Abstract
Japanese higher education faces the simultaneous challenges of addressing both declining academic skills within its student body (due to the ongoing “massification” of enrollment), and the increased need to develop human resources capable of taking a leadership role in a knowledge economy and diverse international society. Establishing a learning support system that responds to studentsʼ diverse needs has therefore become an urgent issue. On an educational policy level, promoting educational quality assurance that organically links individual practitioner efforts to an institutionʼs teaching and learning management approach is also required. However, little is known about learning support in the management of teaching and learning in Japanese higher education. As such, this study investigated the clarity of learning support policies under the management of teaching and learning, and the importance afforded support initiatives, and their relationship.
An online questionnaire was developed to examine the relationship between learning support policies and support initiatives. Besides gathering basic demographic information, the 32-item questionnaire inquired about such topics as: the clarity of learning support policies, its specific initiatives, and the degree of importance afforded to such learning support. The survey targeted all 782 national, public, and private universities offering bachelorʼs degrees within Japan. Researchers mailed survey request forms to the Vice-Presidents of Education and/or Student Affairs at each institution. Responses were collected online between November 15, 2021, and January 31, 2022.
The study obtained a total of 267 responses with a response rate of 34.1%. Subsequent analysis elucidated the following three points. First, approximately 66% of universities had clear (i. e., “very clear” or “somewhat clear”) policies for learning support under the management of teaching and learning. The clarity of the support policies was moderately and positively correlated with both the importance of learning support within the regular academic curriculum (ρ=.47) and the overall effectiveness of such learning support (ρ=.56). Second, learning support initiatives incorporated within the regular academic curriculum, such as meeting with faculty members, were considered more important than extracurricular support initiatives. Finally, the clarity of support policies under the management of teaching and learning was related to the importance placed on support initiatives.
In conclusion, the study discovered a relationship between the clarity of learning support policies under the management of teaching and learning, the importance afforded such support measures, and the overall effectiveness of learning support.
