Vol. 7

Q: How do you decide on the level ofyour classes?
A. When I oversee 100-level classes such as"Introduction to APS," I try to connect theAPS Assistant Professor

HIRANO Miharu

・Research Field:

International law, New fields of law

・Subjects:

Globalization and Law,
Asia Pacific and Human Rights,
Specialized Practice,
Graduation ResearchInterview date: June, 2021

Tips
1. Prepare and distribute handoutsin advance
2. Ask challenging questions

knowledge students have learned in high schoolwith the “questions.” When I oversee “InternationalLaw” and “Human Rights” as 200-level subjects, I
try to teach the basics of these disciplines. I thinkthat students find these courses a little difficult
because many different topics are covered in theirclasses. If a student focuses too much on individual
issues, they may lose out on the whole process oflearning such as acquiring a legal mindset.
However, I teach these courses systematicallywithout compromise as a knowledge base so thatstudents can return to these concepts and ideas theylearned in International Law and Human Rights insocial issues and theoretical questions, and is more
topic-based and thematic rather than systematic.

Q: What do you do to improve the qualityof student learning?
A. I pay attention to the balance between input
and output, and to the flow in the sequence oflectures. For input, I ask the students to come toeach class after answering a simple set of quizzes asa preparatory assignment. During class, I use
handouts distributed in advance for explaining
contents and for discussions. For output, I assign
around five review assignments per course, which
require the students to produce ideas throughwriting. Through writing, the students can actually
see what they have learned in class and how they

their 3rd and 4th year. The 300-level "Globalization

built up their own knowledge, and this process also

becomes visible to the instructor. These steps

balance between the amount of content and volume

ensure the quality of the process of learningof work. When selecting materials for preparation

throughout 14 classes. I also assign a final report,

work, I try to choose materials that are basic andwhich is used to measure the result of learning andreliable, with an emphasis on being easy forassess whether students have achieved the course

students to read and understand. This process isobjectives.

straightforward when there is a textbook, but as no
textbook matched the content perfectly for this

Q: What methods do you use to give
preparation and review assignments?

semester's courses, I have been experimenting withA. I use manaba. For the preparation assignment,

For review, students are asked to write what I call

I provide short texts or materials related to the classtheme, and ask students to take multiple-choicequizzes which would be easy to answer after doing
the assigned readings. These preparation

3. Use “Idea Notes" for review

and Law" is at a more applied level, so it covers

assignments also increase incentive to attend theclass after gaining some knowledge on the topic. I
try not to overburden students with theseassignments, and I am still searching for the rightdifferent materials.

"Idea Notes." Idea Notes are not answers toquestions that I pose, but are short pieces of writingin which students freely develop their own thoughts
or form questions based on what they have grasped
through the lecture and found interesting. Students
are then instructed to summarize what they havelearned in class in their own words and develop
their ideas. The requirements are: 1) they must bebased on the lecture content, 2) the writing must be

However, producing knowledge is a very difficultin the student’s own words, 3) one Idea Note musttask. Even a small report on a single A4 page needs

be limited to one idea, and 4) each Idea Note must

to be written by combining a variety of ideas. Ibe at least 100 words. For the review, I ask students

thought Idea Notes would be a good way to focus

to submit around two to four Idea Notes for two oron the process of nurturing each idea first, rather

three classes. If students look back on the Idea

than immediately seeking the results. ThroughNotes they write throughout the course, they will berecording one’s own ideas in written form insteadable to see how much they have actually learned.

of memorizing pieces of information, these ideas
can be used productively later when writing

I started using Idea Notes because there are many

presentations and reports, as well as theses.

students who write their reports for the teacher.
Instead, I would like students to develop andWhat I am proposing to students at this time is tostore knowledge for themselves. The existence ofhandwrite their ideas on B6 size information cards

students who copy and paste information is a(also called "Kyoto University style"), which are

known problem, but I feel that the cause lies in theavailable at the Co-op. It is not my intention tofact that they have not learned the techniques todeny digital tools, but I would like them todevelop their own ideas in the first place. I believe

experience the joy of writing by hand.

that university-level education should encourage
the first step of producing one’s own knowledge.

Q: What innovations have you madeincrease students’ motivation forlearning?

living in.
In AY 2020, I used the FIP budget to conduct
Idea 2: Ask challenging questions and discuss

lectures and seminars using simulations. Forthem in an open-ended forum

example, with the cooperation of a person who had
experience working in an international

Idea 1: Connect the knowledge to students’ own

Q: What are some of the innovations you
have made when conducting online andhybrid classes?
Idea 1: Handout materials in advance

There are often students who try to make black andorganization, we created a simulated case of awhite judgments about certain social issues, or who

person applying for refugee status after fleeing from

I make handouts with the information I want theI try to provide students with the basic knowledge

would like me to share my personal opinion.

a fictional country. We asked the students tostudents to have and give it to them in advance. Forof international law which is the foundation of ourHowever, what is important is to understand theconsider whether this person was a refugee or noteach lecture, I upload two to four A4 pages ofsociety, rather than niche knowledge that only a few

rationale that each position stands for, and to beaccording to the criteria and explain the reasons formaterials on manaba, which include bullet points,people would know. In "Globalization and Law,"able to logically develop one’s own arguments.

