Learning materials and videos of “The University of Tokyo Future Faculty Program (UTokyo FFP)” (Teaching Development in Higher Education) are now available on UTokyo OCW*.
These materials are recommended to anyone who would like to learn about “how to teach” and who is interested in our program (e.g., faculty, graduate students, educators, etc.). Please stay tuned for further materials and videos to be updated.

Please click the link below.

https://ocw.u-tokyo.ac.jp/course_11441/?interface_language=en

[The University of Tokyo Future Faculty Program (UTokyo FFP)]

UTokyo FFP is a half-yearly program to enhance the teaching skills of graduate students, postdocs, and faculty/staff members affiliated with the University of Tokyo. It is a program to learn practical skills to deliver classes that enable students to learn actively, and participants can receive an official certificate on completion of the program. The program commenced in AY2013; the program published on OCW was conducted online.

*UTokyo OCW

UTokyo OpenCourseWare (UTokyo OCW) provides lecture materials and videos used in the regular courses of the University of Tokyo freely available for anyone. It is one of the “Opening of the Gates of Knowledge” programs at the University.

UTokyo OCW has provided lecture materials and videos used in the regular courses, compiled in line with the University of Tokyo education programs, to anyone even outside the University free of charge. The materials published on the website are nearly identical to those provided in the actual courses.
The University of Tokyo licenses these materials from their respective copyright holders properly. Please read the copyright information of each material carefully and make sure to observe its terms of use when using any material.

The 15th UTokyo FFP finished the first half of the program.

DAY 4 is titled “Syllabus and Course Design that Contribute to Learning.”

The previous sessions were mainly about a class, but the focus was shifted to a course this time. (For example, “a class” refers to a 105-min class in UTokyo, and “a course” refers to the entire classes conducted in the S1 Term.)

The class started by reviewing the previous session.

Participants worked in pairs in the Zoom breakout rooms to review “evaluation,” the main topic of DAY 3. Before forming pairs, they first individually worked on developing “a good question that would enable reviewing the topic within 10 minutes.” Then, they asked the question to their partner in pairs with each other. My partner asked me “a question for review” that included several keywords such as “summative evaluation” and “formative evaluation.” Regarding the reviewing methods, Dr. Kurita said, “There are varying degrees of difficulty in reviewing. It is effective to let the learners review the previous topics in accordance with their motivation by gradually raising the difficulty level.”

The session moved on to “Syllabus.”

Dr. Kurita explained that regarding syllabuses, it is necessary to set a goal that states what the course exists for and objectives that specify the goal, to write sentences with students as the subject, and to write one objective per sentence. Participants then refined the existing syllabuses by sharing the screen on Zoom with their group members. Some participants said, “It was hard to make improvements on preset syllabuses.” In contrast, others said, “I think I was able to learn a lot about what a syllabus should be through the activity of refining existing syllabuses as if they had been my own,” “The activity gave me a hint on what I should consider when creating a syllabus, which I had done vaguely before.” and “The picture of classes I can or want to deliver became clear. I felt that creating a syllabus is highly effective in organizing my ideas and field and selecting materials (or items).”

What came next was the creation of the “Graphic Syllabus,” the highlight of DAY 4.

When the classes were conducted face-to-face, the group activity used sticky notes, but now they were replaced by online tools. The participants shared Google Slides on the screen and had an active discussion there. Most participants seemed to realize the effectiveness of graphic syllabuses as described in the following reactions: “I enjoyed creating a graphic syllabus because the discussion in the breakout room made me identify unclear points,” “Creating a graphic syllabus makes it for me easier to grasp the flow and structure of a class. I found out that it is very useful when writing a text syllabus.” and “It was interesting to know that creating a graphic syllabus visualized the flow and improvement points, which I couldn’t identify when writing a text syllabus.”

Here are words from a participant who finished taking DAY 4: “I found it interesting, profound, and difficult to create a syllabus. There are so many things that I can make use of in my own classes that I thought once again that I was glad I took this course. What impressed me in today’s class was the group activities. We refined syllabuses and examined their visualization twice constructively in a peaceful atmosphere. I think one of the charms of FFP is that you can realize how the interaction among students has a great impact by putting yourself in the students’ perspective.”

The 15th FFP will move on to the latter half of the program.

Shigekazu Kawasaki
Division for Quality Enhancement of Higher Education
Center for Research and Development of Higher Education

The UTokyo FFP started its 15th semester live online via Zoom, adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols.

DAY 1 “Introduction” (April 16th–) involved icebreaker activities (e.g., letting the participants get to know each other and introduce another participant to the others) and a 1-min research presentation. An assignment was given to film and upload one’s research presentation, and participants peer-reviewed them.

DAY 2 “Class Design” (Motivation, Class Design, and Active Learning) was a session to learn about how to motivate students, the significance of class design, the ADDIE model, and active learning strategies. Within a limited time frame, participants were able to learn about various topics in effective ways. In terms of learning about motivation, participants discussed in groups in Zoom breakout rooms and organized their ideas on digital sticky notes by sharing a Google slide on their screens, which showed the distinctive quality of online classes.

In DAY 3 “Evaluation” participants shared their ideas through frequent use of Google Forms. (Letting everyone fill out the form and share their replies immediately are the advantage of online classes.)  Also, a gallery walk was conducted online when the participants practiced creating rubrics. The session actively integrated new tools into its class design to make optimal use of online settings.

As described above, the 15th UTokyo FFP started with mixed feelings of expectations and concerns, struggling to realize online what the programs have conducted in face-to-face classes. However, many participants gave us positive feedback on the online classes as follows: “It was my first time taking online classes, but I was surprised that the session proceeded just as smoothly as face-to-face classes,” “I enjoy taking online classes because I can learn through the interaction with other participants in breakout rooms,” and “The program so skillfully uses different apps such as Zoom, Sli.do, and Google Classroom, depending on their properties, that there were no differences with offline classes.”

Online courses may become more popular in the future. Some participants expressed their high expectations of our program, saying, “I first thought that it was unfortunate to take this course online, but considering the increasing significance of online courses from now on, it is a good opportunity to learn about online classes from the professionals who are the researchers of the latest trend of interactive teaching.”

The 15th UTokyo FFP has just finished DAY 3, and there are still more than half of the program left, but we will make further efforts to deliver and refine UTokyo FFP-like online classes to reach the goal (DAY 8).

Shigekazu Kawasaki
Division for Quality Enhancement of Higher Education
Center for Research and Development of Higher Education