Abstract
This study clarifies the process of conducting active learning with two characteristically different groups and the resulting changes in participants’ attitudes. At the Fuji Iyashinomori Woodland Study Center, The University of Tokyo, situated in the Yamanakako Village in Yamanashi Prefecture, 20 students from The University of Tokyo and Joshibi University of Art and Design participated in an active-learning joint exercise as part of this study. The students belonged to varied fields of expertise. To grasp basic information about the students, (1) a profile survey was conducted before the exercise, and (2) students’ environmental attitude, self-efficacy, and psychological stability were investigated before and after the exercise; further, statistical comparisons were conducted. (3) After the exercise, participants’ impressions were recorded through selection methods and their writing of narrative data; the latter was organized separately to have an understanding of the transformation process.
The analysis revealed that most participants favored the joint exercise. In terms of changes in attitude after the exercise, all participants from Joshibi University had a significantly lower view of the environment than before. It was found that there was a change in the way of thinking about an ideal environment as a result of getting in touch with actual natural environment through exercises and so on. No significant differences in self-efficacy and stability were found; however, in the case of both universities, students’ tendency to change their attitudes, especially the direction of such change, was confirmed. During the process of change, students’ initial image of students from the other university was transformed through their joint work. Additionally, the characteristics and values of self and those of classmates from the same university were rediscovered through the relativization of ideas and each participant’s special skills.
