Abstract:

The purpose of distance learning is to solve the problems in conventional educational methods that have been pointed out so far, even for working students. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, teaching methodologies in universities have changed rapidly. In the beginning, remote learning and blended learning were not well-planned, and there were many situations where it was required for teachers to work on an emergency basis. Through these experiences, teachers have been thinking about teaching methods for blended learning and creating teaching materials at the same time. In this way, the pandemic was an opportunity to significantly change the educational system and its surrounding environment.

The percentage of adult working students in Japan is very low compared to that in other countries. A number of factors have been identified, which include a lack of understanding in the workplace and time constraints, among others.

The aim of this study is to clarify the current status of blended learning and the issues surrounding it, as well as to create an educational framework on the theme of urban planning taught by working adult graduate students, in order to clarify the current status of educational methods of remote and face-to-face learning. From the results, we propose the details of the learning methods and the development of classes for working students.

“Output” and “Outcome” are defined as follows: Output is the result of a project execution. Meanwhile, outcome is the consequence, or achievement that comes out of a project, which is influenced by the project process and output. The output of this study is a plan for teaching sustainable urban development. The outcome is the learners’ successful education and them becoming a human resource that can contribute to society.

In this study, the subjects are special students who are working adults and attended university lectures as part-time students. In addition, they work as town councilors. The learners propose a plan for including sustainable urban development as a subject in the local municipality. Out of 15 classes, 4 were held face-to-face while 11 were held online. The supplementary tool for this class is the cloud study support system.

The details of blended learning in this study are clarified from the educational influences evaluated by the teachers and the students' questionnaires. The results show that distance learning in this case led to the solution of one of the problems faced by working students. This class is about urban development and emphasizes discussion as well as the acquisition of knowledge. In this case study, there is no clear difference in the effectiveness of face-to-face and remote communication and discussion. In cases such as these, it becomes clear that it is possible to do without face-to-face learning to achieve educational objectives. There are things that can be done only in face-to-face classes and things that can be done only in remote classes. In addition, both teachers and learners become more familiar with and understand these teaching methods. Through these factors, this study clarifies the possibility of constructing class development models and learning frameworks according to each particular case.

Keywords:

Urban planning, Sightseeing, Remote learning, Face-to-face learning, Distance learning.