CHRISTOPHER HENNESSY & IVAN LOMBARDI

Christopher Hennessy
University of Fukui
hennessy[at]u-fukui[dot]ac[dot]jp
Ivan Lombardi
University of Fukui
ivan[at]u-fukui[dot]ac[dot]jp

Fostering Student Independence Through a
Community Revitalization PBL Course
ABSTRACTThis article describes a recurring Project-Based Learning (PBL) course based on learner discovery
of local issues and community revitalization at the University of Fukui. From 2021 to 2023, PBL
students worked with a local experiential travel organization to promote its activities and thesurrounding area to a domestic and international audience. In the 2021 iteration, students focusedon multilingual promotion using SNS platforms due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. From 2022
onward, learners researched the challenges faced by organizations and institutions in the area andworked with them and relevant government agencies to create multilingual events and promotion
pamphlets. In this article, we will introduce the overall context and the structure of the courseand discuss the development of metacognitive skills and independent action in learners throughlearner perspectives and our own observations.
Keywords: PBL, student independence, learner development, community engagement

CONTEXT

Community revitalization is one of the pillars of the School of Global and Community Studies (GCS)at the University of Fukui. As the official website states, “the revitalization of local economies has
become an urgent task as even local businesses expand into more global activities” (para. 1). As
a response to this call, we developed a project-based learning (PBL) course that investigates theuntapped potential of the Fukui community and introduces lesser-known attractions, experiential
activities, and local revitalization efforts to an international audience. The Educational Goals of
the department mention this as one of the objectives of the GCS program: “We want students tohave the ability to investigate various complex issues involving local community and global society,and train them to be resources with holistic and practical knowhow to engage in problem-solving
and contribute to the development of the local community and the global society” (para. 1). In thisarticle, we will tell the story of how our students developed metacognitive skills and independence
in our PBL course.

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THE ROLE OF PBL WITHIN THE GCS CURRICULUM

Ours is not the only PBL course that GCS students take – in fact, PBL is recognized as a pillar ofour department. All students enroll in PBL courses in their first, second, and third year, with somePBL projects spanning multiple semesters to two years. To emphasize the importance of PBL inthe curriculum, the GCS website states that, “[t]hrough a curriculum centered on Project-Based
Learning, students will understand society in the real world and acquire the independent skills toadapt to changing circumstances while developing critical thinking skills and decision-making forpursuing and solving challenges” (para. 4 [our emphasis]).
In their second year, GCS students can choose which PBL course/project they will join. The course
we co-facilitate is the only one available in the second year involving an English component andaccepts international students in an attempt to capture the spirit of connecting the local community
with global perspectives.

WHAT IS PBL?

Our interpretation of PBL is that of project- rather than problem-based learning. However, our choiceof projects stems from issues that are affecting the Fukui area, in line with the GCS philosophy.
Simultaneously and in tune with the theme of the LD30 conference, we focus on the centrality of
the learners, the interactions among them and other stakeholders, and their efforts leading to thefinal product. Rather than conforming to one monolithic definition of PBL, our approach integrates
underlying concepts in the literature with the context of the department and the area we work in.
We refined our style in conducting PBL over several iterations of the course and experimented
with different balances of facilitator control and learner autonomy, different degrees of scaffolding,and different emphases on skill learning and fieldwork. Based on our previous experiences andobservations, we will introduce two models we believe can support learner independence as
learners develop their projects. Then, we will provide an overview of how we adopted each of thetwo models in previous PBL courses. Finally, we will explain how these influenced the 2021-2022
and 2022-2023 iterations of our PBL – which we call the Deep Fukui project.

THE GENESIS OF DEEP FUKUI: TWO MODELS OF IMPLEMENTATION

Creating a community revitalization PBL course involves ideating a project and the path for it tocome to realization. We think there are two models (and a whole range in between them) thatcan be realistically adopted for a course intended to be relevant in the community while fostering
student growth. While the two models will eventually converge as the learners start engaging in
on-site research and project development, they stem from profoundly different starting points. We
call these two original models, the up-and-running model and the got-nothing model.

