Application of the Result of Evaluation inCollege of Technology

September 2006
Junko Kawamura
Institute of National Colleges of Technology, Japan1

Ⅰ Features of colleges of technology as
higher education institutions
Ⅱ Evaluation in national colleges oftechnology and the application of theresult2

Establishment of Colleges of Technology¾

Established in the 1960’s in response to strong demand fromthe industrial sector to foster engineers who develop Japanesehigh economic growth (economic growth rate of Japan in 1960
was 12%).

¾The students enter at a young age (after graduating from juniorhigh school) and receive a consistent practical education for fiveyears.

¾

Number of colleges: 55 National, 6 Public, 3 Private
In 2004, the Institute of National Colleges of Technology wasinaugurated to manage the 55 national colleges of technology
throughout Japan．

¾

Approximately 300 thousands have graduated so far; graduates
contribute mainly in the industrial world, as engineers,researchers, managers, etc.
3

Specialized
Training
CollegeDoctoral

DoctoralGraduate
SchoolMaster

JuniorCollege

Undergraduate

HighSchool
Miscellaneous
SchoolJuniorHigh School

School SystemMasterAdvanced
CourseUniversityofTechnology

Undergraduate

College ofTechnology（ｋｏｓｅｎ）

10 thousand students

1.2 million students
4Ratio of graduates from colleges of technology among newengineers graduated from schools of engineering in 2005
(estimated)
Entered University (undergraduate or graduate)
after graduation from colleges of technology

700

22000

40000

4800
３,０００300

700

Graduate of colleges of technology(12% among all)0%
Junior College

10%

20%

30%

College of Technology(Asso. Bachelor)

40%

50%

College of Technology(Advanced Course)

60%

Undergraduate

70%

80%

Master Course

90%

100%

Doctoral Course

By Statistics of School Education (2005, MEXT) ; Graduates of Advanced Course, College of Technology was counted by the Institute of National Collegesof Technology5

Engineers fostered in colleges of technology
Practical and Creative Engineer with highcapacity who play a role in the industrial workplaceconsisted of interdisciplinary technological fields anddevelop the technology by originality and ingenuity
Each college has further concrete goals. For example:•••

Engineers who follow the proper standard for engineers and havecooperative attitude and leadership in the group
Engineers who have the capacity for cross-cultural understanding andcommunication
Engineers who have distinguished basic achievement and specialachievement (idea for production, skill for analogy, skill for structuring),
and have the capacity for sustainable self-enrichment

6NIAD-UE

Departmental Structure(Example)

Apply for Bachelor Degree
Qualification byJABEE

Entrance exam
for AdvancedCourse・Department System・Grade System

Engineering forEngineering for
Production System Environment
Protection System

Graduate School

Undergraduate(Transfer)

5th Year
Dept．ofDept．of
Mechanical Information
Engineering Engineering

Dept．ofDept．ofＥｌｅｃｔｒｉｃａｌ ａｎｄ Civil
Engineering
ＥｌｅｃｔｒｏｎｉｃEngineering

Dept．ofMaterial
Engineering

40 students
perDepartment,
Year・Basic Education
Entrance exam
(General,School recommendation)

Employment

Introduction toKosen Education（Humanities , English,
Math, Physics, Chemistry）(Inter-department)

・Fundamental Engineering

1st YearLaboratory

・Information Literacy
7Fundamental Engineering Laboratory(Department of Mechanical Engineering)(Tokyo National College of Technology)8

Machine Practice Workshop
9Fundamental Engineering Laboratory(Department of Electrical Engineering)
10(Tokyo National College of Technology)

Fundamental Engineering
Laboratory(Department of Chemical Scienceand Engineering)(Tokyo National College of Technology) 11

