Quality Assurance and Global Competency of Japanese Master's Program Education in the Era of Change

2005年中央教育委员会题为“新时代的研究生教育”的报告建议，硕士课程不仅要培养研究人员、高技能专业人员和大学教授，而且要培养能够在各个领域支持知识型社会的智力人力资源。它还鼓励澄清预期结果和重新考虑方案结构。本研究项目包括对日本684个科学和技术硕士项目的教师进行调查。调查询问他们是否认为他们的主要目标是培养研究人员还是培养专业工程师。调查显示，日本在科学技术领域的硕士课程教育主要侧重于培养研究人员。此外，调查证明，教授指导下的研究生实验工作比课堂教育（课程作业）更受重视。这一研究项目表明，实验室工作是保持科学技术领域质量保证的必然选择。除了上述调查外，还与欧洲的几所技术大学进行了比较，这些大学由于《博洛尼亚宣言》而处于教育制度的革命性变化之中。该研究项目还调查了护理领域的高技能专业人员是如何接受教育的。在此背景下，本项目以国立护理学院为例，从培养临床专科护士的角度对其硕士项目进行了考察。

2005 Report of the Central Council for Education entitled "Graduate Education in the New Era" recommends that master's courses develop not only researchers, high-skill professionals and university professors but intellectual human resources that are able to support the knowledge-based society in various fields. It also encourages clarification of the expected outcome and reconsideration of program structure. This research project includes a survey of faculty members in 684 master's programs in science and technology in Japan. The survey asked them whether they thought their main goal was training of researchers or developing professional engineers. The survey shows that Japanese master's program education in the field of science and technology places primary emphasis on training researchers. In addition, the survey proves that the professor-guided laboratory work of graduate students is more highly evaluated than classroom education (course works). This research project suggests that laboratory work is inevitable to maintain the quality assurance in the field of science and technology.Along with the above-mentioned survey the comparison was made with several technical universities in Europe which are in the midst of revolutionary changes in the educational systems as a result of the Bologna Declaration.The research project also investigates how high-skill professionals are being educated in the field of nursing. In this context the project has taken National Nursing College for instance and examined its master's program from the viewpoint of training clinical nurse specialists.