so on are shown and then, the points to keep inmind in the lecture are explained. Finally, the problems in the lecture
are discussed to conclude the paper.
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Information Science, Nagoya
University219

An Essay on Some Problems andMethods of Education on Any Lectureswith Many Students
NISHIZAWA Yasuhiko

Nagoya University now has many courses with large classes. This
assay identifies some of the problems of lecturing to large groups andproposes some methods to address these challenges, irrespective ofdiscipline. These methods are suggested using the example of a lecture entitled “Challenge to settle any environmental problems”, supported by the UFJ Environmental Foundation. In this essay I identify
two key challenges in teaching large classes. The one is how to grasp
each student’s level of understanding. The other is how to understand students’ various interests. By trial and error, I reach two conclusions; first is that we must teach all of students with grate care.
And second is that we must try to encourage and foster their growing interest. I recognize, now, that there is no royal road to education.
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Studies,Nagoya University

220The Training System for Future Facultyin France
NATSUME Tatsuya

The purpose of this article is to investigate the actual conditions
and problems of the training system for future university teaching
staff in France. The aim of the system called ‘Monitrat’, is to let selectedgraduate students have classes in universities as future faculty
members. They are offered with an allowance combined with a scholarship from the Ministry of Education for their contributions to education in universities.
Key characteristics of the Monitor System are follows:
1. Graduate students who are selected as a ‘monitor’ have someclasses in universities mainly in the first two years, after participating in teacher training for teaching in the special training centers.
2. Monitors can prepare to become future professors by learning
about the actual situation of university education and duties of professors. They also participate in the network among professors andtheir colleagues. These networks are a big advantage for monitors
who wish to be future faculty members.
3. On the other hand, there are some problems with the system. Forexample, the workload of monitors is very heavy because many
students in the first two years of university experience difficulties;
for example, lack of academic knowledge and motivation. Moreovertrainings for monitors does not necessarily correspond to the actual working conditions of the university environment and professors.
4. Compared with the Japanese system of teaching assistants, theFrench system of monitors has some advantages. There include a
training system, special centers, and a tutorial system operated byprofessors.
Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education, NagoyaUniversity221

The Roles of Students, Faculty and Institutionsin Quality Teaching and Learningat Nagoya University:
A Survey Based on the Seven Principles for
Good Practice in Undergraduate Education
NAKAI Toshiki *NAKAJIMA Hidehiro **CHIKADA Masahiro ***This paper aims to clarify effective roles of students, faculty members and the institution in promoting quality teaching and learning atNagoya University. We conducted student, faculty and institutional
surveys at the university using the inventories of the Seven
Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, which wasdeveloped in the United States. Findings from the survey are summarized as follows:
Most of the items on the inventories of the Principles are considered to be effective for enhancing teaching and learning at Nagoya
University. The faculty members mostly think that the behaviors
described in each item are also important in their educational context.
There are many behaviors which are desirable but not currently
implemented in teaching and learning. The inventories could thus be
used as tools for educational improvement. Furthermore, the highachieving students implement more positive behaviors than the low
achievers, and there is a correlation between implementation of thevarious behaviors and student outcomes.
The result indicates the roles, responsibilities, and mutual relationships of students, faculty members and the institution. The paper concludes by proposing that this approach represents an integrated andwell-balanced methodology for accomplishing quality teaching andlearning in universities.
* Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,
Nagoya University** Associate Professor, Higher Education Development Center, MieUniversity*** Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,
Nagoya University222

An Analysis of the Development of the Liberal
Arts Curriculum at a Comprehensive Research
University: The University of Michigan
at Ann ArborTORII Tomoko

The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (UM), one of the outstanding research universities in the USA, is active in the development of a liberal arts curriculum with a high regard for ideas at thedepartment level. In order to assure students of various learning
opportunities, the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LS&A)
at UM provides a liberal arts curriculum with flexibility. The curriculum consists of “LS&A requirements”, “Distribution requirements”,“Concentrations” and “Electives”.
The lessons to be learned from curricular development at LS&A
are:
− In order to utilize the characteristics of a comprehensive research
university with various disciplines and to facilitate students’ independent learning, it is useful to create a liberal arts curriculumwith a flexible structure. This structure should combine required
courses which focus on basic knowledge and skills, and elective
courses that have broad options.
− The clarification of the educational goal prior to the planning ofindividual courses and programs is necessary for curricular development. In particular, a curriculum which has broad options needsa clear high-level goal.
− An effective way to help students to design their own learning andto succeed in college through the flexible curriculum, is to build an
academic advising service as a supplementary system for curriculum implementation into the undergraduate education system.
Assistant Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,
Nagoya University

