Visit to Science University of Tokyo

Host: Prof Shigeka Yoshimoto

My sixth visit was to the Kagurazaka Campus of the Science University of Tokyo [ss/»], which is generally regarded as being one of the best private universities in Japan. Like Waseda, Keio and Kogakuin, it is a large university with more than one campus. It has a history dating back to 1881. Prof Yoshimoto is one of the professors in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering [ss/»] within the Faculty of Engineering [ss/»] at Kagurazaka Campus, which is set in an attractive location in central Tokyo.

This visit was arranged by a personal friend (Yasufumi) who himself studied mechanical engineering at the Science University of Tokyo more than fifteen years ago, although within a different faculty and at a different campus. The fact that Yasufumi felt able to contact the university after so many years to arrange for me to meet a professor with whom he had no other connection I think says a lot about the bond many Japanese graduates feel towards the university they studied at. Furthermore, the fact that his request was granted shows that this is indeed a two-way bond.

Even though Prof Yoshimoto was from a department of mechanical engineering rather than computer science, I was still very glad to have the opportunity to speak to him since I had many questions of a general nature, some arising as a result of my previous visits to computer science departments. I was also interested to see what kind of contrasts I might find.

Having arranged the visit for a Saturday at Prof Yoshimoto's suggestion, Yasufumi and his partner Kyoko came with me to meet him, in case any help with translation was required. Prof Yoshimoto had previously told Yasufumi, modestly, that his English conversational skills weren't very good - but in fact he spoke English very well. There seemed to be quite a few students around given that it was a Saturday, although the atmosphere felt very relaxed. We overheard what was presumably a student band rehearsing songs in one of the buildings within the campus. They didn't sound too bad!

Context...

Prof Yoshimoto said that he is one of seven full professors within the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. There are also two associate professors, and five instructors. He said that the post of assistant professor doesn't exist, and that an instructor corresponds to what I might call a "research assistant" - they generally already have a PhD. Some ("a few") instructors are eventually promoted to become associate professors. Roughly 30% of the existing professors were themselves students at the Science University of Tokyo, while the remaining 70% graduated elsewhere.

Each year the Dept. takes in around 100 new undergraduate students and around 40 new Masters students. There are currently three PhD students. The vast majority of the Masters students were formerly undergraduates within the Dept. - very few transfer in from another university. I asked how many, if any, international students they have within the Dept. Prof Yoshimoto said they have very few. He suggested that this was probably due partly to the high costs associated with attending a private university such as his.

In Prof Yoshimoto's laboratory [ss/»] there are currently 12 final year undergraduate students and 13 first and second year Masters' students. He said that the final year undergraduate students work full time on a research-related project.

I found the structure of the University a little confusing. Some faculties seem to overlap - for example there is another Dept. of Mechanical Engineering within the Faculty of Science & Technology, which is where Yasufumi studied. The Faculty of Science & Technology also includes a Dept. of Mathematics and a Dept. of Physics, yet there is another Dept. of Mathematics and another Dept. of Physics within a separate Faculty of Science.

Regarding accreditation and assessment of teaching...

I asked Prof Yoshimoto whether his department was subjected to any kind of external accreditation or assessment of teaching and/or research, and he said no. Nor was he aware of any future plans in this respect. However, he said that the Ministry of Education promotes the idea that students should assess their professors. Each year the students fill in a questionnaire which asks them to rate their professors individually with respect to things like lecture presentations and provision of lecture notes. The professors get to see not only the responses in relation to their own performance but also the overall averages, so that they have some idea of how the students felt about them in relation to their colleagues.

I found this very interesting. I think similar procedures are used in some American and Canadian universities, but I've seen little evidence of it in the UK - although I did see such student evaluation statistics posted on a notice board in the Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering at London University King's College once when I visited there a few years ago. I wonder whether the departments I visited previously in Japan had similar procedures. Prof Yoshimoto was the first to mention it to me, but this may have been simply because I hadn't asked anyone about it before.

Student motivation...

I mentioned that I had read reports of typical undergraduate students in Japan being inclined towards laziness, and I asked Professor Yoshimoto for his candid opinion about this. The Science University of Tokyo is amongst the best (most difficult to enter) universities in Japan, but even so he agreed that some students are quite lazy. He estimated that attendance at lectures is typically around 70%.

I also mentioned that I had read that the range of marks awarded is typically as follows: 60-69% ("pass"), 70-79% ("average"), 80-100% ("very good"). Professor Yoshimoto said that those are indeed the ranges of marks awarded within his department. I was interested to know what happens to students who have to retake a year - are their marks in the retaken year capped to a bare pass as they would be at SBU? He said no, they are not capped - a student can still achieve high marks. I asked whether employers would care about this, and he said that generally employers don't worry if a graduate applicant has had to retake one year, although they would certainly care if an individual has had to retake two years of study. He estimated that about 20% of students have to retake a year, while perhaps 3% have to retake two years. The number of students dropping out altogether is perhaps one or two per year (out of 100).

Professor Yoshimoto added that they are always concerned to ensure that the percentage of students having to retake a year doesn't grow too large. As in the UK, they have target figures in relation to numbers of students enrolled, and must take care that the actual numbers don't stray far from these targets.

Web facilities and eLearning...

I asked about web facilities and Prof Yoshimoto showed us that there is restricted-access information for students (such as syllabus details) as well as WWW information for public access. He said that although he posts problems for his students on his website, he distributes hard copies of his lecture notes rather than posting them on the web.

I asked whether he was aware of any eLearning initiatives within the University and he said that there are plans for a pilot PC-based video-on-demand project, to start in April. Also, the University will provide students with an eLearning package geared towards helping them pass the TOEIC English proficiency test [ss/»]. He said that this will be available for students to utilise in their own time - the incentive being that a high TOEIC score would improve their employment prospects.

Miscellaneous...

Prof Yoshimoto said that within his department some of the professors assess students by examination alone, while others use a combination of examination and coursework. He said that nobody is using multiple choice tests, as far as he knows.

I asked about textbooks and Prof Yoshimoto said that the textbooks they use for undergraduate students are all Japanese. He seemed a little surprised that I should think they might use some English textbooks, yet in the departments I have visited so far I have been told that they do often use English language textbooks. It occurred to me afterwards that the explanation for this might be that computing is a more rapidly changing field, so perhaps in computing they are more inclined to use English language textbooks in order to keep abreast with the latest developments in technology.

I asked Prof Yoshimoto whether he was aware of anything being taught within his department that might differ from what was taught in comparable courses in America or Europe, which was a question I had asked during previous visits. He said that the material they cover is essentially the same as is covered in comparable courses overseas.

Prof Yoshimoto said that during their first year, undergraduates receive a fairly general education. Even though they are enrolled on a course in mechanical engineering, in the first year students must study a range of subjects including economics, law and English. These subjects are taken jointly with other students, so there is no particular focus on, for example, law for engineers or economics for engineers. In the second year the course becomes more focussed on mechanical engineering, although there are also a couple of courses on electrical engineering. The course becomes even more focussed in the third year.

Finally, since this was a Saturday I asked Prof Yoshimoto whether he often comes in to work on Saturdays. He said yes, he is usually in on Saturdays, although not many of the students are around. Furthermore, he said that many of the professors come in on Saturdays, to do their own work and sometimes to take part in scheduled meetings. I can't imagine academics in the UK having scheduled meetings on Saturdays, at least not on a regular basis.

Acknowledgement

I am indebted to Prof Yoshimoto for checking this report, correcting a couple of errors and supplying some additional details.