Measuring Quality of Undergraduate Education in Japan - Comparative Perspective in a Knowledge Based Society

This book explores how the global trend of quality assurance in higher education is related to the boom of measuring learning outcomes in Japan. It also presents a comparative study in higher education policy between Japan and the US, examining how both countries have reacted to the demands of globalization. This comparative view will help readers understand the present issues Japanese higher education faces and grasp the commonalties and differences between American and Japanese higher education.
The book first explores the forces of globalization that have resulted in Japanese universities emphasizing student learning outcomes. Next, it examines how Japanese higher education has learned from the experience of the U.S., whose higher education reform has been regarded as a model for Japan. The book explains why quality assurance for teaching and learning has become important for all Japanese higher education institutions.
Higher Education on a global basis is now facing a great issue. In order to help students in a competitive global market, universities need to become more teaching-and-learning-centered and develop more internationalized curricula. This book provides comparative views for cultural and structural similarities and differences in higher education in two countries which could explain significant differences in the gains students make in college. It will help readers understand not only how student learning outcomes can be measured, but why universities throughout the world must continually strive to become world-class institutions.


Reiko Yamada is a professor at Faculty of Social Studies, Doshisha University, and a Director of Center for Higher Education and Student Research. She is the leading person in this field in Japan. Her researches on Japanese student development and learning outcomes based on college impact theory are well recognized in not only in Japan but also in the United States and Korea. The author developed the self-reported student surveys (JCIRP) from 2004 which are comparable with US surveys so called CIRP developed by HERI (UCLA) and 130,000 students participated in the JCIRP by the end of 2013.