2024 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 151-161
This study is a pioneering effort to clarify the methods and issues in utilizing final project evaluation results for curriculum improvement. Final projects, a cornerstone of Japanese higher education, offer students an invaluable opportunity to synthesize the knowledge gained during their undergraduate studies. While 97% of universities conduct final projects and studies on final project evaluation methods have proliferated in recent years, ours is one of few to focus on how to implement the evaluation results. We aim to bridge the gap by exploring the connection between final projects and curriculum, and understanding how final project evaluation results can inform curriculum improvement.
We conducted a postal questionnaire survey targeting education supervisors in 5, 370 departments nationwide, obtaining 1,446 responses. Our qualitative analysis involved focus coding of 571 open-ended statements, providing a detailed understanding of how final project evaluation results are used for curriculum improvement and the reasons why they are or are not employed.
Our results reveal the practical implications for departments that effectively utilize final projects. First, the evaluations can be used to assess student abilities, interests, and needs. Secondly, they can share, examine, and discuss the results systematically through faculty development (FD) and various meetings. This leads to tangible improvements in final projects courses and related courses, enhancing basic education. Conversely, departments that do not require final projects face challenges in implementing curriculum improvements, often leaving them to individual teachers and laboratories due to various diversity issues, organizational problems, and difficulties in utilizing final projects for curriculum improvement.
Our study breaks new ground in the field of education by considering the importance of final project evaluation results and their specific contents. Our results suggest that consistency and cooperativeness are of primary importance in linking final project evaluation results with curriculum improvement. Moreover, it is essential to consider the multilayered nature of the curriculum.
