Sep 28 2021
Niigata University held "Niigata University Online Summer Program 2021" from Thursday, August 19 to Wednesday, August 25 with 61 students from 24 partner universities in 12 countries/regions and 26 Niigata University students under the circumstances where it has been difficult to conduct study abroad programs due to the covid-19 pandemic. This program is collaborative online international learning (COIL) in which students with different backgrounds such as nationality, academic fields, and year learn about Japanese language and culture as well as SDGs through group work using English as a common language with a view to developing their global competence. During the program, Zoom was used for synchronous online courses, and asynchronous tools such as Slack were used for mutual information exchange, including pre-study assignment.
In the first half of the program, the participants cultivated a better understanding of different culture through ice-breaking and the course for Japanese language and culture. In the latter half of the program, the participants worked on project-based learning group work in multicultural groups of five to six on three different themes of SDGs; "Global Resilience: Navigating a Post-Pandemic World", "Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Challenges for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Post-COVID-19", and "Let's evaluate the achievements of SDGs in our communities."
On Saturday, August 21, which was halfway through the program, an optional, informal international exchange activity was conducted, providing an opportunity to make friends. In the beginning, Ms. Charlene Woolson, a Coordinator of International Relations of Niigata City introduced the attraction of Niigata. Afterwards, the students from our partner universities went around six topics, hosted by Niigata University students from students’ perspective; campus life, food culture, music, animation/comics, etc. They deepened their exchange with enjoying free conversation.
On the final day, 14 groups gave presentations on their group work, followed by lively question-and-answer sessions. The questionnaire after the program reveals the participants' high satisfaction, including comment such as "It was a lot of fun discussing one theme with students from various countries.", "I could learn a lot about SDGs and it was great listening to variety of opinions.", "I deeply appreciate the long-running, passionate instruction from the course instructor."
At the completion ceremony, the instructors from each course gave some messages, including feedback and advice for the future.
The program ended with the closing remarks from Prof. TSUBOI, the Vice President for Global Engagement: "Our society seeks global leaders who are capable of solving global problems. In addition to expertise, communication skills based on the understanding of different culture are vital. I would like you to try not only online study abroad programs but also actual study abroad programs after the covid-19 pandemic settles. We all look forward to seeing you at Niigata University."
The Center for International Education will continue to conduct a variety of international education programs in the future.
Group photo at the completion ceremony
Prof. Zhang, presenting the completion certificate
