Curriculum policy

The Graduate School of Science and Technology aims to develop human resources in research and development who are not restricted to a narrow field of specialization by integrating the fields of science, such as applied chemistry, materials science, biology and environmental science, and engineering, such as electronics, mechatronics, information and communication engineering, software engineering, and service science, into a single department of science and technology. 
In the Mater’s Program, students therefore have to take exchange experiment subjects, in which they participate in experiments in fields they did not specialize in at the undergraduate level, and interdisciplinary subjects related to product development and intellectual property rights to study their specialized subjects in depth. The aim is to cultivate insight and expertise that will enable students to play an active role in the ever-changing and rapidly developing industrial society, as well as in social activities, including in local communities.
In the Doctoral Program, under the guidance of the faculty member in charge, students practice research and development activities centered on experiments and analysis, and present the results in papers and at academic conferences, with the goal of solidifying their foundation as researchers.

At Chitose University of Science and Technology, students are selected as a single group that is not divided by department at the time of admission, and take subjects common to all departments in the first year to acquire a basic foundation in science and engineering.
Students move to different departments in the second year, when they start majoring in specialized education subjects. To achieve the goals stated in the diploma policy, each department systematically organizes subjects common to all departments and specialized subjects, and education is conducted through an appropriate combination of lectures, experiments, and practical training.
For specialized subjects, each department establishes a plan of study that allows students to focus on a specific area or to integrate several areas of study.
A curriculum map is created to show the structure and other details of the curriculum clearly in an easy-to-understand manner.
The results of four years’ study culminate in the graduation research, through which students acquire the necessary skills required by society in line with the diploma policy.

Basic knowledge about science and engineering
Subjects common to all departments involve the basic knowledge necessary to study science and engineering and include mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and information science, subjects that develop scientific and engineering thinking, and those that connect to specialized education.
Specialized education subjects include lectures and experimental practical training that develop students’ understanding as well as the ability to utilize the knowledge in each field.

Language literacy
In all areas of natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences, students learn to appropriately express and communicate the results of their studies to others through reports and presentation assignments.
Through subjects common to different departments, language education centered on English as well as specialized subjects, students are honed in the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as they cultivate the ability to use language to express ideas. Elective English subjects are also offered from the second to the fourth years to develop more advanced language skills.

Fundamental skills needed for science and engineering
Experiments and practical training in basic measurements, electrical and electronic circuits, and programming are included in compulsory subjects in all departments to provide basic skills for engineers who can play an active role in a wide range of science and engineering fields.

The class format requires students to be independent and autonomous in all areas of natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
In knowledge-based classes, flipped learning is actively incorporated to encourage students’ independent thinking.
In experimental and practical subjects and knowledge-utilizing lectures, students are encouraged to learn autonomously through individual problem-solving tasks in awareness of the skills required by society and the need to improve advanced skills in their own specialized fields.
Career education concretely demonstrates to students the skills required by society and the employment status of our graduates, enabling them to plan their own careers through goal-setting and reflective study with an awareness of what they will do after graduation.

Collaborative activities are incorporated into various subjects, including subjects common to different departments, career subjects, as well as experiments, practical training, and project-related subjects in each department.
Team assignments (goals) are set in class, and students divide roles among members of the team, with each student taking responsibility for their own tasks and solving their own problems.

Students are encouraged to cultivate the ability to identify issues by applying media literacy, with a focus on specialized subjects in the department. Students learn to identify issues while structuring the knowledge taught in each subject by themselves.
Classes are therefore designed to provide students with problem-solving skills that enable them to collect information on the specialized knowledge they learn in lecture subjects by using literature and the Internet (library work), compare it with data through experiments and fieldwork (fieldwork and laboratory work), and organize and integrate it (structuring knowledge).
This will enable students to identify issues in their own oriented professional studies.

Students develop problem-solving skills through their graduation research project.
Based on the experience of discovering issues in specialized subjects that cultivate the ability to identify issues using media literacy, students are guided by laboratory mentors to set issues in specialized knowledge areas and solve them using the knowledge and skills they have cultivated. This allows students to utilize skills in a wide range of science and engineering fields. At the same time, they will be able to play an active role in society by demonstrating their expertise (the culmination of a holistic education in science and engineering).
The approach toward each departmental area of specialization is as follows.

