Since 2008, the Department of Information and System Engineering at Chuo University has pursued “Rubric-based Competency Development,” an outstanding educational activity, with Professor Dr. Mitsunori Makino as the key member of the development team. Defined as a table (rubric) of components and levels derived from the diploma policy of the department, competency (behavioral characteristics) is presented as student behavioral guidelines and used as an outcome evaluation of education. The department has been developing and practicing the teaching and evaluation methods with competency embedded.One typical example of the teaching methods that have been developed is a problem-based learning course entitled “Software Project on CG, VR and Image Processing.” Students are expected to acquire the competency level prescribed for this course. In the subsequent two years, the students take four associated courses and improve their competency levels through PDCA cycles. For this purpose, typical behavioral characteristics that students are expected to master in each class are determined and associated with a particular level of competency. Instructors or TAs use this information to provide appropriate guidance to each student.
Students give demonstrations and participate in poster sessions in the final class for each semester. Third party referees, including alumni, check and evaluate the levels of competency suggested by the students’ behavior. In addition, the evaluation obtained is compared against students’ self-evaluation. Changes in levels of competency over the course of the year are also observed. The cumulative findings of these analyses are utilized in subsequent courses. The evaluation results obtained show that self-evaluation by students who are taking the course is generally at a higher level than that of students who do not take the course, and that the levels of competency of the former, as evaluated by referees, tends to improve year on year. In addition, the evaluation accuracy of referees gradually improves. We accumulate data in order to check and evaluate the quality of education as indicated by students’ behavior.
Professor Makino has worked as a leader in this activity and as a representative professor of the course group, and he was engaged in development of this activity across the whole university. In that regard, Professor Makino and his colleagues proactively disclose their results to the public. As a result, the development received an award from the Japan Society for Engineering Education, and the course group was selected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as one of the“30 best courses for developing fundamental abilities for members of societies.” In addition, the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA) refers to this initiative in formulating its competency evaluation guidelines. Professor Makino continues to give lectures in faculty development (FD) sessions at both domestic and overseas universities, and makes presentations to visitors.
Without doubt, such pioneering educational promotion with broad ripple effects conducted by Professor Makino, a senior member of the IEICE, brings great honor to the institute.
