Redesigning the FYE Courseat Yamagata University:
Our Challenging Journey
Takao Hashizume
Katsumi Senyo
Shigeru Asano
Koji Fujiwara
February 12, 2018
37th Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience

Agenda1. About Yamagata University (YU)
Higher Education in Japan
2. FYE Program at YU in the Past

KojiFujiwara

3. Redesigning the FYE
4. Assessment Results
5. Conclusion and Future Plans

TakaoHashizume2

Yamagata University&Higher Education in Japan3

Where is Yamagata Prefecture?

• 2.5 hours by bullet train• 70 min by airplane4

Yamagata University (YU)■Type: National University•multi-campus (4 campuses)■Students: 8,800••

7,500 undergraduates➢ 1,700 new freshman/year
1,300 graduates■FT Faculty: 900■Six Colleges:
••
•
•
••
•
•

Agriculture
Education, Arts and ScienceEngineering
Literature and Social ScienceMedicine
Sciences

Yamagata Campus – Tsuruoka Campus: 60 miles
Yamagata Campus – Yonezawa Campus: 30 miles

5Key Characteristic of Higher Education in Japan
 Students must decide on their major when
they apply for admission.
••••

Can’t change the major after enrollment
No double majors
No pre- program (e.g., Pre-Med, Pre-Vet, etc.)
Almost impossible to➢ Transfer to another university➢ Have flexible study plan High expectation to graduate in four years

6

FYE Program at Yamagata University2010-2016

7

FYE Program at YU: 2010-2016
 Objective
To help and assist new first-year students intransitioning to the university life moresmoothly Characteristics
••
•
•
•

Began in 2010
2 semester credits (meet 15 times, 100 min./class)
Mandatory for ALL new first-year students
University’s original textbook
Each department/faculty offered“their own FYE course” to the students.

8

Problems Need to be Improved Within the same FYE course,① Wide Variation in Class Size•
Smallest: 13 per class•
Largest: 125 per class② Different Learning Outcomes•
It depended on the “person”
who taught the course.
③ Different Evaluation Criteria•
Absolute vs. Relative•
Hard vs. Easy-A➢ Range of FYE Section Ave. GPA: 2.2 – 4.09

Redesigning the FYE

10Redesigning the FYE
 Mission
••
•
••
•

Same objective
Same credits
Same mandatory requirement
Offered by the “university”, not individual dept.
Same textbook, but different teaching manuals
Target Course Grade: B or above New Course Goals• To promote further development ofstudent success skills• To help students gain confidence atnew environment (learn from experience)

11

How We Fix the Problems
Problem ①: Wide Variation in Class Size
➢ What we did?
• 35 students/class (2017)➢ Plan to have 25 students/class (2018)• Assigned by the university(Mixed-gender and Mixed-major)# of FYE Sections and Instructors
Sections

Instructors

2016

54

54

2017

48

43

2018*67?

* The course will start in April 2018.

12

How We Fix the Problems (contd.)
Problem ②: Different Learning Outcomes➢ What we did?
• Common Course Outlines• Shared Learning Outcomes & Objectives
Students will develop four core learning skills:
1. Basic Research
2. Group Work & Collaborative Learning
3. Presentation
4. Report Writing• Providing the detailed teaching manuals and slides➢ Completely full description of what to do13

Course Outlines (1st Half, Weeks 1-7)
 Students learned and experienced thefour core basic learning skills throughthe class activities.
 Students were assigned to each working
group, and tackled the topic for discussion.
 Topic: A cashier gave you an extra 30 centsback in change. What do you do?
 i.e., Pocket the change vs. Return the change Each group drew a conclusion and spent
6 weeks to prepare the presentation.
14

Course Calendar
Week

Agenda/Topic

1• Introductions• Syllabus Review

2• Group Work• Basic Research3• Group Discussion• Logical/Critical Thinking

4• Presentation Part 15• Presentation Part 2

6• Group Presentation

7• Report Writing

Reinforcement: 2 nd Half (Weeks 8-15)
The group worked on the another topic given by a faculty.
• i.e., What is your future occupation?

