Asian Studies Conference on The City in South Asia and Its Transnational Connections

UO Delegation Leads Faculty Development Event in Japan

A five-person delegation from the University of Oregon led a two-day faculty development workshop at Nagoya University March 16-17, 2013. The Japanese Ministry of Education’s Global 30 initiative sponsored the program. Launched in 2008, this high-profile initiative aims to internationalize Japanese higher education by creating new English-language degree programs, recruiting international students, and providing opportunities for Japanese students to study abroad. UO’s Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, which facilitated three earlier G-30 faculty development workshops at the University of Oregon, provided the planning and logistical support for the team that took this pioneering workshop on the road. Remarking on the success of the workshop, CAPS Director Jeff Hanes notes: “The UO faculty development team brought their energy and expertise to the steep pedagogical challenges facing Japan’s signature program for the internationalization of higher education—and made a significant impact.”

Oregon’s team worked with 40 Japanese and international faculty members from eight Japanese universities to improve their English presentation skills and learn about evidence-based best teaching practices, focusing particularly on making the classroom more interactive. Lee Rumbarger, Director of the Teaching Effectiveness Program (TEP); Trish Pashby, Senior Instructor at the American English Institute (AEI); Georgeanne Cooper, Former Director of the Teaching Effectiveness Program, and Elly Vandegrift, Associate Director of the Science Literacy Program (UO-SLP) co-facilitated the workshop. Highlighting the international nature of the G-30 initiative, the faculty participants were from 15 nations. CAPS Director Jeff Hanes accompanied the team, providing on-the-ground logistical support for the program. CAPS Assistant Director Lori O’Hollaren supervised planning of the operation, and East Asia Coordinator, Yifang Zhang, worked with organizers at Nagoya University to fine tune workshop organization and logistics.

The workshop weekend included small- and large-group sessions like “Interactive Lecture Techniques,” “Teaching in English,” “Teaching to a Diverse Student Audience,” “Learning Objectives and Backward Design,” and “The External Brain.” Each participant delivered a 10-minute mini-lecture in their fields of expertise incorporating interactive lecture techniques. The UO facilitators have expertise in each of these areas and offer training opportunities to graduate students and faculty at the UO on these topics.

During a closing discussion, participants articulated ideas from the workshop they planned to experiment with to incorporate big- and small-scale revisions in their own courses, such as incorporating midterm course evaluations, “minute-papers,” i-clickers, in-class demonstrations and a range of peer learning activities.

G-30 faculty members expressed satisfaction with the workshop and excitement about returning to their teaching with new ideas and drawing form the group’s collective energy. Some of the participants’ observations in a follow-up survey include:

“[I]nteractive, practical and encouraging atmosphere throughout session…I really liked being a student of very good teachers.”

“It was most stimulating to lean the importance of affirmative attitude to students. Interactive teaching is rare in the Japanese classes and most of the lectures including mine tend to be unidirectional. Teaching by questioning was a refreshing idea to me. Although I knew the importance of interaction in the class, I was not practical enough. Your lectures gave me lots of useful hints. I also liked the international atmosphere in the class thanks to many non Japanese participants.”

“The workshop was very impressive and helpful.  Until now, I thought that university lectures were an opportunity to obtain knowledge written in a textbook through well-summarized teacher’s notes.  Through the workshop, however, I could learn that a good lecture should be interactive, well organized, informative, and enjoyable.  The teachers from University of Oregon showed me attractive lectures not only by clear speech, motions and good materials but also by kind answers to any questions.  I deeply appreciate their efforts and passions.”

UO’s faculty development relationship with this group began in 2010 when CAPS paired TEP and AEI with administrators and faculty from Nagoya University looking to improve teaching on their campus. Over the past three years, 18 Nagoya University faculty and administrators have participated in multiday training programs on the University of Oregon campus. The March 2013 program was the first time that faculty from TEP, AEI, UO-SLP, and CAPS have been invited to Nagoya University to facilitate a workshop on that campus.

UO awarded $100K grant for student internships in Asia
Funding from the Freeman Foundation will support a range of internships in East and Southeast Asia.

EUGENE, Ore. — The UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies has received nearly $100,000 from the Freeman Foundation to support internship opportunities in Asia for UO students.  The Freeman Foundation invited approximately 60 U.S. colleges and universities to apply to this new grant program and funded 11 successful proposals.

The Freeman Foundation program seeks to expand opportunities for U.S. students to work overseas as part of their undergraduate and graduate studies.  The grants aim to deepen the capacity of select institutions to provide financial assistance to student interns and to encourage alumni to assist in the placement of interns.  By awarding modest stipends to students with financial need, the UO will be able to offer more qualified students the opportunities for professional experience abroad.

“This timely award builds on two previous grants from the Freeman Foundation over the past decade that have enabled 75 UO students to study in Asia,” explained Jeffrey Hanes, director of the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies.  “With this new grant to support student internships specifically, we extend the range of overseas opportunities available to our talented students, offering highly qualified interns with much-needed financial support.”

The grant will provide living stipends and/or travel funds to students participating in the Oregon University System’s International Education, Experience, and Employment (IE3) programs, as well as other UO internship programs managed independently by individual faculty, departments, and academic programs.

“This latest grant from the Freeman Foundation is testimony to the UO’s leadership in Asian Studies, and to the remarkable efforts by the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies to build a wide and accessible bridge to Asia for all UO students,” said Dennis Galvan, vice provost for International Affairs at the UO.

More information about the grant and application procedures will be available soon on the CAPS website.