Shibaura Institute of Technology, Toyosu Campus

Higher education in Japan is facing an important challenge; Japanese universities need to reform their structures and educational systems to meet global standards.

Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) has firmly maintained “learning through practice” as the philosophy in education of engineers ever since Tokyo Higher School of Industry and Commerce, the predecessor to SIT, was established in 1927. In response to the recent progress in the globalization of the economy, SIT is providing an up-to-date framework for “learning through practice” including intensive English Language programs, Project Based Learning programs under multicultural environment, along with many Hands-on subjects that has been preserved through SIT’s 88 years of history.

Thereafter, reforms of higher education have spread all over the world. That was a kind of paradigm shift from “what is taught” to “what is learned.” Most universities started to place more emphasis on the learning outcomes of their students than a design of curriculum.

Such a movement did not affect universities in Japan, since most Japanese students were enrolled in Japanese universities at that time. Now, Japanese universities are far behind the world standards as a result of sluggish response to global competition.

Recently, Japanese universities began to pay more attention to the learning outcomes of their students. Shibaura Institute of Technology is also shifting its priority to what students learned through the university program. Of course, it is not an easy task since the reformation of the staffs’, students’, and faculty’s mindset is necessary in addition to the renewal of the education and assessment systems. Furthermore, it is necessary to find new ways how to motivate the students to learn.

Nowadays, global competition brings a serious impact on the Japanese industry. For the fight in rapidly changing world markets, the industry needs talented workers who can effectively function in the globalized society.

Accordingly, universities are expected to nurture a new generation of engineers and business person able to function in global teams. SIT provides the engineering courses given in English at graduate school level through which students can get master and doctor degree. However, only presentation of courses in English is not sufficient for globalization. The students should be aware of how important is to appreciate and respect professional and cultural diversity and get motivated to go abroad for experience with other styles of life and practice. Such a motivation and possible goal will force them in mastering both foreign languages and the technical, professional subjects.

The world consists of various countries with different cultures, histories, and human races. Nobody can live isolated, for himself. Japan cannot survive as an isolated nation in the world, either. Hence international cooperation is indispensable for further growth of Japan. To compete with great power nations, Japan without rich physical resources must be creative in science and technology, which can only be achieved by fostering talented young people having global perspectives and view.

The mission of SIT is to foster engineers and scientists who can learn from the world and can contribute to the global sustainability. To accomplish this goal, whole university has to be globalized, has to provide opportunities for students to interact with the world and motivate them to do it. Let’s get started and take a new step forward. The sky is our limit.

The initiative for educational reforms are supported by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and implemented in collaboration with other technical universities both in Japan and other countries, Japanese industries, and local communities in Tokyo and Saitama where our campuses are located.

SIT now aims to foster scientists and engineers who can contribute to the sustainable growth of the world by exposing our students to culturally diverse environments where they learn to cope with, collaborate with, and have ever-lasting friendships with fellow students from around the world.