6. Developing the Infrastructure to Support the Visualization of Learning and Growth

As opportunities in learning and student life become increasingly diverse, it is becoming more and more important for undergraduate and graduate students to reflect on their own experiences and reevaluate their significance. Every student’s university experience is unique, encompassing regular classes, extracurricular activities, study abroad, international exchange, community and social engagement, research, and career development initiatives. However, viewing such experiences not merely as a list of activities but as a process of personal growth, and using them to inform future learning and actions, requires a common framework for visualizing learning and growth.

In accordance with this perspective, in 2023, Ritsumeikan Academy established a competency framework to help elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, discover their own value through a process of self-reflection and self-directed learning. By conceptualizing various forms of growth through core competencies and eight specific competencies, and by visualizing the learner’s educational journey, this framework aims to promote self-reflection and self-directed learning. Ritsumeikan University, APU, and our affiliated schools are collaborating to advance these initiatives across the academy as a whole.

This framework serves as a guide for undergraduate and graduate students to articulate their learning and experiences, and to view their academic studies, extracurricular activities, international experiences, research activities, and career choices as interconnected. The academic reforms, student support, career development support, participation in research activities, and globalization initiatives described in Chapter 3 also lead to greater growth as undergraduate and graduate students themselves reflect on their experiences and take on the next challenge.

This foundation will also serve as a basis for considering students’ life planning, career development, digital transformation in education and research, and learning support in the latter half of R2030.

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