Why Do We Think First­Year Students Seriously in Japan Recently?
KAWASHIMA Tatsuo
Kobe University
HAMANA Atsushi
Kansai University of International Studies
1
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
2
Brief Introduction of Japanese Higher Education
•
18 Year­olds’ Participation Ratio into Higher E
ducation: 49.1%(2003)
Four­Year Institutions: 41.3%
Two­Year Institutions: 7.7% • Number of HEIs(2003)
Four­Year Institutions:702
Two­Year Institutions: 525
• Distribution by Types of Control(2003)
Four­Year HEIs: National 100(14.2%)
Public 76(10.8%)
Private 526(74.9%)
Two­Year HEIs: National 13( 2.5%)
Public 49( 9.3%)
Private 463(88.2%)
3
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)
Four­Year Institutions:
National 622,404(22.2%)
Public 120,463( 4.3%)
Private 2,061,113(73.5%)
Two­Year Institutions:
National 4,514( 1.8%)
Public 17,999( 7.2%)
Private 227,548(91.0%)
4
Brief Introduction of Japanese Higher Education(cont’d)
• Changes in Environment
1)Expected Decline of 18year­olds 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 5
Higher Education Business
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 substa
nce 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%
6
Factors Inducing FYE Programs in Japan
• Deregulation of University Standard in 1991 forced each school within the uni
versity to take a responsibility to offer it
s own programs from the 1st year rath
er than 3rd year.
• Diversification and overall decline of ac
ademic preparation and motivation to l
earn of freshmen due to the transition f
rom mass to universal participation.
• Significant increase of the first generati
on students who may not be familiar wi
th the university life.(Tsuburai:2003)
7
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 technica
l problems.
8
Challenges FY Students Encounter at FY of Their Studies(cont’d)
­Based on the Survey in 2003­
Difficulties in “Social Integration”(Tinto)
% who answered “Yes”
April
June
October
Missed HS Classmates
75.2
72.5
68.9
Loneliness
50.3
54.0
51.2
Isolated
32.2
33.3
29.5
Not Confident in Getting Along with Classmates
31.8
34.3
31.0
9
Challenges FY Students Encounter at FY of Their Studies(cont’d)
­Based on the Survey in 2003­
Difficulties in “Academic Integration”(Tinto)
% who answered “Yes”
April
June
Difficult to understand the lectures.
58.2
59.4
41.4
Lectures are boring.
55.6
69.3
60.3
Came to be able to think creatively
37.2
46.8
50.7
Confident in mathematical thinking
15.3
20.1
20.2
Confident in giving a presentation
17.2
17.6
21.5
Confident in ability to write
19.8
27.5
26.4
October
10
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 Commun
ication
• Mission Statement ： The training of world citizens is t
he 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 t
hinking practical communication. 11
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 ent
ering the university, we utilize FYE principles to assist stud
ents in establishing these. Diversification and motivation ar
e targeted. ①Self­analysis 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 in
to LCs based upon fields of study and discussions are hel
d. (different meaning compared with U.S concept) ．
③ "Portfolio " =analog. for 4 years
12
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. Req
uired
③ “Field work 1”:intensive optional
④ １” Study Skills” 90 minutes 1 time per week. Option
al(but most of all 1st year students taking )
２ "Information Processing" 90 minutes 2 times per w
eek. Required
13
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 "Self­discovery ".;
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.) Interactio
n 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 manne
rs and customs as a member of society. ③"The independent subject research";
14
Prospective and Problems
•
No consensus and even confusion about the objectives and the goals of FYE.
• Difficulty to implement FYE programs as the university­wide 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 Four­Years Experience because of some indication of the decline of four­year completion rate from 82.3% in 1992 to 76.9% in 2003.(MEXT:2003)
15
Thank you
tatsuo@kobe­u.ac.jp
[email protected]
16