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How We Fix the Problems (contd.)
Problem ③: Different Evaluation Criteria➢ What we did?
• Same homework across all sections andhomework grading rubric➢ Use of a LMS• Require ALL FYE faculty to use a LMS• Reasons:➢ Organize FYE course materials in one location➢ Keep FYE course up-to-date➢ Consistency of learningAssessment➢ Easy tracking & reporting16

Redesigning the FYE: Biggest Changes
 Biggest Changes
1. No course differentiation between instructors
2. Class is now not lecture-based.
3. Requires students’ active participation:• Self-Study Realization Skills Improvement• Peer-Review / Peer-Learning
4. 30-min. minimum assignment given every class• Assignment must be completed that day.

17How Far We’ve Come
1. Class Size：95%➢➢

35 students/class (2017)
25 students/class (2018)

2. Teaching of Common Course Contents：85%➢

Change takes time!!

3. Common Evaluation Criteria：80%➢Need to improve the FYE grading rubric

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Assessment Results

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FYE Student Survey: Previous vs. New% AgreeDoes FYE Course Help to Develop Your...

90.0

Study Skills
80.0

Building a network ofcontacts & friends
Presentation Skills

70.0Group Work &Discussion Skills
Report Writing Skills

60.050.0

Basic Research Skills
40.02010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 201720

Survey Results: 2016 vs. 2017% Agree2016 (old)2017 (new)

100.0

80.0

78.375.5

86.3
81.1

82.8
69.9

71.1

78.0
69.7

80.4
68.6

54.7

60.0

40.0

20.00.0

Study Skills

Building a
network ofcontacts &friends

Presentation Group Work
ReportSkills& Discussion Writing Skills
SkillsBasicResearchSkills

Four Core Learning Skills
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FYE Faculty Response Asked 12 FYE instructors for their impressions
about the new-rebuilt FYE course Positive Responses••••

More Engaged in Learning
Active Students’ Participations
Communication Among Students withDifferent Backgrounds
FYE helped students with other classes.

 Negative Responses•••

Resistance to Change
Poor Internal Communication
Mismatch between Expectations vs. Actual Reality
22Improvement: Writing Skills
 Compared essay assignment:
Week 1 vs. Week 15
Students

LMS

Data/Text Mining

https://jreadability.net/en/

Readability
Score

Week 1

Week 15

3+

818%

969%

2–3

42841%

560

53%

1–241540%344

33%

0–1

949%

454%

<0303%

30%

Total

1,048

Notes:• Higher readability scoremeans better readability.

• Readability Score (2+)• Week 1: 49%• Week 15: 62%

1,048

Data is analyzed by LIGHTz. (http://lightz-inc.com/, Japanese only)Big Five Personality Traits
 Big Five Personality Tests※•70 Yes-No Questions

 The Five Factors
••
•
•
•

Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
AgreeablenessEmotional Stability

Are they related toFYE class grade
and/orattendance?

 Results•••

Conscientiousness & Grade (+)
Conscientiousness & Attendance (+)
Emotional Stability & Grade (-)※ Japanese localized version developed byProfessors Chieko and Yoshihiro Murakami

Early Alert
System24

Conclusion and Future Plans

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Conclusion and Future Plans
1. Japan’s first university to conduct unified
outcomes with standardized FYE educational
materials to a student body of over 1,700
2. Program for freshman students promoting
educational improvement in all faculties
systematically, effectively and efficiently withFYE as standard
3. Future improvements to address shortcomings of initial design by working moreclosely with individual faculties to raise thesignificance of FYE across the campuses26

Acknowledgements

This project is supported by MEXT※, Japan.

Special Thanks (in alphabetical order) to:•••••Douglas Gloag
Nobuhiro Matsuzaka
Hiroyuki Shimodaira
Tatsuya Suzuki
Tadashi Takizawa＆All Students, FYE Faculty,Staff at Yamagata University※ Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology27

Please remember to submit yourevaluation on Guidebook!
https://guidebook.com/g/fye18/#FYE18