| 内容 |
According to the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competence (PIAAC) conducted by OECD (2012), Japan ranked top in the academic ability survey. Yet the same survey showed that intellectual curiosity is much lower than other counties. Other studies show that Japanese youth read little to no books. In addition, a survey found that curiosity among Japanese in their 20s is at the same level as Northern Europeans in their 60s. This study assumes that there is connection between reading habits and intellectual curiosity and surveys the importance of reading and the correlation between reading and intellectual curiosity. In addition, it draws from interview conducted among 6 Doshisha University students who studied abroad and 4 international students currently studying in Japan. As a result of the interview, differences were found in the scale of intellectual curiosity of foreign students and Japanese, and the amount of reading. Also, I found that the amount of reading during compulsory education affected the current reading amount. While it cannot be said that intellectual curiosity and reading habits are mutually related, this study shows that students with high intellectual curiosity read books often, and thus, suggests that intellectual curiosity is affected by reading habits. |
| 講評 |
Congratulations to the Stevenson Seminar members of the graduating class of 2019! This year’s graduation theses covered a broad range of “globalization, education and culture” issues, spanning topics of ethics in curricula, environmental awareness, fashion, sustainability, concepts of beauty, shutaisei, overseas study, and adventure. Methodologies were nearly as diverse, including the use of text (primary and secondary), qualitative interviews, questionnaires, and field observations. Befitting a university and department that value the moral dimensions of education, nearly all of the theses share an explicit or implicit focus on conscious. In addition, each paper includes an original component, demonstrating the students’ ability to work with new topics or take a new approach to a familiar theme. Also, apart from the normal challenges of researching and writing, each student used at least a few non-Japanese-language sources, and all students wrote their papers in English, evidencing both language ability and tremendous effort. The end result is a collection of papers that have contributed to the growth of the students in terms of both technical skill and intellectual development, and of which the seminar should be proud. |
