Development of an Educational Learning
Program to Enhance Capability andAwareness: Active Learning Promotes theDiversity and Deepening of Thought
KURIMOTO Hidekazu*
KURIMOTO Kouki**This study discusses the concept and effects of an educational
learning program developed to enhance capabilities, awareness, andcompetency in liberal arts education. Since the qualitative transformation from teaching output to learning outcomes was reported in
the Central Council for Education, higher education in its entirety
required to grapple with active learning. While various practicalapplications of active learning have been identified, certain problems
have arisen during the implementation of these learning methods.
This study focuses upon what to learn, and not only how to learn,
by way of active/deep learning. “Logical thinking” and “imagination”
in particular, are important capabilities for graduates to acquire, in
addition to the fundamental objectives declared in the Nagoya
University Academic Charter. Consequently, four workshops on the
topics of “Leadership,” “Management,” “Team Building,” and“Employability” have been newly provided to foster capabilities andthe learning through awareness.
In this paper, the aims, background, concept, distinctive characteristics, course outlines, and outcomes of an educational learning
program organized as common graduate courses, are summarized.

*Professor, Institute of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Nagoya University**Graduate Student, Graduate School of Environmental Studies,
Nagoya University

327

Poor man’s Flipped Classroom
YAMAZATO Takaya*

This report introduces the active learning techniques
employed by the author. Among a variety of active learningpedagogical methods, this report focuses on a flipped classroom.
A lecture given during class time is self-learnt outside of a school
hours, and typical learning that is completed outside theclassroom is performed during in-class time.
The spread of massive open online course (MOOC) promotes
short video lectures to be viewed by students at home, and it isoften seen as the key element in the flipped classroom. However,the production costs of the video lectures are usually high. So theauthor attempted a so-called “poor man’s flipped classroom.”
Given it is an on-going trial it is too early to evaluate it; however,
the author has a generally positive feeling about it.
Various methods are available for active learning, and one may
turn his or her thoughts to the meaning of related pedagogy.
Those thoughts lead to questions about what we should beteaching and what students should learn at university. In thisreport, I also include my opinion with regards to the question.
*Professor, Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Nagoya
University

328

On-Site Research Training
for Clinical Environmental Studies:
Towards a New PhD Researcher
NAKAMURA Hidenori*
KATO Hirokazu**
TAKANO Masao***This paper introduces “On-Site Research Training for ClinicalEnvironmental Studies (ORT),” a doctoral course educational programthat aims to develop professionals in their abilities to coordinate andproduce interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. Coordination takes place throughout the process of diagnosis and treatment ofenvironmental problems, towards establishing a sustainable society.
Students identify sustainability issues in the designated region,
develop a cross-cutting research team, plan and execute a researchplan, and feed the research outcomes back into local society. The
experience of ORT assists the participating students by broadening
their perspectives, attitudes, and understanding of the methods
necessary for practical research. There was one case where apost-doc contributed to post-disaster relief and development by thestudent utilising his experiences of ORT. The skills the students learn
through ORT are transferrable to non-academic works. Namely, thisrefers to interdisciplinary coordination on environmental problems,
communication across disciplines and between researchers andvarious stakeholders, and research activity management underconstraints. The ORT is an attempt to revisit the role of theuniversity in a society and to create new PhD researchers requiredby society, as well as to demonstrate the significance of transferrable
skill development in graduate education.

*Designated Associate Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University**Associate Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Studies,
Nagoya University***Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya
University

329

Designing a First-Year Seminar with a CriticalThinking Focus: A Preliminary ExperimentIntroducing Tutorial Teaching
NAKAJIMA Hidehiro*This paper examines the effectiveness and relevance of tutorial
teaching in a first year seminar at Nagoya University, a researchoriented university in Japan. Tutorial teaching was originally derived
from Oxford Tutorial and consists of two learning activities;
preparing an essay and tutorial session.
In this preliminary experiment course, students needed to prepare
an essay for a tutorial session, with a logical structured discussion andclear conclusion in around 4000 characters in Japanese. In the tutorial
sessions, one instructor met with three students and asked various
types of questions to stimulate critical thinking on the essay topic.
The main findings are as follows.
First, the course design in this experimental seminar was effective
in fostering the ability to select and evaluate appropriate literature inpreparation for writing the essay. Intensive orientation and supervision before tackling the essay is a critical component. Second,
writing essays contributes to the development of students’ abilities tothink deeply and critically on the issues raised in their essay. This is
one of the most effective ways of teaching in first-year seminars at a
research-oriented institution.

*Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,
Nagoya University

330

The Duality of “the Strengthened Steering Core”
in the American University
YOSHINAGA Keiichiro*

In this paper, the author first reviews an existing study ofacademic administrators in the United States and confirms that
American universities have already established Burton Clark’s
concept of “the strengthened steering core” with provosts and deans.
According to several national surveys, they are given strong
authority and support staff, and are distinguished from faculty
members (separate jurisdiction). Thus the autonomy of faculty
members is limited to academic issues inside their departments; they
only participate in university management nominally through faculty
senates (shared governance).
To further study the roles of “the strengthened steering core,” theauthor conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 academic
administrators at six Eastern doctoral/research universities in 2011
and 2012. The interviewees included provosts, deans, department
chairs, and faculty senate leaders. To follow are the findings of theinterviews: (1) Top researchers sometimes choose administrative
careers because of their sense of responsibility and affection toward
their institutions. (2) In spite of their high level of authority, they
respect faculty autonomy and collegiality as much as possible. (3)Their duality as administrators and faculty members mitigates theconflict between management and academic values. (4) Clashes
between academic and management authorities occur regarding
department chairs.

*Professor, Research Center for Higher Education, Kanazawa
University331

An Investigation into Students’ Reflection
Process at a Service Learning Program
AKIYOSHI Megumi*
KAWAI Toru**

This paper clarifies the reflection processes of students who
participated in an experiential-learning based class in rural India. We
created the following categories: “knowledge,” “experience,”“emotion,” “recognition,” and “interpretation,” and, through processesof change in the Trans-theoretical model in the field of HealthBehavioral Science, developed an analytical framework to determine
the reflection process of the students. The case study of two students
demonstrated that they felt rushes of “emotion” from various“experiences” during their student trip. By the end of the trip, one of
the students had obtained “recognition” and reached an “interpretation” but the other had not.
From the perspective of educator support for the students’reflection processes, two important principles were derived from thisresearch. First, students’ past personal experiences were importantfor encouraging the reflection process in the experiential-learning
type of educational practice. It triggers transformation; from“experience” to “recognition,” via “emotion,” in their reflection
process. Second, educators must recognize the risk that theirassumptions, based on their past experiences and knowledge, candegrade understanding of students’ reflection processes.

*Assistant Professor, The Hirayama Ikuo Volunteer Center,
Waseda University**Lecturer, Institute for Teaching and Learning, Ritsumeikan
University332

Activities for Supporting Students in Finding
Jobs after Graduation in French Universities
NATSUME Tatsuya*This paper examines the impact of the Law of University 2007,‘Liberty and Responsibility of Universities,’ on university educationand career guidance services.
The findings of this paper are as follows:1.

Law of University 2007 meant the inclusion of career guidanceservices and helping students to find jobs. Special new offices
were established in each university. Prior to 2007, the main2.

activity of the service was to provide information for education.
Based at the special offices, universities began to implement
activities, for example, the provision of special lectures,assistance with future planning, and offering information andopportunities for internships.

3.

Career guidance services have promoted discussions among
members of the universities. Students determined that internships should be one of the components of formal courses.
Professors and activity providers insisted that the activities
have a close relationship with specialized education. Specialized
education was regarded as more important than job seeking
assistance.

4.

Law of University 2007 presented universities with newchallenges. Universities members are now faced with thequestion of how to organize career guidance by taking accountof traditional missions, economic and social conditions, andbenefits for stakeholders.

*Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education, Nagoya
University

333Policy Making Process of the Certified Public
Psychologists Act in JapanMARUYAMA Kazuaki*This article describes the policy making process of the Certified
Public Psychologists Act (CPPA) in Japan. CPPA passed national dietin September 2015. Studies of higher education have since seen an
increase in demand for graduation programs in clinical psychology.
Some studies have analyzed the political process and regime overcertification for clinical psychologists. However, it remains on the
research agenda to analyze the policy making process of CPPA andthe changes to the regime over certified clinical psychologists in thepast decade.
In this research, I examined the policy making process of CPPA
with resources published by the Japanese Society of Certified ClinicalPsychologists. Consequently, this article explained characteristics of
the CPPA regime in terms of three points of view. The first is theimportance of the consensus-building efforts among professionalgroups. The second is the influence of an established profession as avote player. The third is the efficacy and limitation of the previous
certification by professional associations themselves. These findings
are highly suggestive of other new occupations that seek future
designs in terms of their educational curriculum and certification
system.

*Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,
Nagoya University

334

The Dawn of Alumni Associationsin Japanese Private Universities
HARA Hiromi

This study clarifies the relationship between a university and its
alumni association, focusing on the alumni association’s establishment
and development, and the roles for alma mater and alumni.
The research was conducted through the analysis of historical
documents, university history, public relations, and alumni association
articles from 1890 to 1941, of alumni associations of four targeted
universities: Kansai University, Kwansei-Gakuin University, Doshisha
University and Ritsumeikan University.
The following are the results on the roles of alumni associations:
1. Some features are common in the establishment’s process. There
are internal factors (e.g., expectation for their alma mater fromalumni) and external factors (e.g., the death of a founder andpromotion of status from high school to university).
2.

Alumni associations were the key providers of university
management and connecting alumni and alma mater.

3.

Alumni Associations provide the embodiment of educational
philosophy for alumni and support the establishment in theirsocial activities.
This paper concludes that alumni associations have built mutually

beneficial relationships between alma mater and alumni right from anearly stage of its establishment. This relationship supports thevarious activities of students in Japanese private universities.

Doctoral Student, Graduate School of International Cooperation
Studies, Kobe University335

An Analysis of the Policy for Improving
the Effectiveness of Governance Reforms
YOSHITAKE Hiromichi*
Since the mid-2000s, the term, “governance”, has frequently
appeared in the context of university reforms, although this term
also appeared in the 1998 report of the University Council as wellas the 1963 and 1971 reports of the Central Council for Education.
Currently university governance reforms are implemented dueto the strong economic demands of the world. Nonetheless, while
cooperative governance aims to uphold the management’s
decisions, university governance emphasizes the leadership of
the university presidents.
The most distinctive characteristic of a university is its dual
structure including cooperative and management bodies.
However, (1) the old convention―the cooperative body is primary
and the management body is secondary―persists; (2) the
management body is not very active; and (3) the methods ofmanaging the educational body are not fully established. These
problems hinder the implementation of effective reforms.
The issue surrounding the leadership of university presidents
is related to their power. The university presidents should begiven more power. However, this recommendation is not enoughto solve the issue. This paper argues that the universities shouldcultivate the talent of those who can adequately demonstrate
their leadership qualities, irrespective of their positions. Such anorganizational culture is indispensable for the universities to
grow.
*Professor, Graduate School of Business Sciences, University ofTsukuba(Visiting Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,
Nagoya University)

336

Developing a Shared Understandingof Higher Education Learning Outcomes:
The Test Item Development Project
FUKAHORI Satoko
The focus of quality assurance in higher education has shifted fromsecuring optimal conditions for teaching and learning to assuring student
acquisition of the knowledge and skills expected at the higher educationlevel. This trend presents a challenging question regarding optimal ways
to develop a shared understanding of expected learning outcomes inhigher education, and how to design learning outcomes-based degree
programs. This paper documents a pioneering effort aimed at tackling thisquestion.
As a pragmatic approach to advancing learning outcomes-based
internal quality assurance, the Tuning Project provides important
implications. One such implication is that the success of learning outcomes-based quality assurance depends on the expert judgement of thosefaculty members responsible for teaching and learning, student
assessment, course evaluation, and program review.
The OECD Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes
Feasibility Study focused on whether it was possible to developinternational tools for the assessment of higher education learning
outcomes. However, it also proved that test item development was aneffective activity for engaging faculty in concrete level discussions about
learning outcomes, and to generate shared and practical understanding of
abstract level competence statements. The Tuning Test Item Bank
Project at the National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER)
has built on this finding, aiming to develop a sustainable system for theenhancement of faculty expert judgement on higher education learning
outcomes.

