Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/65047

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/J.HighEdu.24.145

Student participation in the management and operation of university open lectures offers a promising approach to revitalize such lecture programs through intergenerational learning as well as providing students with valuable learning opportunities in terms of communication skills and other relevant academic competencies. As part of the Freshmen Seminar course on “Basic Skills for Oral Communication” in the liberal arts program at Hokkaido University, the author trialed a practical training module in which the participating freshmen prepared and delivered short presentations to introduce each of the eight lecturers comprising the University-wide Open Lectures 2016 in front of a general audience. The presentations received favorable feedback from the open lecture participants, and the observations by the author himself and the students’ course evaluation questionnaires indicated that students showed significant improvement in their academic oral communication and collaborative learning skills. Further refinement of the course design is necessary in order to improve the students’ presentations in the open lectures and encourage them to make the most of this practical training to enhance their competencies.