Modern society faces a mounting number of issues that conventional strategies cannot sufficiently address. The most important task for Tohoku University amid these circumstances is helping people become capable of creating new value as they resolutely strive to resolve these issues, and make society into one where people can achieve happiness and satisfaction, and nurture spiritual growth.
School of Engineering aims to provide education targeting the development of highly-creative people equipped with a worldview centered on natural science as well as the humanities and social sciences. To create first-class engineers and researchers who can contribute to the sustainable development of mankind as members of international society, and to build an “elite class of world leaders”, we look to provide education that gives people the skills they need to create new value: (1) basic academic skills, (2) specialized academic skills, (3) problem solving and logical thinking skills, (4) language skill (English), and (5) value creation skill.
To better achieve this goal, school of Engineering launched the “Build a Next-Generation Engineering Education System at Research Universities” project with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in fiscal 2014. This project will build an “Institute of Engineering Education” with the aim of improving engineering education functions. It will involve coordinating with engineering schools to create a systematic curriculum for engineering education at research universities, and provide education for six years of schooling — from undergraduate to graduate school — based on the first academic achievement evaluations ever used at a public university.
The Institute of Engineering Education aims to provide and improve learning places for students. In order to maintain the conversational high education framework, from basic education to professional education, and nurture the students’ ability to make good use of knowledge, we promote studies in the field of basic education and enhance the strengthening of management of teaching and learning in the engineering field. In order to enhance the skills necessary for “Creation of New Values”; i.e., (1) basic academic skills, (2) specialized academic skills, (3) problem solving/logical thinking skills, (4) language skill (English), and (5) value creation skill, we will plan and provide courses that are commonly required in our University. We also study and Implement measures for motivating students to study themselves.
On the undergraduate level, we will provide a wide range of basic courses that are commonly required in our university, such as language courses, top leader courses in collaboration with leading graduate schools and “Institute of Engineering Education special lectures”. Also, we will start the “Learning Level Certification System” which allows us to positively evaluate the abilities of each student with various indexes, thereby motivating students to improve their abilities.