Senior Researcher, National Institute for Educational Policy
Research(Visiting Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher
Education, Nagoya University)

337

The Situation and Challenges of the Learning
Support System in China’s Universities
DOU Xinhao*

In recent times, the massification of higher education has brought
about diversity among undergraduate students in terms of theirability to learn, which exemplifies the importance of learning support
systems for universities. Even though China universities havevarious learning support systems, very few empirical studies on theireffects on students have been undertaken.
This paper analyzes the content and features of the learning
support systems of universities in China through a questionnaire
survey. Learning support systems are expected to enhance thequality of higher education while meeting these three goals; ensuringhigh adaptability, acquiring knowledge, and enhancing the scope of
application. To achieve these goals, the Chinese government
encourages faculties to use learning support systems. Consequently,
new methods have appeared, such as e-learning, class adviser
systems, and student creative innovation projects.
However, the survey revealed that learning support systems are
not necessarily positively accepted. According to the survey data,
many students regard it as a redundant system. Given the diversityof students in their grades and GPA, universities should design more
efficient learning support system by optimally using their various
resources.

Associate Professor, School of Japanese Studies, Shanghai
International Studies University(Visiting Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher
Education, Nagoya University)

338

Strategic Support for International Students
Experiencing Academic Difficulty
NISHIYAMA Kiyohisa*
ASAKAWA Akihiro**

This paper aims to outline problems within the support systems forinternational students who are experiencing difficulties with theirstudies or research activities.
While Japanese universities have recently been striving to increase
their intake of international students, they have also recognized thatsome of them experience problems in their studies or research
activities. Although countermeasures have been geared towards thisissue, more serious cases seem to be increasing.
Voluntary members of international student advisors at Nagoya
University have formed a working group to seek better solutions to
the problem.
The case examples shared by the members have led to somethingof a stalemate. They infer that the current lack of a systematic
support system may be worsening and prolonging such problems.
Proper understanding of the Immigration Control and Refugee
Recognition Act indicates that universities may need systematic
support for preventing such problems from increasing.
We have suggested a possible future support system with respect
to other universities that have been investigated by the working
group. A particular action plan for undergraduate students isdemonstrate of a concrete example.

*Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya
University**Associate Professor, Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University339Comparing IR Offices at a Medium-sized
U.S. State University and Japanese Universities
SHIMADA Toshiyuki*
FUJIWARA Koji**
KOMINATO Takuo***This study compares the role of institutional research (IR) offices at
a medium-sized U.S. state university and several Japanese Universities. There are various types of IR offices in Japan and those thatare responsible for university accreditation or evaluation often tend tocollect qualitative or narrative data. However, in the U.S., the IR officemainly focuses on quantitative data in order to support senioradministrators in their decision and policy-making. This includes thedevelopment of student recruitment and retention strategies that are
related to the university operation.
In the near future, such data-based decision-making, with support
from IR offices, will become more important to Japanese universities.
In the U.S., the IR office has been conducting and analyzing data withclear purposes.
It is crucial to define the roles and responsibilities of the IR office tomake similar things happen in Japan. Securing and training IR
personnel is another challenge for Japanese universities. It should also
be noted that a system which shares knowledge and experiences foreach of the Japanese university’s IR activities would be beneficial.

*Associate Professor, Office of Institutional Research and Planning,
Ibaraki University**Assistant Director, Office of Institutional Research andEffectiveness, Bemidji State University & Northwest TechnicalCollege, MnSCU.
***Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu
University

340

Development of a Step-by-step Teaching
Method of Academic Writing
to Encourage Proactive Learning
NAKAHIGASHI Masaki*
TSUDA Sumiko**This paper introduces the “Step-by-step Teaching Method of
Academic Writing to Encourage Proactive Learning.” It has beendeveloped by authors and describes outcomes from the introductionof this method in the Department of Management, Faculty of
Economics of Niigata University.
This method has two stages. The first stage is for first-year
students. In the first stage, the students experience processes ofreport writing, including a topic search, report writing, a presentation,
and an improvement of their report. In the improvement of theirreport, they use report evaluation sheets as the “advance organizer.”
In addition, they make improvements to their reports in groups aswell as with the correction by higher level students.
The second stage is for students in second-year and onwards. In thesecond stage, the students learn academic writing through thecorrection of other students’ reports. By correcting the reports, they
can review their own academic writing skills and may be helpful for
their thesis writing in the future.
Consequently, this teaching method is able to assist the students inimproving their awareness of academic writing and help thempromote “proactive learning.”*Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics, Niigata University**Professor, Center for Faculty Development, Niigata University341