Learning analytics (LA) is maturing as a research discipline in its own terms, focusing on multiple perspectives of data-informed understanding and supporting teaching and learning activities in different educational contexts. With the development of learning technology platforms, it is now possible to gather users’ interaction traces in a standardized format as teaching and learning logs during such educational activities. At the Learning and Educational Technology Research Unit at Kyoto University, we developed a learning and evidence analytics framework (LEAF), an integrated technology framework that incorporates methods and tools in learning platforms that are implemented at an institutional level. We conducted research to investigate learning episodes and their effects to systematically inform practice. In this study, we present LEAF and the overall approach of the research and outreach that was achieved toward supporting evidence-based practices in education with the LA framework within Japan and internationally, with collaborators from Taiwan and India. LEAF enables a sustainable way to continue collecting learning logs, create data-driven services to support and improve teaching and learning practices while collaborating with researchers to share data and report internationally co-authored papers.

A large proportion of researchers in the world’s leading universities actively engage in research on a global scale: they collaborate with their counterparts in different parts of the world, increasing the likelihood of obtaining higher quality outcomes and greater impact. However, for many Japanese researchers with little or no experience in interacting with foreign researchers, the prospect of engaging in international collaborative research can be very daunting. To help toward remedying this situation, the present paper outlines some of the common challenges to such collaboration and provides some advice for making those more manageable. It then proposes some basic steps that can help toward making such collaborations possible: becoming findable in Internet searches in English, publishing research in English that can be shared with potential collaborators, and actively seeking a suitable research partner. Finally, some crucial points for avoiding problems and increasing the likelihood of success when collaborating are discussed.

Over recent decades, international collaboration in research has been promoted across all disciplines in higher education and, as a result, we are observing the rapid growth of international research collaboration in both natural and social sciences including educational technology. This paper begins with a review of general trends and patterns of international research collaboration in higher education and educational technology and then analyzes three international collaborative research projects conducted by me to share my personal reflection on the research process, experience, and outcomes. In so doing, the paper aims to offer some suggestions for researchers in educational technology who wish to expand opportunities for international collaboration in their future academic research.

This study investigated the relationship between motivation instability and its predictive factors in synchronous online classes. Perception of class content (perceived interest, difficulty, and utility), sleepiness/fatigue, and learning anxiety were predictive factors. Data from 78 and 72 students, respectively, were collected from an online survey conducted at the beginning (Group 1) and end of the semester (Group 2) at University A, and data from 50 students were collected from an online survey conducted at University B (Group 3). A multi-group analysis of the three groups was conducted using structural equation modeling. Our model constructed equality constraints between Groups 1 and 2 for all path coefficients, while those in Group 3 were freely estimated. The results showed that sleepiness/fatigue, learning anxiety, and perceived difficulty of class content correlated positively with motivation instability. However, the relationship between motivation instability and its predictive factors varied between groups.

School-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is an evidence-based approach aimed at minimizing behavioral issues among all students registered at a school. Although SWPBIS is increasingly being practiced in Japan, data collection systems that can be used in Japanese are expected to be developed along with support systems to promote transformations in teacher support behaviors based on data. In this study, we prototyped a software capable of efficiently recording office discipline referral (ODR) data for use in SWPBIS, and then adopted the novice expert ratio method (NEM) to evaluate its usability to reveal points of improvement in the design. We also examined statistical modeling using a Poisson distribution along with a derivation of predictive distribution for the number of behavioral issue occurrences using Bayesian inference as methods for teachers to transform support behaviors based on ODR data.

It is important to analyze the usage statistics of dialogue systems in order to identify improvements that can increase user satisfaction. However, further beneficial information may be hidden among the information (such as logs and registered usage statistics in the database) that is not output as a result of the general analysis methods and can be discovered through exploratory analysis. To this end, this study proposes a method for the exploratory analysis of the usage statistics of dialogue systems using visualization to detect beneficial information, either intentionally or unintentionally. Specifically, usage statistics are visualized as network graphs showing the queries and transitions among them, and functions to extract particular visualized objects and identify characteristic queries are implemented to support the analysis. The results of this evaluation show that the proposed method can detect beneficial information through an exploratory analysis of visualized usage statistics, thereby demonstrating its effectiveness in the analysis of dialogue systems.

