HITOMI Eri

The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of the curriculum design for the General Education Curriculum that started in 2022, and to present the concept of the instructional design for the “Project to Design the Future of Yamaguchi,” which is a comprehensive assessment subject. Up until now this university had designed its curriculum using the so-called “theme-based” method. However, in a new era of unpredictability, the nature of the qualities and abilities demanded of university education by society and university establishers is changing. Therefore, the decision was made to design the new General Education Curriculum using a competency-based method of backward design with the required qualities and abilities set as educational targets. While combining the diverse knowledge they acquired in the first semester, students for mixed teams from all departments in the second semester and based on the design thinking process, generated ideas oriented toward solving problems in the local community. A rubric-type evaluation forms was used to visualize the students’ academic achievements.

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to prepare two types of fruit wine with 10% and 20% peel using three types of citrus from Kagoshima Prefecture (Beni-amatsu, Kawachi-bankan, and Fukiage-konatsu), and to explore changes over time after preparation. Methods：Fruit wine was prepared using fruit, fruit peel, glacial sugar, and white liquor. The peels and fruit were removed from the fruit wine at 4 weeks after pickling, and the color difference, acidity, sugar content, and pH were measured thereafter until the 20th week. Fruits and peels removed from fruit wine were freeze-dried and extracted with 35% and 70% ethanol, and the total polyphenol content and DPPH radical scavenging capacity were determined along with the fruit wine. Results：The fruit wine with 20% fruit peel showed higher L*, a*, and b* values than the wine with 10% fruit peel, but the acidity, sugar content, and pH showed little difference due to the amount of fruit peel. L*, a*, and b* values and acidity increased and sugar content decreased until the fourth week after pickling, but remained almost unchanged after the fruit and peel were removed at the fourth week. The total polyphenol concentration in the fruit wine was higher in fruit wine with 20% fruit peel than in fruit wine with 10% fruit peel for all citrus, and remained unchanged after the fourth week. The DPPH radical scavenging capacity of fruit wine with 20% fruit peel was higher than that of wine with 10% fruit peel and remained flat or decreased after the 4th week.

Based on a paper aimed to document the pioneering use of Blended Learning and Instructional Design published in March 2021, an attempt was made to improve one compulsory subject in the Postgraduate Schools of YPU. The goal of improving the class called ‘Quality of Life (QOL)’ was to show a model to be used at Postgraduate level for mostly adult learners so that they could access the class from their workplaces or homes. The construction of the whole class needed to be reviewed, instead of just utilizing an interactive online ICT tool. This paper also tries to present an idea for a certificate program based on the above QOL class. Yamaguchi Prefectural University promotes four educational principles, including “respect for human nature,” “emphasis on citizens’ perspectives,” “co-existence with the community,” and “response to globalization”. The focus on humanities is crystalized on the teaching subject, QOL, as mentioned above. ‘Quality of Life’ covers the examination of the quality of everyday life in today’s changing world to diverse life stages, and then into every type of lives in nature and around the globe. By placing the QOL class as the core and adding one or two classes, it is assumed that the certificate course could be started by connecting issues in local towns to innovative solutions in wider society.

From 2007 to 2021, Yamaguchi Prefectural University offered a seminar course called "Seminar in Community Collaboration" as a part of its general education curriculum. In this seminar, students worked together with local residents to solve regional issues. Among these projects, we will introduce the example of working together for 13 years on the local festival "Mori-sama Festival" with residents and high school students under a cooperation agreement with the high school. In addition, we worked together with the students who took the "Seminar in Community Collaboration" to make a proposal to support the survival of the festival after the abolition of the course due to a curriculum revision.