This paper examines the role of liberal arts in contemporary engineering education through an interview-based discussion. It argues that liberal arts should not be treated as preliminary general education, but as a fundamental component of university knowledge. The paper also explores the limitations of the humanities-science divide and highlights the importance of liberal arts in the age of artificial intelligence, where the ability to question goals and values becomes increasingly critical.

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This paper explores the evolution of liberal arts education at the Institute of Science Tokyo (formerly Tokyo Institute of Technology) and its implications for engineering education in the age of artificial intelligence. Beginning with the establishment of the Liberal Arts Center in 2011 and further formalized through the Institute for Liberal Arts (ILA) in 2016, the university has developed an integrated model that incorporates liberal arts throughout both undergraduate and graduate curricula. The reform was shaped in part by lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake, which revealed a critical gap between scientific expertise and its communication to society. In response, the university introduced programs such as the “Aspirations Project” and the “Liberal Arts Thesis,” emphasizing dialogue, critical reflection, and the articulation of personal and social purpose. The paper argues that, as generative AI increasingly automates routine cognitive tasks, the role of liberal arts becomes more central, and identifies three key functions: fostering a critical language for public communication, cultivating the capacity to formulate meaningful questions, and developing embodied and relational competencies. These findings suggest that liberal arts education is increasingly indispensable for rethinking engineering education in an AI-driven society.

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This paper examines the development of 21st-century liberal arts education through the practices of the Center for Creative Liberal Arts at Chubu University. Unlike traditional general education, the program emphasizes interdisciplinary learning, dialogue-and discussion-based classes, and engagement with open-ended questions. Small-group, team-taught courses encourage students to articulate their views, reconsider assumptions, and develop critical thinking and communication skills. Student feedback and external evaluation indicate positive educational effects, particularly in fostering reflective attitudes and collaborative learning. At the same time, the program raises institutional and pedagogical challenges, including sustainable staffing and the need to redesign assessment methods in response to generative AI. The study discusses how liberal arts education can function as a foundation supporting contemporary engineering education.

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Technological advancement has intensified social issues such as threats to human dignity, social division, and environmental risks. These issues cannot be resolved solely through scientific/technological rationality and require deliberation among diverse stakeholders, including non-experts. This paper reexamines the contemporary significance of liberal arts as a foundation for communication in technology governance and argues for the necessity of engineering literacy for citizens. By reviewing previous discussions on engineering and technological literacy and examining Masuko’s concept of “engineering liberal arts,” this study highlights the importance of understanding the nature of engineering, technological principles, and evaluation perspectives. It suggests engineering literacy as a new form of liberal arts that enables citizens to engage more equally in societal decision-making related to technology.

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This study examined differences in learners’ psychological factors and social engagement between metaverse-based and Zoom-based collaborative English discussion activities within a Collaborative International Learning context. A total of 55 Japanese and 30 Malaysian university students participated in a within-subjects design, engaging in synchronous discussions using both platforms. Japanese learners’ perceptions were assessed in terms of speaking anxiety, immersion, and social engagement.

A multivariate analysis of the Japanese learners revealed a significant effect of instructional format. Follow-up analyses indicated that speaking anxiety was significantly lower in the metaverse condition, F(1, 54)=18.55, p< .001, partial η² = .256. In contrast, social engagement, F(1, 54)= 17.29, p< .001, partial η² = .242, and immersion, particularly comprehension, F(1, 54)= 25.94, p< .001, partial η² = .324, were significantly higher. These findings suggest that immersive virtual environments may be associated with enhanced learners’ engagement and interaction in online collaborative language learning.

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Liberal arts-oriented learning has become increasingly important in engineering education amid the widespread adoption of generative AI (GenAI). This study proposes and examines a liberal arts-oriented learning design for inquiry in engineering undergraduate research by integrating GenAI and image analysis into undergraduate research supervision, with students’ athletic experiences as the starting point. Liberal arts-oriented learning is framed as a learner-centered epistemological process characterized by the reinterpretation of experience, meaning-making, and the critical examination of knowledge, structured through iterative connections among experience, data, and knowledge. Baseball-related movement patterns were quantified through image analysis, and GenAI supported students’ reasoning. Questionnaire results and thesis evaluations indicate increased interest in and engagement with graduation research, improved self-evaluations of mathematical thinking and data analysis skills, and an enhanced ability to conduct research activities efficiently and reflectively. The findings also highlight the need to explicitly incorporate critical evaluation into instructional design.

