Michiko Nakano

Capitalising on Internet and Computing Technologies for Improving Learning and Teaching: The Experience of Waseda University

This chapter explains how Waseda University, a forward looking university in Japan, has capitalized on internet and computing technologies to improve learning and prepare students to engage in globalised economies. Initiatives such as open education, sharing of resources at a global level, and real-time exchange with students in other Asian countries will be discussed. The chapter concludes by examining the university’s future development plan and creative ways of using technologies to promote learning in an increasingly globalised world.

The Development of Quality Assurance Practice in Japanese Universities

In the era of globalisation, quality assurance mechanisms promote accountability and provide impetus for improving learning and teaching in Japanese universities. This chapter traces the development of quality assurance practices in Japan and situates it within the changing context of market forces and socioeconomic concerns in the Japanese society. We began our discussion with a brief description of the status of higher education in Japan before World War II, highlighting the important role of entrance examination as a critical step for assuring education quality. During the post-WWII period, the quality assurance mechanism was initially administered through an accreditation process based on the US model, which was later replaced by a system of self-monitoring and evaluation. Under the influences of marketization, the institution-based self-evaluation process was considered insufficient and third-party external review was implemented in 2000s. Looking into the future, we anticipate that the Japanese quality assurance system will be increasingly challenged by internationalization of higher education in Japan and other parts of the world.

Globalised processes and their influences on university learning and teaching in advanced knowledge economies in the Asia-Pacific region

This chapter situates learning and teaching in various globalised processes. We argue that major globalised processes have resulted in the development of a new learning and teaching context in the Asia-Pacific region. Within this new context, this chapter discusses issues and challenges in four important areas: new student groups, technological change, using English as a mode of communication, and finally, assessment and quality assurance practices. We have integrated a brief introduction to the chapters in this book in the discussion of these four focal areas in the new context of learning and teaching.

Changes in Japanese EFL Learners’ Proficiency: An Application of Latent Rank Theory

In the present study the authors compared achievements of Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at the end of 6 years of formal instruction based on their test performance in the English section of the National Center Tests for University Admissions administered in 1990, 1997, and 2004. Direct comparisons were made possible by equating the scales of these three tests using the common subject design. In addition to 121 Japanese EFL learners who took the tests prepared by the researchers for the equating purpose, 10,000 cases were randomly sampled from each year’s actual test-takers. Their test performance was rendered into analysis based on the Latent Rank Theory (Shojima, Neural test theory: A latent rank theory for analyzing test data (DNC Research Note, 08-01). Retrieved from http://www.rd.dnc.ac.jp/~shojima/ntt/Shojima2008RN08-01.pdf, 2008; Shojima, Neural test theory. In: K. Shigemasu, A. Okada, T. Imaizumi, & T. Hoshino (Eds.), New trends in psychometrics, pp. 417–426, 2009. Tokyo: University Academic Press; Shojima, Neural test theory. In: M. Ueno & K. Shojima (Eds.), Gakushu Hyoka no Shin-choryu [New trends in evaluation of learning], pp. 83–111, 2010. Tokyo: Asakura Shoten). The results indicate that the test-takers in 1990 are unique both in their membership to the latent ranks and in the knowledge that characterizes the high-achievers. Implication of the present study will be discussed in the last section.