JAIST Repository: Criteria for Doctoral Degree Qualification: A preliminary report

Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

JAIST Repository

https://dspace.jaist.ac.jp/

Title Criteria for Doctoral Degree Qualification: A preliminary report

Author(s) VESTERGAARD, Mun'delanji C.

Citation CGEIアニュアルレポート 2010: 53-58

Issue Date 2011-07

Type Research Paper

Text version publisher

URL http://hdl.handle.net/10119/10550

Rights

Description

Ⅱ．活動報告 / Center Activities, (７) 海外におけ る博士学位修了基準調査 / Survey of Criteria for Doctoral Requirement

Ѹ  Ѹ

くReport>

Criteria for Doctoral Degree Qualification:

A

preliminary report

Mun'delanji C. VESTERGAARD (Research Associate Professor

，

Center for Graduate Education Initiative)

博 士 課 程 の 認 定 基 準 : 予 備 的 報 告

フ ェ ス タ ー ガ ー ド ・ キ ャ サ リ ン ・ ム ン デ ラ ン ジ ( 大 学 院 教 育 イ ニ シ ア テ ィ ブ セ ン タ ー 特 任 准 教 授 ) Japanese Abstract : 大 学 院 教 育 イ ニ シ ア テ ィ ブ セ ン タ ー で は ， 優 秀 な 学 生 の 育 成 の た め に ， 方 法 論 ， 研 究 の 教 育 ， 教 育 の 評 価 基 準 を 改 善 し て い く こ と を 目 標 と し て い る 。 我 々 は 客 観 的 ， 透 明 性 が 高 く ， 質 保 証 さ れ た 博 士 の 学 位 授 与 の 基 準 の 開 発 に 向 け て 科 学 的 な ア プ ロ ー チ を 採 っ て い る 。 我 々 は 質 問 紙 調 査 ， ワ ェ ブ 調 査 ， そ し て イ ン タ ビ ュ ー を 通 し て 園 内 外 の 大 学 院 か ら 情 報 を 収 集 し て い る 。 そ の 後 に ， こ れ ら の デ ー タ に 基 づ き 分 析 を し ， そ の 結 呆 基 準 を 作 成 す る 。 本 稿 に お い て ， こ れまでに得られた我々の知見を紹介する。 日 本 語 訳 : 鍋 田 智 広 ( 大 学 院 教 育 イ ニ シ ア テ ィ ブ セ ン タ ー 特 任 助 教 )

[Key Words: Quality assurance， Doctoral degree， Qualification criteria， Scientific'based approach]

Abstract

At the Centre for Graduate Education Initiative (CG EI) our goals include improvement of methodologies， research instructions， and assessment criteria for graduate education in order to cultivate students of high caliher. Towards the later

，

we are conducting a scientific'based approach to develop a criterion for doctoral qualification tha七isobjective

，

transparent

and quality-assured. We are gathering relevant information from both do血esticand overseas

graduate institutions through questionnaire surveys

，

web-based research

，

and personal communication. After

，

we wil1 carryout analyses based on having collected sufficient information

，

and develop the criterion accordingly. Here in

，

we present our preliminary findings.

1 Introduction

Rigorous pursuit of quality assurance in graduate education for both master's and doctorate degree programs is crucial in fostering competitive human resources. Since its establishment

，

Ѹ  Ѹ

At the Center for Graduate Education Initiative， we are working for continual development and implementation of graduate education based on the experience of JAIST. Towards this end，

among many activities

，

we are establishing methodologies and research instructions for graduate education that aid in cultivating students of high caliber. Of additional importance to our work

，

is the assessment criteria used for qualifying the students. We aim to develop an objective and transparent quality-assured assessment system.

Recognition of the importance of obtaining such information is reflected in the amount of effort being invested in Europe and other countries. For example

，

the EAU and the Coimbra Group 's Task Force for Doctoral Studies and Research are conducting a mapping of doctoral education in Europe. Thirty-seven long-established

，

multidisciplinary European universities constitute the Coimbra Group. With globalization of education where national and cultural borders are becoming less relevant

，

and student as well as faculty mobility has increased greatly

，

there is a need to embrace this inevitable change [1]. There is increased realization that education and creativity are more important than natural resources

，

and corporations/employers have themselves become globalised [2]. Employers expect faculty/graduates to have the ability to work in a flattened world [3]. One of the ways to further promote cross national and cultural border movement is by creating a unified criteria for assessing students. This would allow easy transferability of credit/qualification

，

and also employment. Educators will need to (i) be 'educated' to current credit/qualification systems around the globe

，

(ii) be creative in their research in order to engage in research issues that are global in global nature

，

and (iii) to collaborate actively at an international scale. The Bologna process in Europe is making mobility and cross-cultural experience possible

，

at a European-wide scale [4]

In order to develop a quality-assured criteria for doctoral degree qualification in JAIST

，

we are taking a scientific-based approach. We are gathering relevant information from both domestic and overseas graduate institutions through questionnaire surveys

，

web-based research

，

and personal communication. After

，

we will carryout analyses based on having collected sufficient information

，

and develop the criterion according

2 Methodology

Our initial efforts utilized questionnaire surveys

，

as well as personal communication and interviews. So far

，

we have collected questionnaire surveys from 63 overseas institutions in 18 countries. We designed the survey to provide the most basic of infor血 ationand fit on one A4 size

page

，

in order not to discourage people from responding. Because of the means by which we collected the questionnaire data

