About the Center
Purposes
The Research Center for Higher Education was founded
- - To research and develop education of Kumamoto University, including its liberal arts education;
- - To promote liberal arts education while working in cooperation with the Organization for General Education;
- - To contribute to the improvement of University education through comprehensive research.
History
1994
In accordance with the revision of the Standards for the Establishment of Universities in 1991, the Faculty of Liberal Arts Education was abolished, and the faculty members were moved to other faculties at the University.
1997
The Research Center for University Education, which comprised the Education Division and the Research Division, was established. For the following six years, the Education Division was responsible for managing and providing liberal arts education at the University, and the Research Division was for research and development of education.
2003
The Research Center for Higher Education was established and succeeded the former Research Center for University Education. The Organization for General Education started to manage and provide liberal arts education at the University.
Divisions
The Center consists of three divisions:
- The Curriculum Development Division
- The FD and Educational Evaluation Division
- The Education System Development Division
They are engaged in following activities:
The Curriculum Development Division
- - To work for the development of and support for first-year experience (FYE), teaching improvements, and syllabus design;
- - To plan, conduct, and promote introductory seminars for first year students; training sessions for newly recruited academic staff and teaching assistants (TAs), KU:TO (Kumamoto University Teaching Online), and KU Teaching series;
- - To survey and study methods to improve teaching at the University.
The CALL Section, the Curriculum Development Division
- - To work on the maintenance and improvement of the CALL hardware and software that the University has for the English Language Education;
- - To research and develop the system and materials for the promotion of the CALL-oriented ELT.
The FD and Educational Evaluation Division
- - To analyze and report the results of the teaching evaluation questionnaires;
- - To survey and study methods for teaching evaluation and assessment;
- - To research and develop methods for teaching improvement;
- - To plan, conduct, and support FD activities at the University.
The Education System Development Division
- - To work on the advancement of the education system of the University;
- - To facilitate the research on and the planning of educational policies at the University.
The Center as a whole
- - To plan and conduct the 21st Century University Education Seminars by inviting leading personnel in the field of university education;
- - To plan and conduct the Center Seminars where the staff presents their research findings and introduces research-oriented teaching methods.
Organization
The Center has the faculty members, who carry out research and development in each Division, are members of the Organization for General Education, and play a leading role in promoting excellence in education.
The Center also has the hei-nin academic staff who belong to other Faculties at the University and concurrently work with the Center staff for research and development. In cooperation with the Center staff, the hei-nin academic staff are to carry out an endeavor to develop a system where students can learn effectively and smoothly at the liberal arts stage and at the stage of the program they specialize in.
The Center asks for advice and cooperation, where needed, from experts from in and out of the University.
Research Center for Higher Education