It has been almost a month since I arrived at Kyushu University. Since the building is scheduled to change next year, it looks like I will be spending this year surrounded by cardboard boxes (lol).

I have already received requests from several people who would like to visit. Although my office is piled high with cardboard boxes, please feel free to come by. For now, I have a desk, a conference table, and a small bookshelf, so I am able to conduct research and other work. I am relieved, at least for now.

By the way, the Japan Society for Educational Technology (JSET) journal special issue on “Improvement of University Education and FD,” for which I served as a guest editor, has been published. I would like to thank the members of the editorial board, especially Professor Murakami (Kyoto University of Foreign Studies), who served as the vice-chair, for all your hard work!! Thank you very much.

Professor Murakami and I wrote an editorial paper for this issue. I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Murakami once again.

Masayuki Murakami & Masanori Yamada (2012) The Role of Educational Technology in Research on University Education and FD, Japan Journal of Educational Technology, 36(3), 181-192 http://mark-lab.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/JSET_mun_yd_2013-1.pdf

Regarding this theme, Professor Tsubakimoto (Future University Hakodate) and Professor Watanabe (Tokyo Metropolitan University) have centered discussions on this topic as a research project at the national conference, but advancing it as research is extremely difficult. FD, in particular, is challenging. In this issue, there was only one paper related to FD, which was a data paper by Professor Taguchi and colleagues from Kyoto University. Educational improvement also inherently requires clarity on “how it was ‘improved’,” otherwise it does not fit this theme. I believe this is what makes research on this theme difficult. It is tough… As a faculty member working at a center involved in FD and university educational improvement, I felt that while the quality of the papers was good, some papers might not be effectively communicated to faculty working at centers for the advancement of higher education. I think that was one regrettable point.

However, the fact that the Japan Society for Educational Technology featured this theme in the form of a journal issue is significant, and I believe it serves as a catalyst for an increase in research related to higher education in the future. In my opinion, the improvement of university education and FD have been advanced as tasks or practices. I look forward to continued discussions on how to approach this as “research,” including research methodologies and evaluation methods.

Now, for the next issue, I will be serving as the vice-chair. The theme for the next special issue is “Informal Learning in an Information-Oriented Society.” This special issue will cover informal learning and non-formal learning. The submission deadline is February 6, and the final manuscript deadline is February 13. If you are interested in this field and are conducting research, please consider submitting your work.

Thank you for your support.