The impact of COVID-19 on Japan In Today’s World (JTW) Lessons for future teaching and learning

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  • HIGO Masa
    The International Student Center, Kyushu University

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Abstract

Japan In Today’s World (JTW) has a significant link to Kyushu University’s KIKAN education. As the University’s representative, English-taught study program for exchange students from its leading partner institutions around the word, JTW serves as an integral part of the KIKAN education curriculum and uniquely contributes to pursuing its overarching missions of nurturing students’ cross-cultural competencies through diverse courses in general education. Our current era is marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented public health crisis that has constrained nearly all aspects of social activities around the world. Drawing on original data gathered through a program evaluation survey (n=22) and a series of Focus Group interviews (n=12), this article first overviews the ways in which the ongoing global public health crisis has affected the operation of JTW, particularly from April through July 2020, and the learning experiences of its participants. Based on the findings from analyzing those data, this article then discusses, albeit preliminarily, key lessons for its continuous, effective operation in a “post-pandemic age” to come. Those lessons are found in three areas that are essential components of the program: lessons for (1) the JTW core courses; (2) student-to-student cross-cultural exchange; and (3) immersion experience activities. These lessons may also serve as a potentially valuable source of knowledge to further strengthen the role of KIKAN education in coming years.

Journal

  • 基幹教育紀要

    基幹教育紀要 7 1-17, 2021-02-25

    Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University

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