糖心视频

Message from The Aoyama Standard Educational Institute Director

We re-examined the value of liberal arts education and developed Aoyama Gakuin University own unique "The Aoyama Standard."

While specialized learning is undoubtedly important, a broad general education is always essential. Regardless of one's field of study, it is a universal principle that one should engage with diverse subjects such as language, history, mathematics, and natural sciences to cultivate comprehensive knowledge. This comprehensive ability, cultivated in this way, influences the character development of each student and forms the foundation for enhancing their expertise.
At Aoyama Gakuin University, while we focus on specialized education in each faculty, we have also emphasized the acquisition of broad knowledge to further enrich that learning. The Aoyama Standard was established to reaffirm the significance of liberal arts education and to provide a platform for cultivating the knowledge befitting Aogaku.
The curriculum covers a wide range of subjects, including general knowledge of Christianity, humanity, society, nature, and history, as well as skills related to language, sports, information technology, and career development. Furthermore, core subjects are established to acquire a certain level of proficiency in various subjects and skills, and thematic subjects are established to explore their applied fields. Throughout the four years, students can aim for the retention and development of knowledge by taking The Aoyama Standard subjects corresponding to their year. In "Information Skills I," a course I personally helped design, students will thoroughly acquire practical skills in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) while simultaneously developing information ethics, which are essential in the information society.
The Aoyama Standard courses are offered to all students across the university, which is a key feature as it allows students to interact with each other across departmental boundaries. The diverse learning opportunities gained through this educational system will be a great support for Aogaku as they prepare to enter society.

We promote interdisciplinary learning and collaboration with others, and develop human resources who can adapt to social changes.

Through The Aoyama Standard, students can gain more than just knowledge in a wide range of fields. New perspectives brought about by learning in different fields also lead to their growth. Reexamining your major from the standpoint of other academic fields will lead to new discoveries, and it may also increase your interest in different fields and broaden your career options. In fact, there are cases where students from liberal arts faculties became interested in science fields through The Aoyama Standard, attended the Faculty of College of Science and Engineering research labs at the Sagamihara Campus to pursue their research, and aimed to study at a graduate school abroad. Also, the realizations that arise from interacting with students from other faculties are important. By interacting with various students from different backgrounds and majors, you will learn about values and ideas that you do not have, and experience the meaning and greatness of working together by making use of each individual's individuality. The Aoyama Standard plays an important role as a place to come into contact with interdisciplinary knowledge that cannot be obtained through high school experiences and to confirm the direction of your own learning and life.
Of course, direct connections between people are the foundation of education, but in order to conduct classes that go beyond the boundaries of campuses and faculties, it is extremely useful to incorporate online classes effectively. In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a system for remote classes was established all at once. In the future, by utilizing this technology, the barriers to learning that arise from limiting locations to campuses may be removed, and it may become possible to conduct a variety of classes in all situations. In terms of designing classes for the near future, we will also prepare more SDGs-related subjects. We can expect to develop a variety of classes, such as service learning to learn from contribution activities to the local community and subjects to learn about the results of research on campus related to SDGs. In addition, we will also promote university-wide education on data science and AI in preparation for Society 5.0. The Aoyama Standard Subjects will continue to develop in order to cultivate basic knowledge in all Aogaku and promote advanced initiatives in response to social conditions.