223

The Functions of Institutional Researchat State Universities in the US
AOYAMA KayoThis paper examines the functions of institutional research at 34
state universities in the US, using the framework of Volkwein’s (1999)
four viewpoints: management information, reporting, policy analysis,
and research activity.
The paper considers the relevance of Volkwein’s viewpoints in thecontext current functions of institutional research.
The finding is that institutional research at the state universities in
the US have functions as Volkwein exhibits. However, not all institutional research performs all functions, as proposed by Volkwein.
Institutional research at the state universities in the US have wider
functions than Volkwein suggests.
In the coming years, National University Corporations in Japan will
have become manage self-governing institutions. They will have toplan, make decisions, analyze policies, and evaluate universities, using
information and data.
To manage self-governance, National University Corporations inJapan will need to give serious consideration and attention toInstitutional Research in the future.
Research Associate, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,
Nagoya University

224

Impact Factor : Research Evaluation andScholarly Journals
ITSUMURA Hiroshi *YASUI Yumiko **Currently, there is a great deal of academic evaluation activity andevaluation in Japanese universities. “Impact Factor” came to be misused as one of the evaluation measurements. Originally, Eugene
Garfield invented Impact Factor as a type of measurement thatreflects the average number of citations per article for each scholarly
journal. In some cases, Impact Factors have proved so attractive to
many evaluators and researchers that they started applying Impact
Factor not only to journal evaluation but also to research activities
and researchers. This issue is complicated by the fact that, some journals require that papers be topical and current so researchers are
shifting the questions they investigate to accommodate journals witha high-impact factor. In this paper, described the characteristics andhistory of citation, citation analysis and Impact Factor. We conclude
that Impact Factor shows the rank of the scholarly journal in thesame field. However, Impact Factor does not describe the researchevaluation of the organization and the researcher.
* Associate Professor, Library Studies, Nagoya University** Librarian, Medical Library, Nagoya University

225

The Incorporated National Universities :Realities and Problems
AMANO Ikuo

87 Japanese institutions which became “National UniversityCorporations” in April, 2004 have now completed their first year.
Their financial statements have been announced, and the results ofevaluations, which were based on their first year performance
reports, carried out by the National University Corporations
Assessment Committee have been given out to the public. Thesereports focus not only on the practical way in which National
Universities have turned themselves into independent administrative
entities, but also on other significant issues. Some of these issues werepredicted before incorporation though, quite a lot of issues have been
newly recognized. These new issues are concerned with how to build
new relationships between National University Corporations and theMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, andhow to build new relationships between executive authority centeredon the board of directors and each department within each National
University Corporation. This incorporation is the largest reform overthe past century in Japan, equal to or greater than the scale of reformof new universities immediately after World War II. The process of“trial and error” in order to build new relationships has just started.
This article makes an attempt to examine the actual status of
National University Corporations and their problems after their firstyear.
Professor of Center for National University Finance and Management226

Liberal Education in Research Universities
KINUKAWA Masakichi

In the first part of this paper, we discuss the meaning of liberal artsand general education in the Japanese context. We start from a questof “KYOYO”. This word is very hard to translate into English. Somepeople assert that the German word “Bildung” is almost equivalent to“KYOYO”. “KYOYO” is a concept which determines existential
behaviors of a human being. “KYOYO” is a concept which is deeply
related to human ethics. Each human being needs to generate theirown “KYOYO” by him or herself. So the character of “KYOYO” education is to support students generating their own “KYOYO”. In thiscontext, there is no distinction between general education and professional education. Every teaching subject must contribute towards
generating “KYOYO”.
In the second part of the paper, we consider the possibility of“KYOYO” education in research universities. We make a survey on
the present situation of “KYOYO” education among large Japanese
research universities. We candode by proposing several ideas for
improving “KYOYO” education in research universities.
Former President of International Christian University
Chairman of Good Practice Program, Ministry of Education, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology

227

Work-Based Learning:a Practical Approach for Learning to Workand Working to Learn:
A Case Study on Decision-Makers’ Professional
Development in Iran
Mohammad R. Sarkar Arani *Jafar Alagamandan **Heidar Tourani ***The work-based learning model of human resource development
has captured a great deal of attention and has gained increasing
importance in higher education in recent years. Work-based learning
is a powerful phenomenon that attempts to help policy-makers, managers and curriculum developers improve the quality of the decisionand organizational behavior. This paper tries to clarify the experiences of a “work-based learning” project and training model for theprofessional development of twenty-four decision-makers and curriculum developers at the Ministry of Education-Organization for
Educational Research and Planning- in partnership with theUniversity of Western Sydney of Australia from 2000 to 2002. The
case study method is used to examine the role of the work-basedlearning model as an effective scheme for the professional development of human resources, enrichment of decision practices, andimprovement of organizational activities and environment of workplace. This study illustrates that the examination of the work-basedlearning model offers the possibility for Iranian decision-makers andcurriculum developers to integrate work and learning at the workplace and help each other develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes
required for changing workplaces.
* Associate Professor, Tehran Allameh Tabatabai University, Iran** Head, Organization for Educational Research and Planning (OERP),
Iran*** Academic Advisor, Organization for Educational Research andPlanning (OERP), Iran228