THE UP-AND-RUNNING MODEL (2017-2018 PBL)

The “up-and-running model” is designed for learners to have a quick entry into their PBL project.
This is achieved by them joining a project that has already been set up by the facilitators, and inwhich the outcome of the project and external stakeholders have been established in advance.
Here we will break down schematically how we achieved this in one past course.
1. The facilitators create the relationship with the cooperating organizations

The theme of this particular PBL course was 地酒 (jizake, local sake). We found local sake breweries,
restaurants, and shops willing to cooperate in a domestic and international promotion project.
2. Facilitators and learners negotiate the needs of the cooperating organizations

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We facilitated the first contact between the learners and the organization they chose to researchand promote. This was to ensure that the learners understood the needs of the organization andthe nature and predetermined outcomes of the project.
3. Learners gather information
Working in teams, students visited rice fields, sake breweries, and specialty stores and conductedinterviews on-site to learn more about the cycle of sake production and the issues the industry
faces with the decrease in popularity of sake and dwindling sales.
4. Implement the promotion
Learners collected their findings in two promotional pamphlets (English and Japanese versions)of their production and design (see Artifact 1). They also engaged in public relations regarding
distribution of the pamphlets.
5. Present and review the results
The learners presented their project development and the final product at a large-scale presentation
event at the university before engaging in reflection on their achievements and the challenges they
had faced.

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Artifact 1: Sake x Fukui (2017-2018 PBL pamphlet cover and sample page)

THE GOT-NOTHING MODEL (2018-2019 PBL)

At the opposite end of the spectrum is another PBL style which we refer to as the “got-nothing” model. In
this context, the learners explore a theme – in this example our selection was 体験 (taiken, hands-on
experience) – without a predetermined idea of the issues they will tackle. On the contrary, they findan issue that catches their interest and can realistically contribute something towards. Similarly,
they launch themselves into the project with no previously established contact or relationship.
Below we explain how we implemented this model in 2018-2019.
1. Brainstorming session
At the beginning of the project, the group of learners brainstormed about and researched manytaiken experiences offered in Fukui City and surrounding towns. They identified a number theywanted to promote to domestic and international tourists.
2. Students approach the organizations
After dividing into small teams, the learners selected strategies to make first contact with theirchosen local organization and deliberate on the potential of collaborating towards a promotional
project.
3. Learners gather information
The learners split into small teams to visit the organization they had contacted. There, they experienced
the organization’s taiken (practical experience activity) first-hand and learned about the organizationand its current challenges through interviews with representatives.
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4. Implement the promotion
Possibly inspired by the final product of the previous PBL iteration, the learners opted to report theresults of their research in the form of a promotional pamphlet in English (see Artifact 2).
5. Present and review the results
As in the previous year, this group of learners presented the final product of their research in presentation
form at the end of the semester. Prior to that, they engaged in self- and peer-assessment to reflect on
the PBL process and final result.

Artifact 2: Fukui Xperience – やってみよっさ (2018-2019 PBL pamphlet cover and sample page).

LEARNER INDEPENDENCE AND THE TWO MODELS

Reflecting on two years of PBL and planning for more to come, we reviewed our approach to PBL
and our roles as course facilitators. This was not an easy endeavor, as we realized that the learners
as individuals, with their diverse personalities, motivation, understanding and acceptance of the19

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PBL principles are major factors in the success of the project. We also determined that the course
structure and logistics should support the learners’ ability to make decisions freely, take risks, andlearn from their experiences. To achieve this, we found ourselves gravitating towards the got-nothingmodel, which was the foundation for the two PBL iterations introduced in the next section.

THE DEEP FUKUI PROJECT AND COURSE LOGISTICS

We first proposed the Deep Fukui PBL course as a framework that could be filled in with different
yearly projects, all bound together by the common outcome of promoting local Fukui culture andexperiences and providing multilingual PR support for audiences in Japan and abroad. The name
Deep Fukui also encapsulates the essence of a project asking students to bring their research andPR talents to places beyond the well-known tourist spots in Fukui and find local hidden gems.

