Kansai University of International Studies (KUIS) was first established as a two-year women's junior college in 1987. In 1998, we became a four-year college to add a new page to universities' history in this country. As befits the name of this institution, partnerships with 45 overseas universities across 12 countries and one region situated primarily in the Asian-Pacific region have been established. We are known as a university with a vital educational component and enjoy an excellent reputation for designing and developing educational programs and learning achievements attained. Five learning benchmarks and twelve intermediate targets have been prescribed to promote the integration of general-purpose skills with learning through specialized education. Our educational philosophy is that we seek to be a place of inspired learning where compassionate, highly creative students with the ability to take action can be cultivated from a global perspective. Specifically, we wish to produce autonomous individuals, individuals who can contribute to society, and spiritually rich global citizens.
Based on the three attributes of students included in our educational philosophy as outlined above, we added to our goals both the acquisition of practical communication skills and the acquisition of problem-solving skills as general-purpose skills appropriate for graduates with bachelor's degrees in 2006. By the time a student graduates from our university, the person should have gained the ability to use and adequately harness these skills. These goals can be described as benchmarks representing the translation of our philosophy into action guidelines for students.
The following points define the education we provide:
- First-year education is introduced to allow new students to make a smooth transition from high school to university and successfully adjust to university life.
- Excellent training and opportunities to gain field experience are introduced.
- All students undergo a program for gaining international experience known as a global study program through which they can acquire global perspectives.
- A process of reflection has been established whereby small-group seminars are offered for students each year -from freshman to senior- and students can take the time to review their growth and concerns each year based on an arrangement that ties them closely to advisors.
The salient feature of our approach to education is the adoption of active learning. Rather than have instructors present one-sided lectures, ideas for educating students to engage in active learning through active participation in the learning process have been adopted.
The approach to education referred to as service-learning provides students with opportunities to learn outside of the classroom. Getting students to engage in issues that are faced in the local community and overseas enables them to contribute to society in real life, appreciate the importance of specialized learning, and otherwise experience aspects of social contributions and practical scholarship. An example of this approach is a program that sends students to Cambodia to provide supplementary education in arithmetic to children. Also, internships at companies, schools, social welfare facilities, and elsewhere are proactively introduced.
In recent years, we have focused on enhancing learning outcome assessments. We produced a protocol for our learning benchmarks, clarified targets in terms of the level students who take a given course should reach, and organized assessment perspectives and standards to permit them to be visually perceived. In addition to assessments corresponding to each faculty, department, and course, a shared protocol that expressly sets forth the perspectives and standards for grading reports and other items in courses is used. In this way, our education system is progressive, challenging, and designed to chart a higher education course in Asia. We urge you to choose a way to live actively and autonomously and to realize your growth as an ever-evolving individual in our current global era right here at KUIS.
