On December 2024, 12, a joint high school-university collaboration training seminar sponsored by the J. F. Oberlin University Admissions Department, "Inquiry leads to university entrance exams - How do you choose inquiry materials that won't fail?" was held at the J. F. Oberlin University Planet Fuchinobe Campus (Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture).
In the 2022 revision of the high school curriculum guidelines, J. F. Oberlin University has focused on "comprehensive inquiry time." In 2019, the university launched the "Discover!" career support project for high school students to promote high school-university collaboration, and in 2021, the university launched the "Inquiry Entrance Exam Spiral" in line with the new curriculum guidelines, working to connect inquiry practice to university entrance exams. In addition, the university will establish a "School of Educational Inquiry Science" in 2023.
This trend can also be seen in the results of comprehensive and school recommendation entrance exams in 2025, when high school students of the new curriculum generation will be entering university.
This joint high school-university training session was composed of three parts: "Report on the practice of advanced schools," "Latest information on comprehensive and school recommendation type entrance exams," and "What can be seen from the research field at high schools." Approximately 3 high school teachers from all over the country, from as far north as Hokkaido to as far south as Kagoshima, participated. There was also a corner where each company's research program teaching materials could be freely viewed. In this column, I would like to report on the contents of the lectures given at the joint training session.
Report on the practice of advanced research schools: "Ueno Gakuen Junior and Senior High School (Taito-ku, Tokyo)"
The keynote speech was given by Ryotaro Fujii, Director of Research and Development and Career Guidance at Ueno Gakuen Junior and Senior High School, a private school that presented a cutting-edge example of a school that practices "comprehensive inquiry time."
Although he feels that inquiry-based learning, which is seen as a panacea for the traditional cram-style learning, is still in its infancy, he believes that compared to when it was first introduced, teaching materials and ability development to support inquiry activities have caught up.
From the high school's perspective, the number of students taking general entrance exams to enter university has decreased significantly and the proportion of recommended exams has increased, but students always include research activities as their reason for applying for the recommended exam.
The school uses multiple inquiry-based materials during "comprehensive inquiry time," finely adjusting them to suit differences in the situation, environment, and achievement level, as well as the annual grade plan and even the temperament of the grade. Rather than saying, "We have to do this," the school goes through a careful process of introducing the materials every year, repeating the idea within the school and introducing them in a way that encourages students to "Why not give it a try?"
The first example of inquiry-based learning materials that Professor Fujii mentioned was J. F. Oberlin University's "Discover!" It was highly praised for being an all-inclusive and fun introduction to inquiry, and for the feedback it provided from university professors that could lead to later steps.
Others that were mentioned include TOKYO STARTUP GATEWAY (TSG), a startup contest from Tokyo that aims to change the world with 3 characters, which encompasses all three stages of thinking, writing, and presenting; the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's STEAM Library, which offers a variety of content and allows participants to explore and deepen their interests; the PLIJ STEAM Learning Community, a learning innovation platform with a wide range of videos and other content related to research fields; and Kajima's research-based teaching material for high schools, The Power to Create 400 Years.
In this way, the key to carefully examining various teaching materials and incorporating them into the research activities that are best suited to each individual student is "dialogue" within the school.
In addition, as an example of how experiencing the process of inquiry-based learning, using teaching materials, and repeating dialogue can bring about visible changes in students, a poster of a research project created by a first-year high school student at the time of enrollment and about six months later was presented. When compared, the poster was clearly more substantial in both appearance and content.
Actual slides
Professor Fujii summarized that no matter how new inquiry-based teaching materials are introduced, it will be extremely important to see how well they can be integrated into existing education and utilized, and how they can be used in a regenerative manner.
In response to a question from one of the participating teachers, "How do you measure your achievements?", students answered that they collect data on graduates and use the average rates of scholarship acquisition and GPAs at their undergraduate universities as indicators of their achievements. They also explained that an increasing number of graduates are receiving scholarships and ranking at the top of their departments.
In addition, when asked about ways to address the difference in attitude between students and teachers at school, they also answered that persistent dialogue is important.
Ueno Gakuen Junior and Senior High School, Director of Research and Development and Career Guidance
Professor Ryotaro Fujii
Latest information on comprehensive and school recommendation type entrance exams and the entrance exam situation at J. F. Oberlin University
Next, Koji Takahara, Director of Admissions and Assistant to the President at J. F. Oberlin University, who has been involved in entrance exams for many years, reported on the current state of entrance exams.
He points out that high school curriculum guidelines will change from 2022, and that the perspective of competencies that students gain through their job-hunting activities at university will likely be incorporated into university entrance exams as well.
Takahara said that according to statistics issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on which selection process students use to enter national, public and private universities, in 2000, nearly 7% used the General Common Test, which was based on academic ability, and the National Center Test at the time, and multi-faceted evaluation was just under 35%, but in 2022, this has reversed. He said that this year, multi-faceted evaluation will probably account for 6%.
