2018 Volume 2 Article ID: 2018-012
This paper examines the role and function of Institutional Research (IR) for educational program from the perspective of medical education in Japan. First, I summarized the background and reason why IR for educational programs attracts attention, taking into consideration the emphasis on internal quality assurance, the primary importance of educational programs in a university, introduction of evaluation and accreditation by discipline, and efficiency of institutional certified evaluation and accreditation. Second, I describe the development of IR in medical education as an example and confirm the variety of forms of IR organization. I then note the restriction on IR in Japan in relation to the concrete function and discuss methods for engaging in IR while confirming the argument about the measurement and visualization of learning outcomes. Finally, I indicate the importance of IR functions for educational programs and consider their future directions.