Overview of The Aoyama Standard Educational Institute

The Aoyama Standard Education Organization (hereinafter referred to as "the Organization") is a university-wide organization responsible for implementing the "The Aoyama Standard Subjects," which are the university-wide general education curriculum of Aoyama Gakuin University University. Therefore, its duties are wide-ranging, encompassing everything from the organization, operation, course development, and course evaluation of The Aoyama Standard Subjects to the examination and design of the ideal form of liberal arts education at Aoyama Gakuin University. The Organization is comprised of all faculty members belonging to Aoyama Gakuin University. Rather than a traditional system where faculty members in charge of university-wide general education subjects are primarily responsible, we believe that an ideal system is one in which faculty members from all over the university can utilize their respective expertise and experience in liberal arts education.
The subject area and course structure are completely different from the university-wide general education courses that have been offered at this Aoyama Gakuin University until now. Prior to the establishment of The Aoyama Standard, each faculty was responsible for teaching courses that were close to their area of expertise, and together with the Christian Studies Instructors' Association, the Second Foreign Language Instructors' Association, and the Health and Physical Education Instructors' Association, the university-wide general education courses were run with a course structure consisting of course groups I through VI and a second foreign language. The Aoyama Standard courses are based on nine areas: "areas related to understanding Christianity," "areas related to understanding humanity," "areas related to understanding society," "areas related to understanding nature," "areas related to understanding history," "areas related to language skills," "areas related to physical skills," "areas related to information skills," and "areas related to career skills." Each area is divided into "core courses" that all students are expected to take and "thematic courses" that are more advanced. Furthermore, we have introduced new initiatives such as "Freshers Seminars" conducted in small classes for first-year students, "Welcome Lectures" aimed at helping students understand the significance of studying at university, and "Career Design Seminars" that encourage students to think about what kind of job they should pursue after graduation from the time they enroll. These courses are operated by an organization mainly composed of faculty members who teach the courses. The members of this organization are fluid, and in order to ensure the stable maintenance and operation of the organization responsible for university-wide liberal arts education, a university-wide system of responsibility is necessary. Therefore, the university executive board bears full responsibility for The Aoyama Standard courses, which are the new liberal arts curriculum (Vice President serves as the head of the organization). In practice, considering the duties of Vice President, the practical operation of the organization is handled by two Deputy Heads of the Organization (recommended by the Head of the Organization from among full-time faculty members and appointed by President), and one of them receives authority from the Head of the Organization to execute the business and serves as the chairperson of the Organization Council, which is the highest decision-making body of the organization.
The organization has an Executive Board, centered around the Director and Deputy Director, which is responsible for establishing a system to ensure the smooth evaluation, development, and implementation of liberal arts education as a whole. Under the Executive Board, there are the "Educational Evaluation Committee" (which evaluates The Aoyama Standard subjects), the "Educational Development Center" (which develops liberal arts curriculum and subjects and makes strategic proposals), and the "Budget Committee" (which prepares the budget draft and reviews the implementation plan). The directors and chairpersons of these committees are members of the Executive Board. The "Organizational Conference" is composed of the Director, Deputy Director (Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Organizational Conference), the conveners of each area committee, the representatives of faculties and independent graduate schools (Chief Academic Affairs), President Nomination Committee, and administrative staff, and has the responsibility and authority as the organization's highest decision-making and executive body. Various decisions made at the Organizational Conference are proposed by the Director to General Manager Conference and deliberated by the faculty meetings of each faculty. The actual practical work regarding curriculum development is carried out by the "Area Committee," which is composed of the instructors for each year's course. The Area Coordinators' Committee, centered around the convener, works in cooperation with the academic affairs Chief of each faculty and independent graduate school closely related to the subjects assigned to their respective areas. They deliberate on the course content and instructors for the following academic year and submit a draft curriculum to the institutional council. The Area Coordinators' Committee also serves as a forum for submitting budget proposals and proposals regarding course development to the executive board. Furthermore, if coordination between Area Coordinators is necessary, such as for interdisciplinary courses, an "Area Liaison Meeting" is held to clarify responsibilities.
The above is an overview of the entire organizational structure.

The Aoyama Standard Educational Organization Organization Chart

The Aoyama Standard Educational Institute

The Education Evaluation Committee evaluates the implementation of standard subjects for the current year and reports the results to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors then requests the Education Development Center to prepare a draft for the course structure for the next year. Based on the evaluation results and information obtained from outside the university, the Education Development Center prepares a draft for the outline of the curriculum, including new budget items. Based on this, the Board of Directors requests the Budget Committee to prepare a draft budget for the next year.
As for the Freshers' Seminar, Welcome Lecture, and Career Design Seminar, for the time being, the Education Development Center will take the lead without setting up a meeting of those in charge, and will consider the operation of the course and future plans based on the results of the course evaluation, and create implementation plans. Currently, these are being run with the voluntary participation of full-time faculty members.
In addition, the authority to select full-time faculty members in charge of The Aoyama Standard Subjects rests with the full-time faculty councils of each faculty and independent graduate school, and the organization does not have the right to propose personnel matters. The organization has requested that the full-time faculty councils of each faculty and independent graduate school, when relevant personnel matters arise, select personnel in consultation with the organization in order to ensure the smooth implementation and enhancement of The Aoyama Standard Subjects, as well as education in the faculty or department.
The Aoyama Standard Courses and the The Aoyama Standard Education Organization, which maintains and operates them, are a new trend to enrich liberal arts education at Aoyama Gakuin University. We, the faculty and staff involved in the organization's operation, will continue to evaluate the liberal arts education system as a whole and hope to provide students with a higher quality education based on Aoyama 's educational philosophy.