In particular, it is suspected that the gradual increase in comprehensive entrance exams at national and public universities, the increasing number of schools that do not require the use of school recommendations or common tests, and the declining birthrate are also major factors.
In response to the impasse regarding academic ability-based entrance exams, J. F. Oberlin University introduced the "Inquiry Entrance Exam Spiral" in 2022 as a measure to create an entrance exam that meets the university's admissions policy.
The "Inquiry Entrance Exam Spiral" has three types: presentation type, contest type, and discovery development type. The presentation type allows students to use the research activities they are actually doing in high school as material for the university entrance exam, the contest type allows students to use the results of various competitions held nationwide, and the third is the "discovery development type," where students participate in "Discover!", which is offered by J. F. Oberlin University as part of its high school-university collaboration program, and their results are evaluated.
Although there is a privilege of being exempt from the first screening from the "Discovery Development Type", there were 1 applications this year. The reason for this is analyzed as "High schools want to pass as many students as possible, so they are as safe as possible and try to have students take the exam with the aim of making a decision by the end of the year." In addition, it is said that the number of applications for the comprehensive type and school recommendation type entrance exams this year has increased by about 195% compared to last year.
It is expected that the number of entrance exams with the word "exploration" in the name will continue to increase in the future, but it is also true that some entrance exams are just in name. I would like students to choose a university that properly evaluates their efforts and process, he said.
What is the "Spiral Entrance Exam"?
Director of Admissions, Assistant to the President (Admissions and High School-College Liaison), J. F. Oberlin University
Koji Takahara
What can be seen from high school research?
Finally, Ryo Imamura, who serves as the high school-university collaboration coordinator for the Admissions Department of J. F. Oberlin University and travels around the country to support high schools in their efforts to promote "inquiry" practices, gave a report on the impact that "inquiry" practices have on students' career paths.
The Admissions Department of J. F. Oberlin University is expanding its activities with the motto of "becoming useful to high school teachers and students." Currently, they have partnerships with 66 high schools nationwide, and the number of inquiries is endless.
"The results of a research study published in 2022 by Professor Yamashita Hitoshi of Osaka University, which found that 'freshmen who have experienced inquiry-based learning in high school are more likely to grow at university', have attracted attention. University learning is 'inquiry' itself, so it makes sense that inquiry in high school is closely related to growth at university. However, having been involved in various high school inquiry classes, I have the feeling that more than 4% of students still feel like they are being forced to do so," says Imamura.
It is easy to think that students cannot explore if they feel they are being forced to do something, but this is not the case. "Looking at the students I met through 'Discover!', it is not necessarily the spontaneous motivation of the students that draws out their potential, but rather it is important that students can find the seeds of exploration in the topics recommended by their teachers in the school environment, and I believe that this is the role of inquiry-based learning materials," he said.
Research shows that freshmen who have experienced inquiry-based learning in high school are more likely to grow in college
Various inquiry program teaching materials collected by the Admissions Department were lined up at the back of the venue, and a "Comparison Table of 10 Types of Inquiry Program Teaching Materials" created by J. F. Oberlin University was distributed as a reference material.
The comparison table shows that the characteristics of each educational material are summarized by type, and that the cost varies from free to paid. Some are provided by NPOs, research-specific companies, and major travel agencies, and some even include instructor dispatch, management support, and contest implementation.
On the day, study program materials were lined up and a consultation booth was set up.
As the compulsory subject requires a shift from traditional learning to inquiry-based learning, many teachers who actually work with students are still confused. The truth is that they have endless problems and worries not only about choosing teaching materials for "inquiry-based learning," but also about reaching a consensus with teachers from the same school who will be working together to learn and manage the program. Mr. Imamura, like Mr. Fujii, also spoke about the importance of dialogue within the school.
Finally, when I asked Mr. Imamura what motivates not only the teachers participating in this training, but also many other teachers, to take on the high hurdle of "inquiry" in terms of time and effort, he answered, "I think it's because they witness how their students grow and change through the time spent exploring." It seemed to me that this was the essence of education, which is "inquiry."
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has expanded the goal of "Comprehensive Inquiry Time" from "problem solving" to "discovering and solving problems." Inquiry learning is a class without correct answers, which aims to develop students who can not only notice what is visible, but also what is not, and live in an age where there are no correct answers. For this reason, it cannot be achieved overnight, and teachers are required to continue thinking in order to develop the next generation of leaders.
This joint high school-university collaboration training seminar at J. F. Oberlin University was packed with important insights from the perspective of how to connect educational continuity to student growth.
Sophia University is calling on teachers who are struggling with inquiry-based learning, and high schools that are considering high school-university collaboration or introducing "Discover!" to "feel free to contact us at any time."
Discover! Coordinator
Ryo Imamura
<Inquiries regarding this matter>
J. F. Oberlin University Admissions Department (Machida Campus Ichiryukan)
DISCOVER! Secretariat discova@obirin.ac.jp
Information Center TEL: 042-797-1583