EXPLORING ROKUROSHI PLATEAU

Both iterations are based on the got-nothing model and have seen two separate groups of learners
engage in the promotion of an experiential travel organization located in 六呂師高原 (Rokuroshi
kōgen, Rokuroshi Highland), a remote location in an underserved area in the 奥越 (Okuetsu) regionof Fukui Prefecture. The learners’ on-site connection is an organization concerned with nature
education and ecotourism, which offers an array of guided forest tours, work-stay programs, andtaiken experiences in direct contact with nature.
Through fieldwork, the students discovered that Rokuroshi Highland used to be a popular resortarea for skiing; now it only has a small number of services, pastures and woods, and stargazing
spots. Most importantly, Rokuroshi Highland is an isolated area with limited public transportation,
which constitutes the main challenge for community revitalization. Even traveling by car entails analmost one-hour ride from Fukui City center (see Artifact 3), and the steep hills discourage many
cyclists. In addition, it is simply not as well-known as other points of interest in the Okuetsu region,
like the Dinosaur Museum in Katsuyama City or the Echizen Ono Castle in Ono City.

Artifact 3: Reaching Rokuroshi Highland from Fukui City.

PBL COURSE LOGISTICS

The two iterations described below share the same syllabus (Artifact 4).

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This is a project-based learning (PBL) course in which students will work in teams to research and learn
about various local culture and history of Fukui, with the aim of [...] identifying certain challenges in the
promotion both domestically and internationally of a local nature area of the Okuetsu region as well as
creating and implementing solutions for these challenges.
Artifact 4: Extract from the course syllabus
Both PBL courses took place over the course of an academic year. The first semester focuses on
steps (1), (2), and (3) (as described above) and ends with a review and report of the progress. The
second semester resumes step (3) and mostly revolves around steps (4) and (5). The courses areformally scheduled to meet every other week for 180 minutes; however, the meeting times can beadapted to the needs of the stakeholders to allow for fieldwork, appointments with external actors,
and personal schedules. In these two iterations of the Deep Fukui project, the flexible schedulingoften translated into sporadic class meetings, while most of what would be normally considered“class time” was adjusted by the learners to fit the needs of their research and promotion efforts.
Another shared feature of the two courses was two presentations – an in-class interim activity
report at the end of July and a final presentation of the project in a school-wide PBL event in late
January. Despite the similarities highlighted so far, the learners put their unique twist to their PBL
activities and led their projects in different directions as narrated below.

THE 2021-2022 ITERATION

Seven students joined our project-based course in 2021. In the first semester, fieldwork outingsand direct community engagement were limited by COVID-19 restrictions. Therefore, the learners
approached the partner organization via online meetings to learn more about their activities,
challenges, and promotion campaigns. Upon learning that the organization has an Instagram andYouTube presence, the learners decided to leverage social media tools to expand the organization’s
reach in the local and global community among younger people through pictures and short videos of
the taiken experiences offered. At this stage, the group split into two teams, in charge of Instagram
PR and YouTube PR, respectively.
After that, the two teams learned more about how engagement in social media works by analyzing
successful creators and reading about the topic. Once COVID-19 restrictions were removed, thetwo teams planned on traveling to Rokuroshi Highland to join the taiken events themselves andstart a cycle of “experience-plan-implement” seen in Artifact 5.

Artifact 5: The 2021-2022 PBL cycle

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The two teams joined taiken experiences such as bike tours in Ono City, tree climbing, and kayaking
on Lake Kuzuryu to acquaint themselves with the beauty of Rokuroshi Highland and fully understandthe taiken experience. These were also occasions to learn more from the spokespeople of thecooperating organization. Then, informed by their first observations, the learners began planningthe promotional efforts (e.g., identifying their audience and goals, deciding how much and which
content to develop and how to calendarize their social media posts) in a proposal document (sample)
submitted to the partner organization. The two teams submitted their proposals to us first, to which
we gave feedback based on the idea’s feasibility and appropriateness. After this, both groups joined
a taiken experience again to take pictures and video footage for promotional materials.

Artifact 6: PR photos taken by the learners (bicycle tour and tree climbing)

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From late November, the two teams continued their independent work to develop promotional
materials – in this case, selecting/editing pictures and short videos to go on Instagram, andcreating brief videos designed as YouTube Shorts. They also kept constant direct and spontaneous(meaning not facilitated by us) contact with the local organization to ensure that the materials werehigh quality and representative of the organization’s communication style and goals.

