Active learning in Japan: Breaking barriers at individual, institutional, and policy levels

Abstract

Active learning has emerged as a means of developing generic employability skills that enable students to prepare for an uncertain future. In this context, many universities have encouraged their instructors to practice active learning. While some scholars indicate challenges with adopting this approach, few empirical studies have examined perceptions of instructors related to its application. This current study addresses this research gap—how instructors perceive the issues regarding the application of active learning—by surveying 157 instructors from across numerous institutions in Japan. Identifying issues at the individual level is important because it can provide guidance for institutional managers and policymakers on the strategies necessary for effective implementation of active learning. While the findings of this study largely confirm those of the extant literature, they also revealed which issues are more pertinent than others. Japanese instructors did not adopt active learning because they were indifferent and reluctant toward active learning and prioritized students’ knowledge acquisition over application. We conclude with a discussion of the findings and suggestions to address the perceived issues in implementing active learning at all levels, using the theory of planned behavior.

Implementing an institution-wide pedagogical change in an Israeli college: The AWpack advising system in support of academic writing

“…Indeed, Duquesne is not unique in defining the occupational status of most writing program instructors as low, whereas discipline-based instructors who enjoy a higher institutional status have little interest in increasing their workload. The latter is also a key finding in the research held by Ito and Takeuchi (2021). The fact that AWpack takes these two obstacles into account contributed to our positive results.…”

“…What renders the extra work even less appealing is the risk of failure accompanied by criticism from colleagues and students alike. Thus, we were faced with the same sense of our colleagues' indifference, reluctance toward changing their methods, and the prioritization of "students' knowledge acquisition," as described by Ito and Takeuchi (2021) in their study of a similar attempt for pedagogical change.…”

“…Thus, the focus of this strategy was on the pedagogical aspect of leading the change. At the same time, the one-on-one approach and the tailoring of tools to address individual concerns helped reduce faculty members' resistance to the change, thereby promoting the academic aspect of the model (so prominent an obstacle as described by Ito and Takeuchi, 2021).…”

“…For instance, the clarification of assignment instructions and the preparation of lesson plans to include learner peer-reviews had the added benefit of lightening the faculty member's workload. Thus, instead of taking up class time dedicated to conveying content knowledge (a key factor in resistance to change according to Ito and Takeuchi, 2021), AWpack had the potential to save up precious class time. At this point, further research was needed to examine the effectivity of the new plan.…”

“…The focus of these questions coincides with what Carbone and others referred to as “[b]arriers to improvement of teaching” (2019: p. 1356). As Ito and Takeuchi (2021) demonstrate, leading a pedagogical change in teaching methods may be impeded by a great variety of factors, including teachers’ lack of knowledge, reluctance to invest the time and effort in the change, or refusal to allot class time to anything that falls outside the scope of the discipline. Thus, one may wonder whether it is possible at all to lead such a change.…”