This paper offers ideas for improving engineering education by utilizing educational technology. Educational technology applies the principles of psychology. However, these principles have developed over the past decades and we have had to change our understanding of how people learn. To improve instruction, as with engineering, effort must be put into the design process. As with designing a good information system, the principle behind a good lesson must be that it is user-centered. The contexts and processes of real-life problem solving must be considered, so that learners can utilize their learning outcomes in other settings. Cultivating learners’ confidence in reaching goals through various routes is more important than teaching them a single correct route.

View full abstract

We think that there are two kinds of active learning. They are a problem-solving type and a knowledge fixing type. The example of the university which is excellent in the design of problem- solving type active learning is introduced.

View full abstract

In this paper, Graduate School of Instructional Systems at Kumamoto University is introduced as an online graduate school targeted in providing training for e-learning specialist via e-learning. Instructional design is placed as the central core of its curriculum, as a necessary foundational area of specialization for e-learning professionals. Restructuring of the current university teaching is proposed by integrating e-learning components from five perspectives : (1)searching network to find out what can be used in classroom teaching, (2)providing a portal with recommended links for students to investigate and share the findings, (3)placing a quiz in every session to confirm basic knowledge and key concepts dealt in the session, allowing repeated trials with automated scoring and record keeping, (4)using a discussion board to allow mutual exchanges of ideas and report drafts among students, and (5)creating a portfolio for students’ work to be shared for appealing their accomplishments. The readers are invited to involved in future collaborative work with the author.

View full abstract

I am convinced that the important thing in science education is to teach the fundamental facts, concepts, and natural laws through learners’ experiences, experiments and manufacturing. Learning with an intelligent interest is essential to the class of science education. As typical examples, I can pick up the class dealing with the questions such as ; “If you drink 1 kilogram of juice, how do you think your weight will change?” “What is the silver substance which is coating the surface of a silver dragees (little silver balls sold for decorating cookies)? Is that a metal?”

View full abstract

In recent years, quite a number of higher educational institutions putemphasis on cultivating human quality among their students. However, it is difficult to let students make voluntary and creative action for themselves. One of the major reasons for students not to be positive for enhancing human senses is that they have the tendency not to think of themselves as valuable being. Human behavior and emotion are based on self-image. As long as students have negative recognition of themselves, it will be difficult to do learning positively. In this paper how human behavior is affected by self-image is shown and a way of communication to elicit appropriate behavior is discussed on the base of the principle of behavioral science.

View full abstract

Universities and colleges in Japan have experienced sweeping and sudden changes during these ten years. One of new trends in such changing environment is exemplified as the rising movement for learning outcomes assessment. However, In Japan, we have less historical background to assess learning outcomes and students’ growth through standardized tests and student self-reported surveys. We have developed the student surveys systems for learning improvement, so called JCIRP (Japanese Cooperative Institutional Research Program) since 2004. Our program consists of three student surveys such as Japanese Freshman Survey, Japanese College Student Survey, and Japanese Junior College Student Survey. Until 2012, over 100,000 students participated in our program. It seems that our student survey system has institutionalized the culture to assess student learning outcomes based on the student self-reported data and has been widely accepted in Japanese higher education institutions as the indirect assessment system. Each university is able to use the indirect assessment as the IR system for effective educational management. In this paper, the profile of first-year students will be demonstrated through the analysis of first-year student survey data and the implication of first-year experience will be discussed.

View full abstract

Abilities and skills to utilize knowledge are required for modern engineers. In this paper, the example of the action improved creative ability and practical skill in the lecture to the student in the civil engineering department is introduced. That is, a student’ s creative ability improved as a result that he/she went for the excursion to a construction site, and voluntarily learned. Also a student’ s practical skill improved as a result that the team by 8 students found a problem, thought about a solution, and presented. It is thought that these interactive lectures are one of the methods to be able to develop various ability, which is not to be brought up by the passive lesson only for information of knowledge.