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Artifact 7: Social media engagement (Instagram and YouTube teams)
At the end of the second semester, the two teams joined forces to prepare a 30-minute presentation
reporting on their PBL activities and takeaways. The audience consisted of peers, other university
instructors involved in PBL, and representatives of the organization – thus providing closure toa project that left, according to student reflections, all parties satisfied despite the challenges ofremoteness of the area and difficulty in disseminating PR via Instagram and YouTube.

THE 2022-2023 ITERATIONAt the beginning of the first semester, the new group of students – seven initially, which became
five after two international students left to return home – met two student representatives of theprevious iteration to learn about their activities and experiences in the PBL. The new group decided
to continue the project theme from 2021-2022, but change directions by organizing in-person
events and promoting other facilities in the Rokuroshi area targeting younger people.

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Artifact 8: The 2022-2023 group in Rokuroshi

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While the 2021-2022 PBL learner process could be described as an organic cycle, the activity of
the 2022-2023 learners resembled a tide, surging with force, striking, and receding – a pattern thatthe group exhibited throughout the project.
After experiencing a day in the beauty of the natural surroundings of Rokuroshi Highland (Artifacts
8-9), interviewing the members of the collaborating organization, and brainstorming PR possibilities,
they quickly decided on a plan to create a bilingual pamphlet collating the voices of actual visitors to
the area. Following that, they settled on organizing an event at Rokuroshi Highland capitalizing on
the local taiken activities in the forest (yoga, games, or movie screenings). Lastly, they chose to takeover the social media accounts of the organization to showcase “live” takes of different activities
in the area in all seasons. This was the first surge, decisions taken rapidly that soon transitioned
into the implementation phase. The learners’ drive and goal orientation was so quick and forcefulthat we believed the end goal of this project would be accomplished in a short time. However, thelearners realized the over-ambitious nature of their first proposal and ended up scrapping most ofthese initial ideas.

Artifact 9: The learners making tea out of leaves found in the Rokuroshi Highland woods
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Recovering from this first setback, the learners became interested in hosting a stargazing eventand planned for their “final ideaI”: promoting Rokuroshi Highland as the destination for a romantic
drive targeting young couples in a series of weekend stargazing events they labeled hoshizora
hammock. However, this idea was scrapped as they could not receive permission from Ono City
city hall. In their third surge, the learners visited Rokuroshi Highland again with the intention offinding suitable locations to host nature-themed events. From their reflections, we learned thatthey had the opportunity to secure the Rokuroshi Walking Center, but were concerned about the
dilapidated state of some of the fixtures. Independently, they decided to inquire with the Fukui
Nature Conservation Center to use the Rokuroshi Walking Center and install new benches thatthey could purchase through local crowdfunding. They were cleared to use the Walking Center, but
not allowed to renovate the outside fixtures. Some progress was made, but yet once more somebacktracking proved necessary.
As summer came and went, the group of learners needed to take definitive action if they wanted
to hold some kind of bilingual/multilingual event. They did so by planning and advertising for two
events to take place on a weekend in November (one on Saturday and one on Sunday). They madea promotion poster and disseminated it in various strategic high-traffic locations in the Okuetsu
area, as well as our university, and also spread the word among their acquaintances. In addition,
they also conducted PR using teasers on Instagram. The first day of the event was quite successful,and the group welcomed, among others, families with children, and accompanied them to thewoods to gather leaves, acorns, and wood chippings to make nature-based craft art (Artifact 10).

Artifact 10: Day 1 of the event

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The second event on Sunday was compromised in part by awful weather, but the learners still managed
to invite a group of fellow university students, made gel candles together and joined in a cheese-making
taiken experience (Artifact 11).

Artifact 11: Day 2 of the event
After the events and reflection time, the learners decided to resume the early idea of a bilingual
pamphlet to ensure there was an international component to the PBL course. One of the facilitators
managed to secure funding, and the students designed two four-page brochures (one in Japanese,
one in English) that would feature (1) a collage of pictures taken over a year in Rokuroshi Highland,(2) access information, (3) a hand-drawn map of the area with (4) a brief introduction to activities/
facilities in Rokuroshi Highland (see Artifact 12). All pamphlet information was coordinated with therelevant stakeholders.
After the pamphlet was in print in February, the learners began disseminating them to prominent
tourist points inside and outside of Fukui Prefecture (Artifact 13 – circled). They decided which tourist
points to place the pamphlets, obtained permission to display or distribute the pamphlets there, andsent or hand-delivered them.

