Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/65043

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/J.HighEdu.24.117

The course “Introduction to Environmental Science” was designed and held during the academic year 2015-2016 for new masterʼs course students at the Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University. The course was designed in accord with societal needs such as consensus building for environmental conservation and associated scientific evidence, bringing together a large number of students from various disciplines. The course was composed of six modules in which multiple professors in charge of the modules conducted comprehensive lectures about environmental science. The professor in charge was able to ensure the overall cohesion of the course, i.e. the contents of each lecture and the themes of team discussion and short reports, by negotiating with the professor in charge of each module and the contents of each lecture. In academic year 2016, 127 graduate students attended this course. In conjunction with 13 Teaching Assistants (TAs), they were divided across 25 teams and then engaged in team learning. TAs provided learning support such as external third-party advice and input to team discussions and worked to build trust with students. However, in some groups it proved difficult for the TAs to grade the studentsʼ team discussions due to the psychological distance between the students and the TA. For many of the TAʼs who lacked experience in team learning, engagement in the course proved a valuable learning experience. The answers to a questionnaire suggested that participants acquired valuable experience in team discussions and developed increased motivation to study specific topics in the environmental sciences. How to link this lecture with others in the Graduate School of Environmental Science is a future issue.