2023 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Evaluating Teaching Collaborations between Japanese and Southeast Asian Engineering Programs: Sharing Quality Enhancement Practices in an Internationalizing Higher Education Context
| Project/Area Number |
23K02514
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| Research Institution | Kansai University of International Studies |
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Principal Investigator |
Shorb Patrick 関西国際大学, 国際コミュニケーション学部, 教授 (10866320)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
林 透 金沢大学, 教学マネジメントセンター, 教授 (20582951)
大関 智史 旭川医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (40831582)
川脇 康生 関西国際大学, 経営学部, 教授 (80806737)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-04-01 – 2027-03-31
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| Keywords | Higher Education / Quality Assurance / Quality Enhancement / Southeast Asia / Collaborative Projects / Engineering Education |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Through Zoom meetings and in-person interviews, the research project interviewed several Japanese researchers and administrators familiar with and/or involved in collaborative quality assurance efforts in Southeast Asia. A research trip to Jakarta also allowed the research team to interview Indonesian educators and officials. Researchers came to understand better the way Japanese institutions have helped Indonesia university-level engineering education improve quality, such as through its recent signatory status in the Washington Accord. Combined, these interviews helped the research project clarify its aims and key questions. Lastly, the project received approval to conduct interviews of human subjects from the Research Ethics Committee of the Primary Investigator’s affiliate institution.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The project is generally on-track to complete its goals. Through two online interviews and three research trips (two within Japan and one overseas) researchers solidified their understanding of the topic. Project researchers now understand the quality assurance issues of Southeast Asian higher education systems thoroughly and have managed to contact key quality assurance organizations and collaborative institutions. Although the final questionnaire has not been created, researchers have begun finding answers to the first two research questions listed in the original project proposal. By obtaining approval from the Primary Investigator’s home institution’s Research Ethics Committee, the project now can conduct interviews of relevant educators, administrators, and officials more easily.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The researchers will publicize their preliminary findings regarding Japanese quality assurance collaborations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. One conference presentation has already been confirmed for June and at least one more conference presentation is being planned for the upcoming winter. The research team will make at least two international research trips over the summer of 2024. One trip will visit higher education institutions and quality assurance-related organizations in Kuala Lumpur and one will visit similar places in Hanoi. Another two domestic research trips will occur in the fall to visit quality assurance organizations and education institutions. Researchers will draft a survey asking Japanese and Southeast Asian educators about their collaborative experience.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Expenditures were a lower than expected for AY 2023 because of the rearrangement of the order of research. One trip to Hanoi (in February) was delayed until AY2024 in order to give the research team more time to understand all of the issues relevant to the research project. Also, the research team wanted to obtain research ethics approval from the primary investigator's home institution (Kansai University of Interational Studies). This approval was obtained and will now allow the research project to use interview materials more easily in publications and presentations.
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