This study developed a scale to measure Media and Information Literacy of Japanese learners using ICT. To this end, a group interview and a questionnaire survey were conducted among university student learners of Japanese at Chinese universities. In the group interview, we collected descriptions of the scale from 14 Japanese language learners, and developed 32 candidate scale items based on them. Next, a questionnaire survey using these 32 candidate scale items was conducted, and valid responses were obtained from 384 Japanese language learners. The results of exploratory factor analysis of these responses indicated that the scale consists of 25 items with four factors: ″Independent Use,″ ″Recognition of Effects,″ ″Positive Interaction,″ and ″Critical Thinking″. The results confirmed a certain degree of reliability in terms of internal consistency. In addition, the validity of the scale was examined using the factor structure of the scale and hypotheses from previous studies, and it was confirmed that factorial validity was generally present and construct validity was partially present.

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This study aimed to clarify two points: (1) Whether the using of a flipped classroom made it possible to encourage the development of critical thinking attitudes while ensuring sufficient time for knowledge acquisition as well as time for questioning and explanatory activities, and (2) Whether there were differences in the effects of the designed flipped classroom on the development of critical thinking between high and low academic achievement groups. The results of the evaluation revealed that the introduction of a flipped classroom did make it possible to design the classes mentioned in point #1 above. Furthermore, a detailed evaluation of the students in the high and low achievement groups revealed that “awareness of logical thinking” and “objectivity” improved in both groups, but having an “inquiry mind” improved only in the low achievement group.

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The purpose of this study is to understand the details of how teachers give feedback to learners using cloud applications in Project Based Learning and to discuss specific strategies based on the results. As a result of analyzing the feedback and intentions of the teachers who implemented the Project Based Learning using Google Sheets, we found that the teacher efficiently monitored and provided feedback to the entire classroom by using strategies that took advantage of the high synchronicity of the cloud application, such as “immediate feedback to all students by coloring” in the cells filled in by students and “promotion of cross-referencing among students”. In addition, the teacher improvised feedback strategies that he had not designed before implementing Project Based Learning and provided more in-depth feedback. This indicates that it is important for teachers to utilize the high synchronicity of the cloud and to explore what appropriate feedback through interaction with students is and implement feedback with the characteristics of the cloud.

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