View full abstract

The purpose of this paper is to report on our large-scale cross-university student surveys, which investigate the awareness and achievement of newly-enrolled and second and third year students. From the research data I shall show examples and suggest ideas to promote the development of effective curricula in this area.

View full abstract

In many cases, Japanese engineering education lacks nurturing reflecting practice power, and the lack is the reason, why the engineering design educations are complicated, and the lack does engineer ethic education incompletely. I’ ll report the text and the practice of lectures that built on ‘reflecting cycle’ , and present the necessity and the effect of the way of education built on ‘reflecting cycle’ .

View full abstract

The purpose of this research is to clarify effectiveness to acquire well-regulated life habit including exercise, by portfolio (by daily checking one’ s own exercise hours, sleep, dietary life and health status, and evaluating objectively). Moreover, it is to examine change of each behavior change stage and relation with portfolio, based on TTM. The main results are as follows, 1) It is recognized that after entering college, living conditions worsen like “insufficient exercise” , “sleep shortage” , “irregular life” , “meal regularity” and “nutrient balance” . 2) It is acknowledged that filling out portfolio lead to favorable alteration in “meal regularity” and “nutrient balance” , “sleep sufficiency” and “exercise contentment” . 3) Results of investigation of behavior change stage in health maintenance activities consist of “Pre-contemplation stage” 29 people (11.6%) , “Contemplation stage” 58 people (23.3%) , “Preparation stage” 129 people (52.0%), “Action stage” 28 people (11.3%) and “Maintenance stage” 4 people (1.6%) . 4) It is admitted that filling out portfolio shows desirable modification in stages of “contemplation stage” and “Preparation stage” . 5) From the above, it is suggested that sufficient awareness of the issues and goal setting for the future must be cleared up when expecting behavior change by filling out portfolio.

View full abstract

The authors designed a new style of practical exercise for achieving students’ proactive learning. In our style, teachers don’ t provide students with a lot of information, techniques, etc. for solving subjects of the exercise. Students study all of them by themselves, and challenge the subjects by using understood knowledge. This paper illustrates a basic idea of our exercise, and reports the results of the exercise which was conducted in 2010 and 2011.

View full abstract

A portable training kit for constructing crystal structures by students themselves was prepared as an experimental educational tool for learning in and outside of class. The training kit mainly consisted of a round-hole-punched mesh aluminum plate and glass bolls (15 mm dia.) for closest packing structures. Plastic balls with different diameter (3 mm and 6 mm dia.) were added in the training kit for placing in the tetrahedral and octahedral holes, respectively. From comparing with the questionnaires for the student evaluation of the lectures with and without using the training kit, it was inferred that the training kit would be effective for the improvement of a positive attitude toward the lecture and of understanding of crystal structures for the students.

View full abstract

The machining and manufacturing practicum at the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Yonago National College of Technology promotes the understanding of machining by teaching students the basics of machining and equipping them with knowledge of manufacturing techniques through experimental practice. Steel material testing is a subject that includes experimental practice and is taught in the third grade. The problem faced in this subject is that although a student’ s entry level knowledge is considered, the level of their experiment report is not up to the required standard. In this paper, we offer suggestions for improvements in the teaching methodology. In addition, we describe the educational effect that can be obtained in addition to the practical experience gained.

View full abstract

Electrical engineering staff has been teaching mathematics to electrical engineering students at Wakayama National College of Technology (WNCT) since 2007. Effect of the mathematics classes by specialty staffs was evaluated by using the results of the mathematics placement test of Institute of National College of Technology. The results of the tests are compared with average result of other National Colleges of Technology and other departments of WNCT. The results show that the mathematical ability of electrical engineering students has improved with the increase in ratio of mathematics classes taught by the electrical engineering staff. It should seem that these good results were achieved by eagerness and strong motivation of the electrical department staff to improve the ability of their department’ s students. In this paper, the reasons for the improvement are discussed and the unique class of mathematics for college of technology is also introduced.

View full abstract