，

we have had so皿eduplication. The duplicate data will be

interesting to examine closely in its own right. In some of the duplications

，

the respondents provided different responses. This may be due to differences in the qualification criteria used in different fields. We have since adapted our questionnaire surveys to allow inclusion of ‘field or discipline' so that respondents can be血ore specific. In addition

，

we will start web-based

research. The web-based research will go deeper and analyze issues that the questionnaire survey (A4) could not capture

Ѹ  Ѹ

Re.alt

・

3

Figure 1 shows the number of institutions in a given country

，

where we have collected data. Since most of the data was from pcrsona1communication

，

and qucstionnaircs distributcd at acadcmic and education confcrcnces

，

thc countrics may四flcctwherc most of our currcnt contacts are. Wc

necd to obtain information from African

，

Arabic

，

and South Am町 icainstitutions. Therc is also

necd to obtain more from Southcrn Europe

，

and Asian institutions. 10

9

8

7

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Figure 1.Countries

，

and number of institutions surveyed per given country

One of出cfundamcntal illues wc wantcd to undcrstand was what typc of doctoral cducation programmc(吋 ispursucd. In JAIST

，

wc havc rcscarch activitics

，

but also placc importancc on teaching of s阻dent渇 Accordingto our classification in the questionnaire survey

，

JAIST's programme

i. research and taught bued (both). This is different from the tradition graduate education町stemin

traditiooal th

，

our clBSsificBtion

，

According to

。

n rcscarch conccntratc mBinly which JBpBn

，

Japancsc graduatc cduc

・

t四nsystcm is m

・

inlyrcscarch-bascd. Figurc 2 shows thc typc of doctoral

education programme conducted in overseas institutions. Interestingly

，

a surprisingly large number

。

fin.titutions follow a臥milarsy.tem to JAIST. Thil may indeed be the cas:e.Itmay also be that the

both .nd rcscarch-bascd

，

msinly bctwccn distinctioo 'clcBr' 且 Bllow not did qucstionnairc

rcscarch-bascd and taught. For cxamplc， what arc thc numbcr of courscs or crcdits a studcnt is supposcd to succcssfully complctc (in addit叩 nto a rcscarch-bascd thcsis) bcforc shc/hc is aUowcd to

graduate1 Some of the institutions have one 印刷ect

，

while othen have four .ubjectl. Do both fall undcr thc&amc doctoral programmc classification or oot1 Thcsc issucl may bccomc clcBrcr oncc wc

Ѹ  Ѹ

• Mainly research

based

・

Mainlytaught-based

80th

Figure 2. Type of graduate (doctoral) education programme conducted in 62 institutions located in 17 different countries

We also四 rveyed final exami盟 国ion(s) that doctoral students take before qualification. In an

overwhelming number of institutions (75弘)， students have to take oral exams. In - 5目 。fthe institutions

，

students have to take both oral and written exams (Fig. 3). Those that take oral exams do so as an open or closed session. There is a slightly higher percentage of open doctoral defences than closed ones (Fig. 3 inset)_ 50 47 10 40 30

，

u 6

。

ral

b

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f

J

全

m

h

J

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• No.ofInstitutions

Figure 3. Method for examining the final doctoraI degree_ The data was collected fro皿

62 institutions located in 17 different countries. The oral examination is carried out either as an open or a closcd scssion (insct)

Ѹ  Ѹ

4 Concluding Remarks

Our initial efforts show a diversity in the doctoral education programs carried out in institutions around the world. The resu1ts also show that most institutions conduct the final doctoral examination orally. We have noted a variety of other requirements that students must attain before qualifying for a doctorate. These include English qualifications， and a variety of interim exams. Our continual effort wil¥now include web-based research. We hope that some of the issues that could not be obtained using questionnaire surveys

，

for example

，

the difference in qualification criteria depending on discipline_ wil¥be better understood using web-based research

，

personal communication

，

and perhaps a fine-tuned follow-up questionnaire survey. After the research and subsequent analyses， we will propose an evidence-based criteria for doctoral degree qualification for JAIST. Our proposal wil¥also reflect

，

in addition

，

on-going efforts around the world. These activities include the mapping of doctoral degree programmes in Europe and USA

，

and the credit transfer systems in Europe and other regions. Our aim is to lead the way forward in advancing graduate education

，

globally.

The activities that we undertake at CGEI

，

specific to establishing a quality-assured criteria for doctoral degree qualification at JAIST

，

also hold the potential to contribute at a global level. We hope to have the findings reported in an international journal or at an international conference.

5 Acknowledgements

1 gratefully acknowledge CGEI Research Assistant Professor Tomohiro Nabeta for his valuable comments during formulation of the questionnaire survey

，

and Unit Leaders and research staff at CGEI for distributing and collecting the questionnaires during their business trips.

6 References

[1] C.M. Vestergaard (Jan

，

2011). A summary report of an address

“

Envisioning graduate education in the 21" century: from perspective of globalization

，

information

，

and openness" by Toru Iiyoshi

，

in Centre for Graduate Education Newsletter

，

No. 2.

[2] L. Armstrong (July

，

2006)

“

Changing Higher Education: Globalization and Higher Education" (!!ttn・//www.chan..in..hil.hereducation.comI2006/07/..lobalizationa.html】

[3] T.L.Freidman (2005)

“

The World Is Flat: A BriefHistory ofthe Twenty-first Century". Farrar

，

Straus and Giroux

，

NY.

[4]

“

Placing Bologna into Context" (Oct

，

2010)

，

a report on the Bologna-Ireland conference. Conference Proceedings.

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