TAKEAWAYS

In this section, we will talk about the various takeaways we had from conducting this project-basedlearning class. Specifically, we will explain our observations of how activities were planned andimplemented throughout the course by both the facilitators and students, ultimately reflecting on the
independence the learners gained through the course structure. Then, we will share the learners’
voices by referring to qualitative research and analysis we conducted through questionnaires, andthe metacognitive skills we believed the learners gained in both iterations of the courses based on
this research data and our own observations.

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Artifact 12: Hand-drawn map to recommended locations and activities in Rokuroshi Highland.

Artifact 13: Rokuroshi Highland promotional pamphlets on display.

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TAKEAWAY #1: LEARNER INDEPENDENCE THROUGH CLASS ACTIVITY DEVELOPMENT
Over the multiple iterations of this project-based learning course, we have seen an interesting
phenomenon in which learners have taken more control of the activities as the course progresses
throughout the year. For example, in the 2022-2023 iteration of the course, we initially set up thefoundational meetings with the head of the organization in the Rokuroshi Highland area in May
and June. However, as the learners and the head of the organization became more acquainted, we
started to be bypassed as the contacts, to the point that by July we were not notified of meetings. In
fact, this independence by learners in organizing meetings eventually extended to other organizations(government entities) and even the “final product” (events). This shift in agency from us, the facilitators,
to the students reflected increasing independence by the group of learners, which we cautiously
welcomed. While we encouraged them to work directly with the association, we would haveappreciated more updates on major milestones as the ultimate course administrators. A similar
pattern also appeared in the 2021-2022 iteration of the course.

TAKEAWAY #2: COURSE FACILITATORS FOSTER METACOGNITIVE SKILLS, OUTSIDEORGANIZATIONS FOSTER CONCRETE SKILLSAs we had already conducted various iterations of this community-based PBL course since 2017,
we decided to start collecting qualitative data on the students’ perceptions of the course in the2021-2022 iteration. Specifically, we conducted a total of four questionnaires focusing on: (1) the
goals the learners set and achieved, (2) the actual learning outcome they perceived for themselves,(3) their perceptions of the roles of the facilitators and the various representatives of organizations
and what they learned from them, (4) learner descriptions of the various relationships they had
throughout the course, and (5) concrete activities they found useful during the course.
We could discern a number of selective codes based on a socioconstructivist grounded theory modelof analysis (Charmaz, 2014), allowing us to ascertain an interesting set of perceptions held by thestudents. The learners saw the relationship they had with representatives of organizations as one that
fostered concrete skills development (data collection methods, knowledge of the local area, use ofvideo equipment). In contrast, they saw the relationship they had with the facilitators, as one in which
they gained metacognitive skills (time management, project management, problem solving).
Combining these voices, and adding our own observations over the two years of the courses asinterpretative anchors, we have determined a set of metacognitive skills in which we believe thelearners showed considerable development over the year: (1) task orientation, (2) planning, (3)active listening, (4) self-evaluation, (5) self-correction, and (6) independence.
The first skill is task-orientation. This entails learners understanding elements of PBL “philosophy”
as defined by Tyagi and Kannan (2013): a need to know, a driving question, student voice andchoice, 21st-century skills (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and use of technology),
inquiry and innovation, feedback and revision, and a publicly presented product. In speaking withthe organization, learners understood the needs of the organization, posited their own ideas andreceived feedback on those ideas, ultimately creating different “products” for public consumption(SNS pages, events, pamphlets).
In implementing this PBL philosophy, learners developed the second skill, planning. As mentioned
above, they quickly took control of their own learning by organizing meetings with the outsideorganizations on their own. Their increased ability for planning also extends to the high degree of
coordination needed to plan events and pamphlet/SNS layouts.
The learners also developed the third skill, active listening. This skill was particularly useful forunderstanding and interpreting the needs that the outside organizations had in order to ideate andimplement action in order to help resolve those needs. They identified through initial interviewsin the area that there was a severe lack of public transportation to the area. Furthermore, as they
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developed their respective products, this skill was useful in adjusting the direction of the productas they received feedback from us or the outside organization.
The fourth skill, self-evaluation, was necessary for the learners to recognize when things were goingin the right direction. This was fostered through weekly project journals that they filled in reflecting
and assessing the week’s activities, constantly refining the project through their individual judgment.
For example, early on in the 2022-2023 iteration, the learners went back and forth on what their final
product would be due to considerations such as project originality, concerns about fundraising andthe length of time necessary, and events in January being snowed out. Eventually, they conducted
the events, which they settled on after reflecting on the feasibility of their original plans.
The above two skills dovetail with the fifth skill, self-correction. The learners needed their active
listening skills and self-evaluation skills in order to correct the trajectory of the project based on
both their own evaluations and the evaluations of us and the outside organizations. For example,
when the students realized the local government would not cooperate in creating more public
transportation opportunities, they “corrected” course by planning a drive-and-stargaze event in thearea (This was not implemented due to another similar event already being conducted in the area).
The final gain (and perhaps most important), is independence. Independence was far from an innatecharacteristic of either group of learners. However, in both iterations, we saw a slow build-up of
confidence and development of independent decision-making over time, especially as the learners
started leaving the classroom after the initial scaffolding and immersed themselves in the community
through fieldwork. Already mentioned above, but by halfway through the course learners had alreadybypassed us as the contact points for organizations, and conducted almost all correspondence
directly with multiple private and government organizations to develop their events or SNS content.
By the end of the course, we could appreciate a degree of independent thought and action thatneither needed nor relied excessively on facilitator guidance.

