session71

Why Do We Think First-Year Students Seriously in Japan Recently?: 

Why Do We Think First-Year Students Seriously in Japan Recently? KAWASHIMA Tatsuo Kobe University HAMANA Atsushi Kansai University of International Studies

Outline of Our Presentation: 

Outline of Our Presentation Brief Introduction of Japanese Higher Education Current Practices of FYE Programs in Japan Factors Inducing FYE Programs in Japan Challenges FY Students Encounter at FY of Their Studies Introduction of Some of Good Practices of FYE Programs Prospective and Problems

Brief Introduction of Japanese Higher Education: 

Brief Introduction of Japanese Higher Education 18 Year-olds’ Participation Ratio into Higher Education: 49.1%(2003) Four-Year Institutions: 41.3% Two-Year Institutions: 7.7% Number of HEIs(2003) Four-Year Institutions:702 Two-Year Institutions: 525 Distribution by Types of Control(2003) Four-Year HEIs: National 100(14.2%) Public 76(10.8%) Private 526(74.9%) Two-Year HEIs: National 13( 2.5%) Public 49( 9.3%) Private 463(88.2%)

Brief Introduction of Japanese Higher Education(cont’d): 

Brief Introduction of Japanese Higher Education(cont’d) Number of Students in University Sector: 3,054,042(2003)(*) Note: This number includes postgraduate students. Distribution of Students by Types of Control(2003) Four-Year Institutions: National 622,404(22.2%) Public 120,463( 4.3%) Private 2,061,113(73.5%) Two-Year Institutions: National 4,514( 1.8%) Public 17,999( 7.2%) Private 227,548(91.0%)

Brief Introduction of Japanese Higher Education(cont’d): 

Brief Introduction of Japanese Higher Education(cont’d) Changes in Environment 1)Expected Decline of 18year-olds population till 2012 2)Transition from “Mass” to “Universal” participation 3)Globalization will result in competition for foreign students from Asian countries. Changes in Policy 1)Deregulation and the emergence of “Evaluate State” 2) “Quality” Movement or “Fad” 3)Incorporation of National Universities will accelerate competitive resource allocation such as the 21st COE Program within the sector. 4)Withdrawal of the Government from Higher Education Business

Current Practices of FYE Programs in Japan(Association of Private Universities of Japan:2001): 

Current Practices of FYE Programs in Japan (Association of Private Universities of Japan:2001) Popularity of FYE programs: 212 universities out of 294 (72.1%) have some FYE programs. Rapid expansion of FYE programs : Most programs started after 1991. Diversity of the meaning and the substance of FYE programs(Sugitani:2004) (Distribution of the types of courses offered as FYE programs) 1) Remedial education 2.0% 2) Study skills 12.5% 3) IT literacy 21.1% 4) Seminar 32.8% 5) Guidance and orientation 5.5% 6) Introductory courses to the discipline 26.0%

Factors Inducing FYE Programs in Japan: 

Factors Inducing FYE Programs in Japan Deregulation of University Standard in 1991 forced each school within the university to take a responsibility to offer its own programs from the 1st year rather than 3rd year. Diversification and overall decline of academic preparation and motivation to learn of freshmen due to the transition from mass to universal participation. Significant increase of the first generation students who may not be familiar with the university life.(Tsuburai:2003)

Challenges FY Students Encounter at FY of Their Studies-Based on Our Survey in 2003-: 

Challenges FY Students Encounter at FY of Their Studies -Based on Our Survey in 2003- General information about this survey 1) Five private universities in urban areas participate in this survey.(*) 2)All universities are not so selective. 3)Students are majoring humanities and social sciences. Description of samples 1)Male: Female=66:34 2)Commuters from their own home=67% 3)Parents’ Educational Background Both have BA 27% Either has BA 31% Neither has BA 40%(“First Generation”) (*)Today we report only the results from three universities because of some technical problems.

Challenges FY Students Encounter at FY of Their Studies(cont’d)-Based on the Survey in 2003-: 

Challenges FY Students Encounter at FY of Their Studies(cont’d) -Based on the Survey in 2003- Difficulties in “Social Integration”(Tinto)

Challenges FY Students Encounter at FY of Their Studies(cont’d)-Based on the Survey in 2003- : 

Challenges FY Students Encounter at FY of Their Studies(cont’d) -Based on the Survey in 2003- Difficulties in “Academic Integration”(Tinto)

Introduction of Some of Good Practices of FYE Programs: 

Introduction of Some of Good Practices of FYE Programs KUIS (Kansai University of International Studies) Characteristics Small:1400　students. 60 faculty members. New: since 1998(1987~1997=2 years) Not urban , not rural 3 departments: Business , Humanities, English Communication Mission　Statement：The training of world citizens is the educational idea of KUIS． The educational idea of KUIS is 　i) to develop autonomy ii) to develop the ability to contribute to society Within the Department of Humanities with the ideals of: Mission Action Passion Smile The overall objective is to develop students who can live using critical thinking practical communication.

Introduction of Some of Good Practices of FYE Programs(cont’d): 

Introduction of Some of Good Practices of FYE Programs(cont’d) KUIS’ FYE program structure Improve self through experience, - As students often don’t have the precise future goal and the study target upon entering the university, we utilize FYE principles to assist students in establishing these. Diversification and motivation are targeted. ①Self-analysis and experiential learning "Field work 1" "Cultural experience" "Study abroad." (“Field investigation" ) ② "Learning Community (LC)": Seminars (basic unit for “Basic Seminar”. less than 20 students) are then further divided into LCs based upon fields of study and discussions are held. (different meaning compared with U.S concept)． ③ "Portfolio " =analog. for 4 years

Introduction of Some of Good Practices of FYE Programs(cont’d): 

Introduction of Some of Good Practices of FYE Programs(cont’d) Individual FYE subjects ①”methodology to make a learning plan”: 90 minutes 1 time per week. Required. ②”Basic Seminar 1” : 90 minutes 1 time per week. Required ③ “Field work 1”:intensive optional ④ １ ”Study Skills” 90 minutes 1 time per week. Optional(but most of all 1st year students taking ) ２ "Information Processing" 90 minutes 2 times per week. Required

Introduction of Some of Good Practices of FYE Programs(cont’d): 

Introduction of Some of Good Practices of FYE Programs(cont’d) Continual Program for the 2nd Year Students Students choose two of the following three and work in a LC. ① "Interview experience” ② ”Field investigation"; ③ "Self-discovery ".; Continual Program for the 3rd Year Students The independent study is the most important features. ①"Study Abroad”; Investigation for one week in overseas tie-up schools (South Korean, US, China Vietnam.) Interaction with local area students and the community. ② "Field work 2”; students are trained about two weeks in a social welfare institution or company, and study the manners and customs as a member of society. ③"The independent subject research";

Prospective and Problems: 

Prospective and Problems No consensus and even confusion about the objectives and the goals of FYE. Difficulty to implement FYE programs as the university-wide enterprise with the strong school autonomy especially at large institutions. No systematic collection of information and data about intakes, activities and destinations of undergraduate students. From First Year Experience to Four-Years Experience because of some indication of the decline of four-year completion rate from 82.3% in 1992 to 76.9% in 2003.(MEXT:2003)

Thank you: 

Thank you tatsuo@kobe-u.ac.jp hamanaa@kuins.ac.jp