Center for Research and Development of Higher Education
General information
The Center for Research and Development of Higher Education was established in April 2003 to improve teaching and learning at Osaka City University. The mission of the Center is to explore ways of improving and updating the function of the university education with a strong emphasis on curriculum, teaching and learning development in a rapidly changing society. The Center is an institution aiming at research and development of the university's education in view of its everyday practice.
Three areas are set to pursue the mission. The first area is studying future visions of higher education system with an upcoming universal higher education age and the need for stronger accountability in view. The second area is the development of new undergraduate curriculum and teaching /learning styles. The third area is studying viable organizational and personal evaluation systems for educational activities.
Activities
Our activities are divided into three categories: research, faculty development, and learning innovation.
Our research topics cover a new strategy for the integration of general education and technical education, the feasibility of first-year experiences, designing an effective students' evaluation, the OCU teaching staff's consciousness on curriculum and teaching, a viable plan of school-university coalitions, and so on. A follow-up study of the new students' academic record is also in progress. Making organizational research results in a variety of survey reports (printed in Japanese), which are delivered to all the faculty members at OCU. They are available to other people on request, too.
As part of faculty development, we are responsible for the planning and implementation of meetings and seminars for faculty members. We conduct students' evaluations of courses offered in common curriculum to support the improvement of teaching from the students' point of view. We also plan workshops on teaching and learning.
As a learning support activity, we are planning to set up a learning support system in OCU in co-operation with all the faculties.
Location
The Center is located on the fifth floor of Common Education Building in one of the districts of Sugimoto Campus.
Full-time researchers
The Center consists of Director of the Center (Vice President), five full-time researchers and fifteen members designated either by schools and institutes or by President.