Business game learning environments that utilize smartphones possess latent potential. Previous research on smartphone learning has often focused on learning that uses mobility. Moreover, previous studies have revealed that different learning devices can improve interest and attitude toward learning. Further, smartphones have been proven to control learner sentiment and increase learning motivation when used as learning devices. However, other studies contradict these findings, suggesting that smartphone learning can result in multitasking and ultimately hinder learning. Based on the results of an investigation of high school students’ use of smartphones for business game learning, this study considers the effect of multitasking on learning. The results indicate that students with multitasking skills in the present study tended to have a more positive attitude toward the business game. This result also contributes to the effective use of smartphones in classroom activities.

Using a semi-structured interview, we investigated how work values and beliefs are formed; furthermore, we applied the Trajectory Equifinality Approach (TEA) with regard to mid-level employees who need reflective support. We found that mid-level employees tend to deepen their understanding regarding their approaches to work as well as their work-related values and beliefs, not only through successful experiences but also through their failures. For instance, they may encounter situations where they may “have to bear heavy responsibilities by themselves and suffer unexpected issues later” and thus struggle against others’ expectations and requests. Furthermore, unlike previous research, this research has identified “Enriching both public and private life” as a new workplace value. Finally, we examined the importance of superiors’ reflective support for establishing work values and beliefs among mid-level employees and for helping them develop into experts in their respective fields.

This study’s purpose was to clarify methods of effectively promoting student engagement within higher education classes in Japan. To that end, a qualitative survey was performed of university students, based on the concept of learning experience (LX) levels. Via textual analyses of collected data, respective factors were extracted that affect the increase, decline, and stagnation of learning-experience levels. Then, differences between these factors were verified. Consequently, the following were found to have positive effects on increasing learning experience levels: interesting subject, value recognition, sense of progress in learning, clarity of attended classes, class format, and relatedness to the future. Moreover, the following were suggested as positively affecting a decrease of LX level: decline of interest/motivation regarding the subject and the study circumstances of other classes. Also observed as contributing to the stagnation of LX level were a decline of interest/motivation around the subject and study circumstances in other classes.

The purpose of this study was to develop a Student Leadership Behavior Scale related to leadership education based on experiential learning in university and to examine the reliability and validity of the scale. Leadership education based on experiential learning is conducted based on the theory of experiential learning. A 54-item scale was created utilizing previous research and preliminary survey data. The study involved 156 students (Time 1) and 110 students (Time 2) from University A to conduct leadership education on a large scale in Japan. Factor analysis results revealed that leadership behavior consisted of six factors: taking initiative and modeling the way, challenging the process, sharing goals, managing goals and tasks, task-oriented support, and people-oriented support. Items were carefully selected to create a final scale that consisted of 30 items. As a result of examining the reliability and validity of the developed scale, positive values were obtained overall.

In recent times, the quality of childcare and childcare workers’ expertise have attracted public attention. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of micro-teaching training for in-service kindergarten teachers. In Analysis 1, mock childcare practices in the two surveys were compared using utterance analysis, and behavioral changes in participants who roleplayed a teacher and a child were examined. The results indicate that the instructions and attitudes of the teacher changed positively. In addition, the child accepted the teacher’s instructions and came to participate. In Analysis 2, the effects immediately after completing the training and two months after the training were examined. The results indicated that the effects of micro-teaching on understanding young children and learning motivation could be observed immediately after the training, and teachers’ abilities related to attitudes and skills developed two months after the training.

