Japanese Educators to Exchange Science Ideas During Visit With UA Faculty

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Japanese university representatives will tour The University of Alabama Wednesday, March 1 during one of three U.S. stops in their science education idea exchange tour.

The 5-person team of scientists and administrators from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan will visit UA along with trips to MIT and Stanford.

“Our guests are interested in seeing how we run our introductory science courses, especially our laboratory courses,” said Dr. Joseph Thrasher, professor and chair of chemistry in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. Thrasher said the Japanese educators have also expressed interest in learning more about UA’s methods of developing course syllabi, educating teaching assistants, using technology, and UA’s modernization of classrooms and labs.

The information exchange between the two universities is mutually beneficial, Thrasher said. In 2005 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology selected a new program at Tohoku University as one of that country’s most important change agents and agreed to provide financial support for it in four years. The new Japanese program is an interdisciplinary science laboratory course that all science majors take. It’s designed to further motivate students academically.

Thrasher said learning from educational innovators from across the globe is one way American universities can maintain and increase their international competitiveness – a topic recently emphasized in President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address.

Dr. Masaaki Yoshifuji, an adjunct professor of chemistry at UA, is an emeritus professor of chemistry at Tohoku University and was instrumental in bringing the two universities together, Thrasher said.