Home-school partnership is key to students' success at schools. Japanese schools have attempted to invite families to participate in school educational activities. However, these efforts are embedded into Japanese school cultures and were not studied empirically. This study aimed to explore teachers' attitudes and actions toward home-school…

This article examines the nature and evolution of the term blended learning (BL), which encompasses numerous connotations, including its conception as a strategy, delivery mode, opportunity, educational shift, or pedagogical approach. Although much has been said in this field, very few studies examine the different types of blends behind their…

Students' journal writings could be useful resources for teachers to grasp their understandings and to see their own teaching objectively. However, reading a large number of journals thoroughly is not always realistic for teachers. Although various automatic analysis methods have been proposed to understand learning journals, they does not…

This report describes a workshop on the Dynamics of Machinery based on the fabrication of a gyro- bicycle in a summer school program for junior high school students. The workshop was conducted by engineering students who had completed "Creative Research", an engineering design course at the National Institute of Technology, Okinawa…

Achievement Emotions Questionnaire--Teachers (AEQ-T) measures teachers' anger, anxiety, and enjoyment related to instruction. The purpose of this research is to revise and validate AEQ-T to include pride and frustration. Also, this study aimed to replicate previous research on anger, anxiety, and enjoyment and validate this expanded measure in an…

International knowledge and skills are essential for success in today's highly competitive global marketplace. As one of the key providers of such knowledge and skills, universities have become a key focus of the internationalization strategies of governments throughout the world. While the internationalization of higher education clearly has…

Based on case studies of China and Japan, this study undertakes comparative research on major aspects of university curriculum and instruction-teaching activities of academics, their role in curriculum development, and their perceptions of these activities--between a mass and a universal higher education system. Major findings from the APA…

This study makes a comparison between what literature on Japanese Lesson Study suggests are key elements of a good mathematics lesson and what junior high school mathematics teachers in Japan value in planning their lessons. The teachers' strong consensus in their endorsements of these key elements explains why Japanese teachers strongly support…

This case study explores the intricate interaction between students' preferences for written corrective feedback and actual teacher feedback practices in a second year academic EFL writing class in a Japanese university. Specific institutional and instructional details establish the context in which written feedback is being provided. A…

Teachers' misunderstanding the concept of inclusive education will not lead to good practices, rather make an exclusive environment for pupils with special educational needs in mainstream schools. This study clarified teachers' attitudes towards the image of inclusive education with conjoint analysis and cluster analysis. The participants for this…

In 2004, Ray Land produced extensive literature on the 12 orientations of academic developers. These orientations provided academic developers with a useful tool through which they have been able to better articulate their roles and their place in academia. We have used the orientations model to establish, compare, and contrast the identity of…

Motivation is one of the most popular topics on language teaching and learning. Many studies on language learning focus on students' motivation; however, teachers' motivation is easily overlooked in the area of the applied linguistics field. In this paper, the researcher presents a study to investigate how satisfied English teachers at private…

Japanese lesson study has attracted many international educators who have been impressed by its capacity to foster student learning and sustained professional growth of teachers. This paper reports a study on its cultural orientations that may explain why lesson study works seamlessly in Japan. Hofstede's dimensions of national culture are…

Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) is an innovative educational approach that is becoming increasingly popular among researchers and practitioners in technologically advanced countries in the West, but is largely unknown or ignored in the instruction of Foreign Languages (FL) in Japanese higher education. This is problematic because more interest…

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) refers to the use of English as a contact language between people who have different first languages, including native English speakers (Jenkins, 2014). "ELF is simultaneously the consequence and the principal language medium of globalizing processes" (Jenkins, Cogo, & Dewey, 2011, p. 303). In…