Robot Contest

12

Dormitory(Tokyo National College of Technology)
13

Characteristics of the National Colleges of Technology
9 Five years of consistent engineering education from15-year old- The curriculum emphasizes experimental work andskills development founded on basic knowledge．
Scrupulous teaching in small classes.
9 Internship by active cooperation with local industrial
sector
9 Inter-college competition such as Robot Contest
9 Student dormitory service
9 Ratio of job offer: 16 job offers for every job seeker(40% of graduates go on to higher education in the advanced course
or transfer to 3rd year of a university (in 2006))
14

Evaluation for colleges of technology
and application of outcome【Institutional evaluation for colleges of technology】•Evaluation by NIAD-UE (National Institution for
Academic Degrees and University Evaluation)•Program evaluation by JABEE (Japan Accreditation
Board for Engineering Education)•Part of the evaluation which evaluate the Institute ofNational Colleges of Technology
15

Aim of evaluations○Evaluation by NIAD-UE⇒Assurance and improvement of proper educational organizationand quality of education○Program evaluation by JABEE⇒Assurance and improvement of engineering education as
education for special field○Evaluation to the Institute of National Colleges ofTechnology⇒Utilize the advantages of scale that 55 colleges are managed bya single corporate body16

Evaluation by NIAD-UE【Viewpoint】
To evaluate the whole activities of the college mainly focused on the
educational activities for regular students＊e.g.: admission“An admission policy in which required student qualifications and the basic policy of applicant
selection are clearly provided according to the purpose of education is made public anddisseminated.”【Application of outcome】

Colleges review the adequacy of their system and activities in the
viewpoint of legal standard, purpose of establishment of the college,etc., through analyzing their activities.

Through external evaluation, colleges know their strong points
and weak points objectively, and make plans to improve theiractivities .

Through contributing to the new system , colleges can show theirpositive attitude toward the accountability to the public.
(All of national colleges of technology will have the evaluation in the first 3 years
from the start of the new evaluation system. )17

Program evaluation by JABEE①
Advanced course

2nd year
Advanced course

1st year

5th year
4th year
3rd year
2nd year
1st yearAccreditation Institution：
ＪＡＢＥＥ（Japan Accreditation Board forEngineering Education).
Since last year, JABEE has been a member ofWashington Accord – an agreement which provides
a mechanism for mutual recognition between
signatory bodies of engineering education
accreditation processes.
Objective of the Accreditation: Engineering
program of undergraduate level. In colleges oftechnologies in Japan, the program from the 4th or
3rd year of Asso. Bachelor degree course to the 2ndyear of Advanced course.
18

Program evaluation by JABEE②【Viewpoint】-Foster independent engineers-Assure the quality of education by considering the graduates’ future course,
demands from stakeholders and global recognition＊e.g. of standards: Recognition of effects of technology to the public and the nature ,andresponsibility engineers have to the public (Ethics for engineers)【Application of the outcome】
 Graduates get motivation and pride as prospective engineers. (Graduates
who completed the accredited program are qualified to exemption of the 1stphase of the examination for professional engineer by the notification from
Minister of MEXT (Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology))
 Incentive for practical foreign language education and introductive educationof ethics for engineers.
 Colleges get public recognition as good education institutions for engineers(by getting evaluation through the same standards as other higher educationinstitutions).
19

Evaluation as a part of evaluation to the Institute of
National Colleges of Technology【Viewpoint】
Evaluation to the Institute as an independent administrative
corporation
Achievement through 2004-2008 will be evaluated.
＊examples of annual evaluation：
maintaining the efficiency of applicants- improvement of entrance examination, advertisement toprospective students【Application of outcome】
 Colleges know good practices of other colleges through collecting
and publication of the examples by the Institute.
 The Institute and colleges share the roles and cooperate with eachother for improvement.
 Appeal the strong points of Kosen (college of technology) to the
public by getting a good result of evaluation.
20

Challenges
9 Making a database in the Institute of National
Colleges of Technology for effective evaluation
9 Assurance of communication and mutual
recognition for keeping reliable relationshipbetween evaluator and institutions evaluated
9 Active application of the result of evaluationand fostering evaluators21