The department’s specialized education subjects from the second year on aim to develop human resources who can play an active role in a wide range of industrial fields involving materials and biological-related technologies.
To this end, students learn a wide range of knowledge, from chemistry-based material science to biology-based bioengineering, in lecture-style subjects that are then utilized in experiments and practical training subjects.
The central pillar of specialized education is to improve students’ ability to utilize knowledge and technology. In addition to experiments in the main fields of chemistry, biology, and physics, all subjects are presented in a way that students can flexibly apply basic science and engineering skills.

In the fourth year, students develop the ability to actually identify issues and devise rational approaches to solving them, by applying the knowledge and experimental techniques they have acquired through the above-mentioned curriculum to their graduation research.
Through their continuing problem-solving effort, students also develop independence, autonomy, and the ability to work in a team.

From the first year, the Department of Applied Chemistry and Bioscience systematically teaches subjects that enable students to obtain a type I junior high school teaching license (science) and a type I high school teaching license (science).

From the second year, the department’s specialized education subjects are designed to nurture individuals who can play an active role in a wide range of electronics-based technical fields.
To this end, students learn knowledge in the optoelectronics field (electrical and electronic circuits and optical science and technology), the signal processing and measurement control field (sensing and robotics), and the information and communication field (communication systems and their wide-ranging applications) through lectures, and then apply this knowledge to experiments and practical training. The mainstay of specialized education is to improve students’ ability to utilize knowledge and skills through experiments and practical training, and computer-related practical training is also provided.

Through graduation research in the fourth year, students develop the ability to actually identify issues and devise rational approaches to solving them, utilizing the knowledge and experimental techniques acquired in the curriculum described above.
Students also develop independence, autonomy, and the ability to work in a team in the process of continuing problem-solving effort.

From the first year, the Department of Opto-Electronic System Engineering systematically teaches subjects that enable students to obtain a type 1 junior high school teaching license (mathematics) and a type 1 senior high school teaching license (mathematics and information).

From the second year, the department’s specialized education subjects are intended to nurture individuals who can play an active role in the information technology field.
After acquiring hardware-related knowledge, students study network technology and other subjects in the field of applied information communication, the application of leading software technologies (artificial intelligence and IoT) to propose, develop, and construct systems in the ICT solution field, and the utilization of information based on statistical methods in the service science and engineering field. They also apply their knowledge in project-based subjects, which are the pillars of specialized education, and develop problem-solving skills while working as a team. Students also develop language literacy, such as the ability to write and give presentations in Japanese.

Through their graduation research in the fourth year, students develop the ability to independently identify issues and devise rational approaches to solving them, utilizing the knowledge and experimental techniques acquired in the above-mentioned curriculum.

To nurture teachers with expertise in the information field and ICT utilization skills, the subjects required to obtain a type I junior high school teaching license (mathematics) and a type I high school teaching license (mathematics and information) are systematically taught from the first year.

To enhance independence, autonomy, and teamwork, educational methods that incorporate active learning are implemented in subjects common to different departments and specialized education subjects.
Team activities are also encouraged in each lecture subject, so that each student learns to listen, speak, read, and write as well as give presentations.
As an educational environment utilizing ICT, e-learning materials developed on campus are used for repetitive testing and knowledge acquisition, mainly in subjects common to all departments, while such use is also actively encouraged in out-of-class studies.
Students are required to collect the results of their class activities in their personal record system according to the curriculum map, and through career subjects and advisor interviews, they are encouraged to look back on various academic achievements across subjects according to the achievement level to promote self-development.

Grading criteria are clearly stated in the syllabus for all subjects common to different departments and specialized education subjects, and are strictly followed.
The syllabus for each class clearly states the goals to be attained and the abilities to be acquired in line with the diploma policy, and both faculty and students know this. Furthermore, through evaluation questionnaires of each class, students are encouraged to reflect on their independence and autonomy, while faculty members can improve class content and methods for the next and following years.

A summary of the content of four years of study is made during the graduation research activities in the laboratory, and the department faculty makes an overall evaluation in accordance with the diploma policy.
In addition to evaluation of the students’ understanding of the research theme and their level of achievement in laboratory activities related to their graduation research, students are also evaluated on qualities required by society in line with the diploma policy, such as 
　

1. Independence and autonomy
2. Ability to work in a team
3. Ability to identify issues, and
4. Ability to utilize specialized knowledge and skills.