On Thursday July 25th2024, “Japan-Korea FD Comparative Symposium” was held.
- ■Number and breakdown of registrants/participants
Registrants：175（including 62 registrants from Korea）
Actual participants: 133 online, 42 in-person (including 8 speakers)
First of all, Dr. Takumi Moriyama (Executive Vice President, The University of Tokyo) and Dr. Yasushi Asami (Director of the Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, The University of Tokyo) gave opening remarks. Then, Dr. Wonhwa Park (Assistant Professor, Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, The University of Tokyo) explained the aim of this conference.
In the speakers’ presentations, Dr. Min Woo Nam (Deputy Director of University Innovation Project Office, Daejeon University) gave a presentation on “Adaptive Teaching Support System and Performance Management of CTL in Korean Universities” and Dr. Hiroaki Sato (Professor of Institute for Transdisciplinary Graduate Degree Programs, Osaka University) gave a presentation on “History and Current State of FD in Japan.” They talked about the history and prospects of teacher training systems in Japanese and Korean universities.
Next, Dr. Eunhwa Lee (Dean of the Graduate School of Education, Silla University) gave a presentation entitled “Growth of Korean Association of Center for Teaching and Learning and Issues of the Academic Journal ‘Research on University Teaching and Learning’” and Dr. Kayoko Kurita (Deputy Director of the Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, The University of Tokyo) gave a presentation entitled “Current Status and Future Direction of FD/Pre-FD Initiatives at the University of Tokyo”. They talked about the roles and functions of organizations for implementing and managing CTL and FD in Japan and Korea, respectively.
After a short break, Dr. Hui-Jeong Yun (Professor of Division of General Education, Sookmyung Women’s University) gave a presentation entitled “Current Status and Examples of Learning Support Programs at Korean Universities” and Dr. Nobuhisa Sakakibara (Professorof the Center for the Promotion of Educational Innovation, Shibaura Institute of Technology) gave a presentation entitled “FD Initiatives at Shibaura Institute of Technology: From Individual Faculty Development to Curriculum Integrity Improvement”. They presented examples of practices at various Korean universities and specific situations at Japanese universities.
In panel discussion, Dr. Park moderated the discussion and the speakers exchanged their opinions, comparing FD initiatives in Japan and Korea.
- ■Participant Responses
- A questionnaire was distributed after this symposium, and a total of 37 people responded. Regarding the level of satisfaction with the event as a whole (on a 5-point scale, 5 = very satisfied and 1 = very dissatisfied), the highest number of respondents, 17 (45.9%), gave the highest rating of 5, and 16 (43.2%) gave the next highest rating of 4.
Here are some of the feedback we received in the comment section (*Please note that we partly extracted the feedback to anonymize the respondents.):
●Good points and opinions on this symposium
“I was able to learn about the current situation and comparison of top FDs in Korea and Japan. All lectures were interesting and informative.”
“It was very interesting to learn about the construction and outcomes of a system to prevent FD from becoming a mere formality.”
“I was able to learn about the points mentioned in the question about the most impressive lecture and that Korea is innovation oriented. Somehow I felt that technology at the acdemic level is quickly applied to the inductries in Korea, but I found out that it derives from higher education.”
“I am glad that you provided interpreters so that we could listen to the lectures in the language we prefer, rather than all in English.”
“Dr. Yun did not talk much about her own institution, Sookmyung Women’s University, but rather gave examples from various Korean universities. This allowed us to see that CTL in Korea is directly linked to the salary structure for university faculty members, and that the disclosure of information is really making it more visible to various stakeholders. In contrast, Dr. Sakakibara introduced actual cases from Shibaura Institute of Technology, where he is affiliated. (…) They spoke in a way that was easy to understand for non-academics.”
“I would venture to say that I felt the theme was something like “Reconsidering University ‘Organizational Power’ and Comparing Japan and Korea,” so I think it would have been nice to hear from both parties involved: university students and faculty members. (…) I think it is worth mentioning that this FD symposium had a good theme and a consistent position of cooperation and thinking between Japan and Korea. The balance was very good.”
“The underdeveloped situation of FD and CTL in Japan became clear, and I felt a sense of crisis.”
All respondents gave high evaluation to various aspects of the symposium, and we are very pleased to hear them. We also received many comments on areas for improvement of this symposium and topics to address in the future. Based on their feedback, we will continue to organize symposiums in the future. We would like to thank all the people who provided valuable comments and suggestions.
■Future Plans
- We are planning to issue a report on this symposium. As soon as it is completed, we will post an announcement on the UTokyo FD website. We will continue to hold various FD-related events and symposiums in the future, and we sincerely look forward to your participation.
