国際ワークショップおよび関連イベントについて

卒業生調査プロジェクト

Message from the Coordinator

With the advent of the knowledge-based society, it is our pressing need to develop a system for enhancing the learning opportunities for students in tertiary education, as well as to create the structure of recurrent learning for the working population in tertiary education.

This network aims to conduct various empirical surveys and identify the optimum form of qualifications framework integrated with learning outcome in the tertiary education, which would meet the growlingly universal and diverse demand of the society.

Despite the growing debates undertaken on learning outcomes in the university sector, it seems to have a long way to go to be really applied to actual curriculums. The more vocation-oriented sectors such as professional training colleges and junior colleges also bear improvements in terms of the quality assurance.

Given such circumstances, we try to search for the most suitable programs for tertiary education in Japan, through conducting empirical surveys on the following three domains; 1) the status quo of goals, methodology and management of curriculums, 2) competencies required and acquired of teaching staff and organizations, and professional developments, and 3) the Graduates’ initial occupational career paths and career formation.

In this research network, we will implement various research projects concerning above subject in collaboration with the researchers of the sociology of education and higher education, along with the practitioners in the tertiary education and other stakeholders in the relevant organizations.

We are currently undertaking the project titled “FY2013 Research on Functional Differentiation of Higher Education and Quality Assurance Frameworks in Career and Vocational Educations” (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), Project Number 25245077), as well as “Consortium and Occupational Field Projects on The FY2013 MEXT Strategic Promotional Project for Vocational Education for Middle-Level Professionals in Targeted Growth Fields”, commissioned to Kyushu University. We also have the Junior Colleges Consortium Kyushu as one of our important research-exchange partners. Our attempt will be to further advance the studies on ‘learning outcome’, which is both practically and academically creditable, reflecting the results of former projects such as “FY 2009-2012 Researches on Non-University Higher Education and Qualifications Framework” (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), Project Number 21243044）and FY2008-2010 researches of Research Group for Education in Professional Training Colleges, commissioned by National Association of Vocational Schools of Japan. It would be our great pleasure to share our most up-to-date findings and research outcomes with everyone interested. Please feel free to make use of this website to communicate with your fellow researchers and colleagues, as well as to promote your own researches.

October 2, 2013

Keiichi Yoshimoto,
Coordinator of the Research Network,
Distinguished Professor, Kyushu University）