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This study proposes a three-stage standardization education model consisting of using, making, and teaching, tailored for liberal arts students who will support standardization engineers as future decision-makers. Using biodiversity standards (ISO 17298) as a case study, students developed a game-based learning tool simulating strategic decision-making in corporate management. Effectiveness was assessed through student self-assessments using a standardization skill framework. Results demonstrated development in essential competencies including communication, business understanding, and planning skills. The student-led approach effectively bridged technical expertise and social implementation, expanding the scope of engineering education toward management-level decision-making. This model offers a practical pathway for developing non-technical professionals who can facilitate adoption of standardization in organizations and help close the gap between technical standards development and strategic business implementation.

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This study proposes a learning cycle model for liberal arts education based on an English general education course at a university of engineering. The model integrates four iterative processes: understanding, analysis and reconstruction, expression, and reflection. Using directed qualitative content analysis, students’ reflective writing was examined to explore how these processes were internalized. The results indicate a developmental shift from surface-level performance concerns to deeper cognitive engagement, including structured reasoning and metacognitive awareness. The findings suggest that English, when positioned as both an object of learning and a tool for thinking, can facilitate liberal-arts-oriented learning experiences. Although limited to a single case, this study offers a practical framework for designing liberal-arts-oriented general education courses.

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21st-century engineering, driven by advancements in information technology, is evolving into what I call “knowledge engineering,” an engineering connected to human intelligence. Therefore, I believe that liberal arts education is necessary in the engineering faculty’s curriculum to cultivate engineers who can thrive in “knowledge engineering.” Liberal arts education is realized through “discipline for free intellectual inquiry,” and therefore, we incorporate a system of elective courses, humanities subjects, arts subjects, coaching programs, and project-based learning exercises.

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This paper introduces the educational practice of PHY107: “Introduction to Monodukuri” , a course that explores the concept of “Monodukuri” (making things) within a liberal arts education. Throughout human history, the ability to create things has played a central role in the development of civilization. However, in modern society the rapid advancement of technology has raised fundamental questions about the relationship between humans and the objects they create. Rather than focusing on the acquisition of technical skills, this course aims to provide students with an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between humans and technology from multiple perspectives. As a concrete example, the paper presents the first-class activity titled “Opening the Black Box” , in which students disassemble discarded devices. Through hands-on exploration, students experience what we call “Monodukuri thinking,” a process of understanding structures and functions through sensory engagement. By describing the course structure, educational intentions, and student responses, this paper discusses the potential of Monodukuri-based learning in liberal arts education.

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This study focused on an AI-assisted Project-Based Learning (AI-PBL) program jointly organized by the National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Ibaraki College, and a local secondary school. KOSEN students participated as teaching assistants (TAs). The program included a generative AI literacy workshop, brainstorming using the KJ method, group work utilizing generative AI, presentations, and peer evaluation. Quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that serving as a TA may have fostered critical thinking and have contributed to improvements in problem-solving skills through reflective practice. However, further statistical analysis with a sufficiently large sample size is necessary.

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This paper provides an overview of engineering design education in Japan from inception to future prospects. The introduction of engineering design education to Japan was driven by the dynamics of international quality assurance of engineers through frameworks like the Washington Accord. The Engineering Design Education Research Committee has supported a paradigm shift to the outcome-based model through workshops. A survey of engineering design from journal papers in “Engineering Education” and conference presentations reveals a trend where presentations focusing on PBL are more dominant than those titled “Engineering Design Education”. This suggests that PBL tends to become the central hub for implementing engineering design. Furthermore, the paper explores emerging technologies such as Generative AI and the incorporation of sustainability into design education.

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