We published a report on the “Interactive Teaching” Big Real Session (BRS) held on February 4th, 2017.
Please click here.
The report shows the analysis of the questionnaire responded to by the participants at the venue or online, and the future prospect of the event based on the questionnaire results.
Please also check the video of the event published previously.
We are preparing for the announcement of the 2nd BRS in due course.
Thank you for supporting “Interactive Teaching.”
This book was completed thanks to the cooperation of the alumni of “The University of Tokyo Future Faculty Program” (UTokyo FFP)!
What kind of career path can you envision after entering university, proceeding to graduate school, and completing the doctoral program?
What lies beyond completing the doctoral program is highly uncertain for doctoral students themselves as well as the general public.
This book answers the question through interviews with people in various academic fields. The first half of the book organizes the information on the basic procedure to obtain academic degrees at university and what you should do to prepare for building a career as you wish, while the latter half is a collection of interviews with those who completed their doctoral programs ranging as many as 15 academic fields.
It took nearly two years from the very beginning to complete the book thanks to the UTokyo FFP alumni working hard on the basic arrangement of chapters and conducting interviews. It is the diverse backgrounds of UTokyo FFP alumni that realized conducting interviews with people from such a wide variety of fields.
The book collected what those who are working actively in various fields had in their mind and tried to do while they were in the middle of building their careers.
It is strongly recommended not only for undergraduates and graduate students but also for working adults and high school students.
DAY 2 sessions were held on April 20th and 21st. The topics were as follows:
The 9th semester of “The University of Tokyo Future Faculty Program” (UTokyo FFP) started on April 13th (@Hongo) and 14th (@Komaba). It will be held for two consecutive periods every other week, in principle, over S1 and S2 Terms.
The first class focused on creating a collaborative learning environment. The topics were as follows:
All videos of the “Interactive Teaching” Big Real Session (BRS) (held on February 4th, 2017), from the introduction to the wrap-up, are now available online!
You can watch the videos session by session on either website as follows:
UTokyo TV: http://todai.tv/contents-list/faculty/brs-1#__tabcon-6…
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGkctuF55veBi7xDGCgcYkw
[For BRS participants]
Please use the videos for your reflection. The staff and speakers had a lot to realize recently by reviewing the videos under editing. (Let us share our reflections at another time.) We hope the videos remind you of “What I learned today” and “My determination to apply what I learned to my life tomorrow” two months ago and motivate you toward the new academic year.
[For those who were unable to join BRS due to conflicting schedules or losing the lottery]
Thank you for waiting. You must be busy at the turn of the academic year, but we offer the videos session by session. Please start with the session you are interested in in your spare time.
[For those who would like to learn about “Interactive Teaching”]
As they say, “Seeing is believing.” Please take a look at the videos to know about BRS. However, “Thinking is far greater than seeing,” and “Acting is far greater than thinking.” We hope these videos will become an opportunity for you to join the projects to support those who support learners.
[Call for sending reports on utilizing the videos]
We would also appreciate it if you would let us know the use of the videos in your activities. Please notify us of any brief reports from this form. We would like to share your efforts (e.g., for studying by yourself, (online) workshops, etc.).
Lastly, thank you very much to the UTokyo TV staff for their cooperation from filming the event to publishing the videos. We are impressed with their quick and accurate work, editing the videos beautifully. It might be a little inadequate in terms of business etiquette to praise our colleagues in a broad sense, but we would like to express our sincere gratitude to them.
[Three days to go for the application deadline (Sunday, April 9th)]
[9th UTokyo FFP] Let’s learn to teach at university! Application now open for “Teaching Development in Higher Education”
For anyone (e.g., graduate students, postdocs, and faculty/staff members) who would like to enhance their teaching skills!
“The University of Tokyo Future Faculty Program (UTokyo FFP): Teaching Development in Higher Education” Application now open!
Faculty members are required to have skills not only in research but also in teaching.
The UTokyo FFP will provide you with a practical learning environment to enhance your teaching skills.
★ You can systematically learn “how to teach”!
★ You can build a network across diverse fields!
★ On completion of the program, you receive an official certificate that you can attach to your resume!
★ Graduate students can also receive academic credits!
[What Are the Classes Like?]
Masaki (currently working as a project researcher at the FFP) took the program in the past.
The course lets you learn about how to conduct classes that enhance students’ learning efficiently, and I felt it also helped me learn about how to communicate with people when talking about my research and field.
The program is open to those who are interested in communicating/teaching in a broad sense as well as how to enhance the quality of education.
(Masaki (Project Researcher in charge of FFP))
[Qualifications]
Graduate students, postdocs, and faculty/staff members at the University of Tokyo
[Time and Venue]
S Semester <S1/S2 Term> AY2017
・Thursday class (capacity: 25 participants): Periods 3–4 @Fukutake Learning Studio (Hongo Campus)
・Friday class (capacity: 25 participants): Periods 4–5 @Komaba Active Learning Studio (KALS) (Komaba Campus)
The classes will be conducted live online.