This study investigated teachers’ teaching knowledge of using 1-to-1 tablet PCs in an elementary school classroom. First, we interviewed teachers regarding their intentions for motivating teaching behaviors observed in their classes. The content of the interviews was classified with reference to the framework of “teachers’ knowledge domains in teaching” (Yoshizaki 1988a; hereafter termed “Yoshizaki’s knowledge domains model”). The results suggested that the content, which included teaching knowledge and ideas that informed the teachers’ teaching behavior, could be classified using Yoshizaki’s knowledge domains model, which was formulated before tablet PCs existed. The knowledge used by teachers was influenced by learning activities, learning opportunities, grade level, and subjects. The relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) knowledge and Yoshizaki’s knowledge domains was investigated, as ICT was not part of Yoshizaki’s model. Knowledge of ICT was divided into four categories, some of which could be considered extensions of Yoshizaki’s knowledge domains model.

We aimed to develop an argumentative writing strategy use scale for fifth–sixth-grade elementary students. The Study 1 results (N=426) indicated that the strategy can be classified based on five factors: reader awareness, consideration of opposing views, flow of composition, expressing one’s position, and proofreading. The content validity of this scale was examined by comparing the use of strategy between those with high and low subjective frequency or self-efficacy for writing essays. The results showed that the score for each strategy increased under both conditions, thereby indicating a degree of validity for the scale. Study 2 examined the relationship between the writing strategies for and evaluation of essays. Strategy use scores increased in the high essay quality group, rather than their low counterparts for three strategies: reader awareness, flow of composition, and expressing one’s position. Future research should examine whether essay quality can be improved by implementing the scale.

In Japan, there are many disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons; thus, the acquisition of knowledge and skills related to disaster preparation by the public is a key issue. In disaster preparation education, learning should be sustained until the disaster situation, not immediately after learning. In this study, we examined the effects of disaster education events on learning disaster preparation knowledge among elementary school children. We conducted two tests—a post-test and a post-post-test—immediately after the disaster education event in 2019 and six months after the event, respectively. These scores were used to measure persistence of learning. We confirmed that the improvement of knowledge and skills related to disaster reduction was sustained even after a certain period had passed since the disaster preparation education.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of Japanese people wishing to pursue a career as a professional athlete or sports coach. In this research, we describe how an English teaching technique involving genre-based activities enhanced the football training instruction foreign language communication skills of six student-athletes who want to be international football players or coaches. Two types of qualitative research (learning log records, semi-structured interviews) were used to analyze the changes in the participants’ English utterances during two task performance tests (football training instruction in English) during the 15-week study (mid-term and second semester) in terms of lexico-grammar and generic structure. The English teaching method using genre-based tasks was found to enhance the participants’ understanding of football coaching-specific lexico-grammar and generic structure, which they were able to apply to performance tests.

This study aims to investigate whether students can solve problems using Internet of Things (IoT) materials in problem-based learning (PBL) in elementary schools. Further, it aims to define the characteristics of students’ responses to PBL based on the number of students. Eleven lessons were conducted, and the results were analyzed from four perspectives (out of four points) using a text-mining analysis of the students’ impressions of the lessons. The end results showed that the mean score of 129 students was 3.42, with 113 students scoring 3 or higher. Fifth-grade students were found to be capable of solving problems using IoT materials. Furthermore, the impression analysis suggested that when working individually, students must be provided with sufficient time to think and that support must be provided to those who have difficulty solving problems. Simultaneously, when working in groups, an environment must be created in which students can freely express their opinions.

This study practices programming education using a drone in an elementary school and examines the effects on understanding the necessity of using technology in the industry. Before and after the class, students were asked to respond to a questionnaire survey about their awareness of participation in rice cultivation and to describe the jobs they thought were related to rice cultivation. After the class, students were asked to describe their image of rice cultivation in free text. From the questionnaire survey and the descriptions of jobs considered to be related to rice cultivation, it was suggested that programming education using drones was effective in reminding students of the use of drones for rice cultivation and fostering a sense of participation in rice cultivation. The results of the text mining analysis of the image of rice cultivation suggest that the experience of programming education using drones promotes thinking about the necessity of using drones for rice cultivation and the necessity of future rice cultivation, such as reconsidering the role of humans. Therefore, the results suggest that the experience of programming education using drones promotes thinking about the necessity of using drones for rice cultivation and what is necessary for future rice cultivation, such as reconsidering the role of humans.