Status of 21st-Century Liberal Arts Education: Curriculum Reform in Japanese Universities and Evaluation by Society

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

"Status of 21st-Century Liberal Arts Education: Curriculum Reform in Japanese Universities and Evaluation by Society"

 

This essay should be published as is.  It does an excellent analysis in identifying and proposing possible content for a liberal education curriculum from the point of view of universities and of the industrial sector at large.  The article reflects on the contradictions between the educational requirements posed by the industry—technical skills, scientific knowledge, "peripheral knowledge" (line 408)…—and the curriculum of the liberal arts education as it is understood in the US.  The somewhat negative understanding of the humanities as “peripheral knowledge”  undermines the idea of the humanities as building a society engaged in promoting public freedom, solidarity, and fairness. 

 

Somehow, the essay recognizes the difficulties of bridging these contradictions when it acknowledges that the tandem industry and society differ significantly from universities in the actual content of the liberal arts education; that the industry is interested mainly in data management and analysis; and that the combination of sciences, humanities, and STEAM has not fully being perceived as needed by society (lines 336-42). 

 

If this is the case—and I fully agree with the authors—now the question would be what could be the answers.  The essay and its authors decided to turn towards the university, and the liberal arts colleges, asking them for a better understanding of industrial needs: "the critical point is that universities must promote educational reforms to meet the needs of the new era and realize Society 5.0" (line 360-61).  This is the conventional approach in which this essay participates.  However, I would like to argue that it is also the less satisfactory one. 

 

Society 5.0 is a society suffering from very serious environmental problems.  Climate change is not a debatable question anymore.  If we want society and the planet to have a future, it is about time we change our priorities, including those of the industrial sector.  The issue at hand is not only that universities and the liberal arts education should help industry in making better products or in offering better financial services to suit people's needs.  It should also crucially transform production to achieve sustainability if we want to continue to foresee a future.  Here is where the liberal arts education should take the lead in promoting an industry involved in sustainable activities to save the planet and the people inhabiting it. 

 

This approach is the opposite of the one taken by the authors.  Notwithstanding its difficulties, the matter underlined in the last paragraph should carefully be taken into consideration when undertaking projects like this one.  This is my only critique to an otherwise very professional article.

Author Response

Comments 1.

Society 5.0 is a society suffering from very serious environmental problems.  Climate change is not a debatable question anymore.  If we want society and the planet to have a future, it is about time we change our priorities, including those of the industrial sector.  The issue at hand is not only that universities and the liberal arts education should help industry in making better products or in offering better financial services to suit people's needs.  It should also crucially transform production to achieve sustainability if we want to continue to foresee a future.  Here is where the liberal arts education should take the lead in promoting an industry involved in sustainable activities to save the planet and the people inhabiting it.

This approach is the opposite of the one taken by the authors.  Notwithstanding its difficulties, the matter underlined in the last paragraph should carefully be taken into consideration when undertaking projects like this one.  This is my only critique to an otherwise very professional article.

Response

I took this argument seriously and reconsidered the areas where my paper was lacking. As a result, I added the sentences in the last paragraph.

Society 5.0 is not just a society in which companies and universities create innovations that connect new digital technologies with society. As Ishii has proposed the new VUCA (Vitality, Universality, Citizenship, Activity) as an element of 21^st-century liberal arts education [18], it is also a society that recognizes VUCA as basic human literacy and forms a sustainable society.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Good effort in methodological development and sample size.

It is recommended for subsequent studies to analyze instrument validation and multilevel statistics. 

The objectives proposed in the study have been met.

However, there is no research design, which would allow a better understanding of the results.

An additional recommendation in the paper is to incorporate more current references. 

Author Response

Comment 1:

It is recommended for subsequent studies to analyze instrument validation and multilevel statistics. 

The objectives proposed in the study have been met.

However, there is no research design, which would allow a better understanding of the results.

Responses:

I added the 5.2 section of Research Design, created three research questions, and explained the design.

5.2 Research Design

We set three research questions as follows.

 RQ1. Is there any different evaluation of 21st-century liberal arts education between companies and higher education institutions?

RQ2. Whether there are differences in the content of 21st-century liberal arts education depends on the type and scale of the university.

RQ3.Whether there are differences in the evaluation of university learning outcomes depends on the scale and characteristics of the company.

 

To analyze the survey results in depth in line with the RQs above, we decided to use descriptive statistics to grasp the overall picture first. As the next step, we conducted a one-way ANOVA analysis based on the characteristics of higher education institutions and analyzed the differences. Next, we clarified the factors related to the learning outcomes of universities through factor analysis. We analyzed whether differences could be seen concerning the characteristics of the companies. (221~234)

 

Also, I added the sentence of the reliability test and its result.

We conducted a reliability test for these learning outcome items; the Cronbach alpha result is .941. The result was reliable. (323~324)

 

I also added the explanation sentence to three research questions as follows.

to cope with RQ2, (256)

This analysis can be summarized as a response to the research question. (353)

In response to RQ1, overall, it is summarized that companies and higher education institutions evaluate 21st-century liberal arts education differently. (361~363)

 

Comments 2.

・An additional recommendation in the paper is to incorporate more current references. 

Response

I added five more current references.