About Division for Educational Development

Overview

In April 2015, the Institute for Educational Initiatives was established as an organization to promote postgraduate education based on the highest level of research capabilities in the world in response to the adoption of the Top Global University Project as fully funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) aims to foster human resources who have holistic perspectives, a spirit of challenge, multi-disciplinary understanding and a global outlook to be responsible for solving global and future problems, as well as newly developing advanced science and technology. In NAIST, the Division for Educational Development is engaged in affairs related to the educational development of the Institute, including planning and supporting the configuration of the coordinated curriculum, providing institutional guidance on courses, promoting globalization, collecting information on the faculty development, as well as planning and implementing it, and managing the comprehensive operation of its educational support system.

Description of initiatives

1. Planning and promotion of the configuration of the coordinated curriculum
   To implement and improve a curriculum that enables NAIST to foster human resources in accordance with its Diploma Policy and Curriculum Policy.
2. Assessment of quality assurance in education
   To improve the educational research environment based on the survey analysis on learning achievement. To develop the circumstances for faculty members and students so that NAIST can take advantage of the characteristics as a postgraduate research institute (through class evaluation survey, questionnaires at the completions of master’s course and doctoral course, survey for faculty members, evaluation on external classes, and monitoring of learning outcomes).
3. Institutional guidance to graduate students
   To announce and publicize the advantage of choosing a five-year integrated course and an interdisciplinary program for achieving a spirit of challenge, comprehensive capability, and integration.
4. Promotion of globalization (in English and Japanese)
   To enhance the lessons in English focusing on strengthening English skills to foster internationality, as well as the lectures on Japanese-language and Japanese culture for international students.
5. Promotion of faculty development (FD)
   To collect information on faculty development and plan and implement it.
6. Comprehensive operation of the educational support system
   To improve the digital syllabus and introduce the cloud-based learning support system (educational chart system, and the report submission and management system).
7. Class support service
   To support classes related to subjects of the interdisciplinary program. To introduce cooperative companies on classes, make arrangements for briefings, and provide cooperation for the contents and structure of lessons.
　

Organization