Total: 8 days for each course
(Note that the classes are held every other week, in principle.)
[Details and How to Apply]
Please click the link below.
https://dev2.utokyofd.com/en/ffp/about/
(If the number of applicants exceeds the prescribed limit, selection will be made based on the information in the application form.)
We look forward to your application!
Center for Research and Development of Higher Education
Kayoko Kurita (Associate Professor)
Ikutaro Masaki (Project Researcher)
utokyo_fd@he.u-tokyo.ac.jp
＜About＞Tuesday, March 14th, 2017
The Center for Research and Development of Higher Education organized an English Academia workshop “Master the skills in a day! Arts of making presentations in English.” Its purpose was to let the participants master the arts of making attractive presentations on their research topics in English. The workshop was placed as an offline practice session for an online course “English Academia” (https://utokyo-ea.com).
It was held at Fukutake Learning Studio, Hongo Campus. A total of 17 participants consisted of graduate students at the University of Tokyo, coming from a variety of fields of science and humanities. Bilingual staff at the Center served as the facilitators, and the instructors included those who used English as their first language.
The participants were divided into groups of two to four with one instructor for each and practiced making presentations. Before the workshop, they had been asked to prepare presentation materials explaining the main concepts and keywords of their research questions easily understandable to the undergraduate students new to their fields. Each participant first made a five-minute presentation in English using the materials they had prepared and received feedback from the instructor and the other participants. Their presentation topics covered a wide variety of themes such as “Machine Learning,” “Bitcoin,” “Unemployment Rates,” and “Protein Engineering.” We filmed and recorded each presentation with iPads and IC recorders so that they could review their own presentations objectively.
Subsequently, staff who used English as their first language shared the feedback on the skills of English presentations with all the participants. Following a break, the participants individually worked on improving their presentation materials and methods. They were able to consult the instructors at any time and also had an active discussion with other participants. Finally, they gave a second try on making presentations and received feedback in groups. All the presentations were improved from the first ones; it was easier to understand by the audience, and their visual materials, diction, use of their eyes, and gestures were refined.
We received positive feedback from the participants after the workshop as follows:
“It was highly valuable to receive feedback from various people.”
“In addition to mastering the skills in making presentations, I realized the importance of taking an appropriate attitude of mind.”
They also seemed to look forward to our future workshops by listing the topics they would like us to take up such as “Q&A sessions at academic conferences,” “poster sessions,” “delivering classes for overseas students,” and “interviews in English.”
We will continue to hold workshops related to English Academia on the improvement of academic communication skills in English for young researchers. We sincerely look forward to your participation.
Click here for more details of English Academia.↓
https://utokyo-ea.com
Click here for more details of the PAGE project. ↓
https://www.he.u-tokyo.ac.jp/activities/page/
We co-organized an intensive lesson “Let’s Learn Japanese Implicit Customs and Way of Thinking” (10:30–15:00) with the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology on March 27th, 2017. There were 21 participants in total.
The schedule was as follows:
Participants seemed to enjoy the event in a very good atmosphere, particularly during the role-playing session, which was intended to help them share their experiences in the following activity. They nodded or laughed unconsciously, looking at the UTokyo alumni acting in a situation on “how to reply to the greetings given by a Japanese colleague who is older than you.”
The result of the questionnaire, asking the participants about the event on a five-point scale (5: Strongly Agree, 1: Strongly Disagree), is as follows (N=21):
The average point of overall satisfaction on a 10-point scale (10: Extremely Satisfied, 1: Extremely Dissatisfied) was 8.25 (SD: 1.74). We received the following feedback in the comment section. Most participants seem to be satisfied with the event.
The instructor, who is one of the UTokyo FFP alumni, joined the group of overseas students, and all the participants seemed to enjoy the event in a relaxed atmosphere. We feel that we should have delved into the Japanese way of thinking more deeply, so we would like to improve that point in the next event. The event seemed to be successful overall!
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Prof. Mukai at the Japanese Classroom, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, for such a precious opportunity!
The 8th Certificate Award Ceremony of “The University of Tokyo Future Faculty Program (UTokyo FFP)” was held in Fukutake Learning Studio, Fukutake hall, on Wednesday, March 8th, 2017.
Forty-eight participants completed the 8th program, each receiving a certificate from Prof. Osamu Sudo, Director of the Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, The University of Tokyo. They also received a congratulatory address from Prof. Yojiro Ishii, Executive Vice President (in charge of education and assessment), The University of Tokyo.
Alumni also appeared and introduced their alumni network. Participants exchanged information over snacks after the ceremony.
The UTokyo FFP marked its fourth anniversary with eight semesters, producing a total of 383 people who completed the program from every graduate school at The University of Tokyo. We are eager to develop the program more and more.
The 9th UTokyo FFP is scheduled to start in April 2017. The application form is available on the following web page.
[Application deadline: April 9th (Sun) 23:59]
https://dev2.utokyofd.com/en/ffp/apply/
(Matsubara)
