In pharmaceutical education in Japan, there have been only a few instances wherein team-based learning (TBL) has been introduced to first-year cross-disciplinary education. This study aimed to clarify the efficacy of the TBL strategy in first-year cross-disciplinary education. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted following the completion of the course, and three groups were identified using exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis. Group A was less at ease with group work than the other groups, group B was a little more uncomfortable with individual learning, and group C felt strongly about the usefulness of the TBL approach. In terms of the distribution of responses to the question about increasing interest in pharmacology, group C scored higher than groups A and B. The findings of this study indicate that TBL learning with clinically applicable tasks in first-year education led to improved understanding and interest in pharmacy. Conversely, it was pointed out that the burden of individual pre-study and reluctance to conduct group activity may hinder the effectiveness of learning.

Short summary videos of each Immunology lecture were recorded at our medical university, and uploaded on to the LMS server for on-demand usage. The frequency of video watching was correlated overall with subjects who successfully passed the examination, showing some statisti-cally significant results. Some exceptional cases where students failed in the exam appear to be due to a lack of mother tongue literacy, based on descriptions by students in make-up reports. The text-mining analysis of questionnaires from successful students revealed “confirmation”, “aligning” etc. which suggests self-reliant learning. Conversely, from those who failed terms such as “missed to catch”, “be notified”, “essence” were employed. These results would indicate deep learning through meta-cognition. A questionnaire response such as “I have to rethink the nature of learning” suggests that the respondents are aware of their lack of literacy, and are further aiming to grasp the situation models, instead of surface structures(Kintz).

Many Japanese universities offer pre-matriculation remedial education programs that help students avoid difficulties in their studies after entering the university. In addition to on-campus remedial education programs conducted immediately after admission, our university has also implemented programs designed for prospective students identified early that focus on reviewing what students learned in high school. Although a program to strengthen motivation to study was also implemented, indifference toward the importance of studying has increased. Therefore, we investigated how students’ attitudes toward pre-entry remedial education programs affect their grades after entering the university. Our analysis showed that performance after admission was more reflective of students’ attitudes toward active learning than their pre-admission academic ability. This effect was independent of the subject matter addressed in the pre-entry remedial education programs.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of tutoring on the knowledge acquisition and awareness of student tutors involved in a physical chemistry course for first-year pharmacy students. We enlisted 15 student tutors (7 males, 8 females) from 2nd and 3rd-year cohorts. Supplementary courses, led by student tutors, were conducted for students identified based on their quiz scores in regular classes. Student tutors’ learning outcomes were evaluated through three test scores and questionnaire responses. Student tutors’ achievements were evaluated based on three test scores and results of the questionnaire. The scoring rate in the tests showed an improvement in the midterm (82%) and the post-test (78%) compared to the pre-test (63%). Furthermore, the results of the questionnaire indicated that 62% of the student tutors strongly believed they understood the content they were involved in, and 76% of the student tutors were aware of the improvement in their students’ understanding and attitude toward the content. These results indicate that tutoring by senior students not only positively influences the tutors themselves but also holds the potential to improve the understanding and learning attitudes of the junior students tutored by their senior peers.

In the subject “Geriatric Occupational Therapy (Detailed Discussion),” taught by the author, active learning through problem-based learning (PBL) is a key component. This subject is structured to integrate general remarks about learning the basics of geriatric occupational therapy with clinical training, aiming to foster more independent attitudes toward learning during clinical training. In this study, we analyzed students’ reflection papers to understand the effects and challenges of PBL in “Geriatric Occupational Therapy (Detailed Discussion).” The findings revealed that students gained satisfaction from active participation, cooperative behavior, and task completion. Additionally, the course provided opportunities to apply and integrate more practical knowledge.

How do people construct the content and rhetorics of a text when they face a new writing situation? A limited number of studies have been done in Japan that investigates the effective way to write or to teach how to write when writers face a new situation. A three-year longitudinal study was conducted where ten graduate students were interviewed about writing different kinds of academic pieces or texts in their workplaces. The analysis, conducted by utilizing Modified Grounded Theory Approach, indicated that the decision-making process that the students went through involved the awareness towards the readers’ standpoint and purpose of reading the text, and the writers’ own standpoint and roles. They also actively studied the characteristics of the kinds of texts they were to write, or proactively set up certain environments to brush up their texts. Their own beliefs about what constitutes a good text influenced their writing as well. These findings indicate that it is crucial to guide students to analyze their readers and their own standpoints when writing in a new situation. The use of meta-cognition may be effective in the later stages of writing when the writers need to assess their writing.

AbstractEn：要旨（英）