CURRENT AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

After tweaking our approach multiple times, we came to believe that the got-nothing model is morefunctional to fostering metacognitive skills and independent origination, as exemplified in the 20222023 PBL outcomes. The 2023-2024 iteration of the Deep Fukui project is unsurprisingly based on
this model. In this project, learners work with an organization in Katsuyama City that professionallyengages in many activities to promote the local area (events, shop management, social media
promotion). The learners have only been introduced to the new partner organization and the dozensof activities it is engaged in, so they truly have free choice to mimic the production of one of theseprojects or introduce a brand-new activity in which they will work with this organization.
The biggest challenge faced by the students in the 2021-2023 iterations of the PBL course was
the travel time (for interviews and event coordination). For the 2023-2024 Deep Fukui project,
in working with this organization in Katsuyama City, they are in an area that is relatively close to
the university compared to Rokuroshi Highland, meaning shorter travel time which will hopefullytranslate into a more productive use of the time in project development.
As the project development area has changed, we cannot continue on the same exact research
path following our learners’ revitalization activities in the Rokuroshi Highland area. However, we cancontinue to explore the more abstract ideas we have presented. Specifically, we hope to develop
the idea that the roles of facilitator and outside organization representatives were differentiated andcrystallized throughout the implementation of the course. We are interested in understanding further
the observation that the facilitators focus on metacognitive skills, providing the scaffolding needed
for learners to avoid feeling like they are left on their own without the proper tools, while the content
experts focus on concrete professional skills that the learners need in order to bring their vision and

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the vision of the cooperating organization together and coordinate the efforts that will lead to thefinal project.
Furthermore, we have used our own observations to identify the metacognitive skills developed by
students in a community revitalization project-based learning course: (1) task orientation, (2) planning,(3) active listening, (4) self-evaluation, and (5) self-correction. Another realization we had was thestriking increase of (6) independent action in our students when given the opportunity and tools.
After graduating, many GCS students end up working in local government or for organizations that
contribute to the community, so by developing these skills in working directly with governments andcommunity-centered organizations, they are actively developing the skills they can use from Day
1 in their future careers. We hope to refine our interpretations through observation and qualitative
research conducted in the current iteration of the class. As a further research path, we plan on
monitoring the English language use and development of the learners. Ultimately, in line with theconference feedback and our own subsequent reflections, we hope to develop and share easy-toimplement guidelines for PBL-in-English course design based on our successes and failures.

REFERENCES

Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). SAGE.
Tyagi, S., & Kannan, R. (2013). Implementing project-based learning in teaching English toengineering students. English for Specific Purposes World, 14(40), 1–15. http://espworld.info/
Articles_40/Kannan.pdf

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