their decision, and we provided feedback on theirdiagrams, relevant treaty texts and cases to be

we discuss international legal rules of trade which

So, in the lecture, I ask the students what they thinkanswers. When I posed challenging questions, thediscussed.

are relevant to our daily lives. Other times, we talkabout issues with divided opinions (e.g., is thestudents initially responded with their own beliefs,

about current events. I often introduce movies toWHO doing enough to deal with the spread ofbut by involving the entire class in a discussion on

During a class, students can only concentrate ongive the students an image of a social issue before

COVID-19?), and after listening to the students'

how a certain position may be legally justified, Ieither listening or reading. I do not think students

we get into the content of international law andideas, I explain the scope of the WHO's authority

could clearly see the students' minds at work. I

will understand if they listen to the teacher and lookhuman rights. I think these methods motivate theand their decision-making mechanism, and then ask

believe that this method of asking challenging

at the slides at the same time. So, by giving them

students to see the relationship between what they

them to think again about whether the question wasquestions leads to deeper learning.

handouts, they can look over the material

have learned in the lectures and the world they areformed appropriately in the first place.

lives

beforehand. Handouts also make it easier forstudents to see the outline of the class, and follow

Since some students are taking the class via

the class progress and important points. I also use

recording, for example, I make sure that theslides in class, but I use them as a supplement todeadlines for preparation assignments are fair. Also,show diagrams, pictures, and key words.

online classes can be tiring, so I take a short breakin the middle of the lecture to play music orIdea 2: Work together with the TA

introduce a movie related to the class.

I ask my TA to help me receive questions. Since

Q: What steps do you take to improvethe content of your classes?

the lecture has more than 150 students, it cannot bevery interactive. So, I ask the TAs to send questions
from the students to me via chat. The TA

A: The first step I take is using respon at the end ofsummarizes the questions according to the outline

each class as a way to receive comments andin the handout and pastes them into a sharedquestions. I check these points after the lecture,

document that is simultaneously displayed on themake minor changes to the teaching style, ananswer

screen in front of me. I look at it and give thesome questions in the next class.

lecture, answering questions as appropriate.
The second step is when receiving the final report, IIdea 3: Have consideration for the students'

see how well the students were able to write thecourse environment

report. This step also gives me hints on techniques

to be used as preparation and review assignments.

flexible with allowing students to turn in review

The idea for Idea Notes which I mentioned earlier

assignments late, provided that they explain thewas born from such reflections.

reason in advance. Interestingly, I have theimpression that the number of students who meet

The third step is when I receive the class evaluation

the deadline has conversely increased.

surveys that the students fill out at the end of theAs for the content of what I teach, I try to teachcourse. I check which items scored worse thanbased on what the students should know rather

others and read the students' comments, whichthan what I as the teacher am interested in.

inform me about the design of the course for thenext year.

Q. What is important to you in yourteaching?

Q. What do you expect from the students
who take your classes?
A: What I expect from students is for them not

A: In the current pandemic, we must prioritize. In

be passive but active. I want them to listen to theother words, I believe that students need to belectures more voraciously and write the term papers

healthy and not be overwhelmed by stress soand Idea Notes for themselves, and not justthat they can study. Therefore, for example, I am

passively write because the teacher tells them to. Iam teaching what I want the students to know, so I
expect them to actively participate in the class,thinking about what will be important for them asmuch as possible.
The Idea Note method that I am experimenting withis a tool for students to take what they learn inclass and turn it into their own thinking. Althoughstudents have a lot of freedom in what they write, ifthey do not provide reasons for their thoughts, they
will not be able to reach others. Simply saying, "I
think this way," does not make the world a better
place. I hope that this tool will be useful forstudents to acquire the ability to explain "why."Interviewer Impressions
Through this interview, I learned about the hard work of the Professor
who prepares and plans a lot before and after each class so that thestudents will be able to think for themselves and organize what they
have learned, rather than having a one-way flow of information fromteacher to student. It was very interesting to learn about theProfessor’ s unique and innovative teaching style and vision for theclass. I was able to realize the importance of taking the classindividually as the input, and organizing knowledge in one’ s own way
and thinking about how to connect it to daily life as the output. In thefuture, I would like to review the contents of classes so that I can makethe knowledge my own by thinking and organizing it in my own words
like the Idea Notes, rather than ending with note-taking. I believe thatthrough this process, I will be able to improve the quality of my learning.

What is [Q]?

At APU there are many professors who put together wonderful classes, and if
we could get to know how these classes are planned, it would contribute tothe improvement of other professors’ classes. For that purpose, we havebegun doing interviews in order to learn about class planning. These articles
have been entitled [Q], comprising a variety of meanings such as: increasing
the [Q]uality of classes, answering [Q]uestions to increase quality, andforming a [Q]ueue, or line, of class improvements. We would be very happy
if these articles could contribute to the [Q]uest of APU professors’ class quality
improvement.