Author: 大城明緒

We held the “Pre-FFP” at Library Plaza, B1, General Library Annex for the fourth time on Thursday, April 11.

Since we heard voices that said, “It is too big a challenge to join the UTokyo FFP throughout a semester without preparation,” we gave a brief explanation of the UTokyo FFP and enabled the participants to learn some of the material including active learning through experience in the two-hour event.

There were many visitors on the day, and we welcomed record-high 52 participants in total. We first gave a lecture on the changes in higher education and the social background of implementing active learning with the following goals: “To understand the significance and changes of education at university and think of them as your own matters.”

The lecture was followed by two trial sessions as shown below:

(1) Active Learning Strategies

Taking “Think Pair Share” as an example, the participants experienced the strategy and organized the points such as “Clarify the instructions,” and “Don’t let the means become an end.”

(2) Motivation

The instructor presented the model of motivation such as “expectancy” and “value” and let the participants think of a class design that motivates students through a discussion on “cases of failure in conducting classes.”

Here are some of the feedback we received from the participants.

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“I am now more interested in active learning by experiencing it by myself. I would like to learn more about AL through regular FFP.” (Graduate student in the doctoral course, School of Science)

“What impressed me the most was the importance of inspiring students. I had an experience as a TA, but I think I wasn’t able to inspire students then, so now I know what points I should improve.” (Graduate student in the master’s course, Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences)

“Rubric, portfolio… There were so many techniques that I first met that I’m now excited to take the regular program.” (Graduate student in the doctoral course, Graduate School of Medicine)

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We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the participants who spared their precious time for joining our Pre-FFP.

Lastly, we would like to announce that the application form is now available for the UTokyo FFP to be conducted in the next S Term. (Application deadline: Sunday, April 14th.) https://utokyofd.com/en/ffp/apply/

Regardless of your participation in the Pre-FFP, we look forward to your applications!

DAY 8 “Envisioning Your Career Path: Structured Academic Portfolio (SAP) Chart
・Goals and Objectives
・Structured Academic Portfolio (SAP)
・The SAP Chart
・How to create a SAP chart
・Reflection

The UTokyo FFP finally reached DAY 8. This time, participants reflected on and organized their past activities, visualized their educational views and the significance of their research, and specified their courses of action and career paths through the creation of SAP charts.

Academic Portfolio (AP) is a tool to organize teaching, research, and service (i.e., administrative management of the institution and activities for social contribution), which are faculty duties, and evaluate the information regarding one’s achievements. Structured Academic Portfolio is a kind of portfolio whose description is structured and the procedure and points are clear. SAP is a document of 13–20 pages, and it requires a three-day workshop to create. SAP chart is a preparatory document for creating a SAP that visualizes the whole picture of SAP on an A3 sheet. This time, participants created SAP charts in three hours.

Participants identified the philosophy that underlies their activities by creating a SAP chart. Putting their philosophy into words and sharing it in pairs gave them a lot of insight. They found the core as a faculty member by thinking of the relationships between teaching, research, and service, and integrating them, and based on that, they examined their future objectives, courses of action, and career paths.
We received the following feedback from the participants: “I realized what underlies my sense of value,” “I feel impatient now because now I clearly know what I should do next,” and “I realized what I really would like to do.” They seemed to have gained a lot of insight from the activity of creating a SAP chart.

Facing your philosophy and sharing it with someone else is something that you cannot do unless you are in a safe and secure learning environment. The excellent course/class design of UTokyo FFP and a safe and secure learning environment created by the instructor and participants. Including DAY 8, I frequently encountered the moment when the interaction of these two elements led to wonderful learning. It made me think that I myself would like to create a safe and secure learning environment with my students, too. Come and join the UTokyo FFP for an authentic learning experience in a safe and secure learning environment.

DAY 7 Microteaching Session (2)
・Goals and Objectives
・Mini-lectures and Feedback
・Reflection

DAY 7 was an overall summary of the whole program, where the participants conducted mini-lectures for the second time by making an improvement on the lectures they had conducted on DAY 6. Many participants were successful in reducing lecture materials to be conducted within a limited time of six minutes and focusing on what they really wanted the students to learn about. Every single mini-lecture underwent a remarkable improvement, which clearly showed the participants’ learning and development.

I gave feedback to the participants on their mini-lectures on DAY 6 and DAY 7. I would like to share with you what I realized through the activity.

1. The necessity of a perspective of “Does this activity fit the learning objective?” or “Is this learning objective appropriate?” instead of “If I were the instructor, I would…”

When I observed classes conducted by other instructors and trainees, I always thought in a way like, “If I were the teacher, I would incorporate an intriguing activity here,” or “Why doesn’t he/she pose comprehension check questions to make sure if the students retained the knowledge?” These are from the perspective of “If I were the instructor, I would…” However, this perspective is likely to make you focus only on “teaching techniques.”

As I mentioned in the Journal Vol 6, experts’ perspective focuses on the “structure of knowledge” instead of “teaching techniques.” Keeping the “structure of knowledge” in mind helps you focus on “learning objectives” by thinking in a way like, “Is each element necessary and sufficient for the learning objectives? (Are there any missing or redundant elements?)” or “Does the class structure help the students accomplish the learning objectives?”

“How should the instructor structure the class based on the learning objectives he/she set?” “First of all, is this learning objective really appropriate?” These questions help you give feedback on the class you observe from a metacognitive perspective.

2. Good learning objectives equal a well-structured class.

When designing a 6-min mini-lecture, it is further necessary to thoroughly examine the “learning objectives” compared to creating usual classes. You may regard the “learning objectives” as a trunk and “learning activities” as branches and leaves. We are likely to start with setting “learning activities” (e.g., “I want to talk about these things, so I need this activity,” or “I want to incorporate these kinds of activities.”) when designing a class, but this is like creating parts without a design for a class and aligning them without particular reasons, which is likely to end in an “unstructured class.”

The art of class design is to keep in mind “backward design”: thoroughly examine “what you want the students to learn about in your class,” then design a class that helps them learn the target topics, and finally, create necessary parts or specific learning activities. After creating learning activities, make sure that they perfectly align with the objectives again. That makes your class slimline.

I myself would like to design a simple and concise (i.e., slimline) class based on the stimuli and learning I got from this second microteaching session.

This is an update to correct the information regarding the call for applications for a Project Researcher. The application deadline is January 11th, 2019. We look forward to your application.

Error: Ph.D. holder.

Correct: Ph.D. holder or equivalent.

We look forward to the applications from those who are eager to plan various projects and improve education by considering the post as their opportunity to “learn how to teach” by getting involved in the administration of the UTokyo FFP.

Click here for the application guideline.