All Data

As a part of development study in developing a relevant vocational course to improve student skills for meeting the industry requirement, this research aims to enhance collaborative mindset in CAD construction drawing course using the blended online learning platform. The flipped classroom strategy is employed to conduct the learning process with a project-based approach. The platform facilitates the learning process and changes the negative mindset with the positive ones, inside and outside the class. It provides a project showroom embedded on the website with comment tools for discussion, learning material, and sustainably developed tutorial video. The blended online platform is including WordPress content management system (CMS), Zoom, YouTube, Google for Education, Imgbb, WhatsApp SNS, and Efront learning management system (LMS), which combined into an integrated learning media for providing the needs of the learning methods used in the course with better benefits, accessible and easy to follow by the students. A study was conducted to discover students’ collaborative mindset improvement in two different classes, an experiment class B and a control class A. Class B consisted of 36 students use the blended online learning platform with a project-based flipped classroom strategy, and Class A use the regular learning model consists of 39 students. Data analysis was performed by descriptive analysis, paired sample t-test, and independent-sample t-test. The descriptive analysis showed collaborative mindset average scores of 70.90 in the pre-test and 73.91 in the post-test on a scale of 100 for class A. In contrast, class B collaborative mindset average scores are 70.28 and 79.93 for the pre-test and post-test, with an N-gain score of 0.3225, which means the collaborative mindset increased by 32.25% after being treated by applying the blended online learning platform for one month. The paired samples t-test analysis of the experiment class discovers a significant improvement of collaborative mindset with a highly significant correlation of 0.935 and Sig. 0.000 < 0.05 between pre-test and post-test. Moreover, the independent samples t-test revealed the two classes’ initial behaviors are equal with a tcount of 0.278 < ttable of 1.665 and the value of Sig. (2-tailed) 0.782 > 0.05 probability. In opposition, the posttest result asserts a significant difference of collaborative mindset between the experiment class and the control class with a tcount of 3.707 > ttable of 1.665 and the value of Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 < 0.05. Based on all the analysis tests, it can be concluded that the blended online learning platform with project-based flipped classroom strategy is significantly enhancing students’ collaborative mindset. Furthermore, the future work is conducting the summative evaluation and developing the platform based on further evaluation.

This paper follows on Sadamitsu (2020) of a case study on a dubbed film from Japanese into English. Focusing on Venuti's (1995) domestication and foreignization in translation, the paper analyzed the gaps in language/culture and in time between the source and the target text of the translation, and demonstrated that domesticated samples were found far more than foreignized ones in order to fill the former type of gaps. This paper goes on to more precise analyses on how the translators have dealt with the gabs between the two languages by closely looking at their domesticating strategies for English readers/audience of the film. Specifically, their coping strategies of adding/deleting information of the source text will be discussed here based on a Cognitive Linguistics perspective.

In recent years, the Japanese government has been encouraging the nationwide promotion of digital transformation initiatives. In Japan, however, many software-based ICT companies are concentrated in urban areas. In this study, we clarify how this fact affects the economic effects of digital investment made by local governments. Although this kind of analysis generally requires interregional input-output tables, only a few local governments have prepared and published them. In contrast, this study proposes a simple method that uses the intra-regional input-output tables published by all prefectures and the national input-output tables published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. As a result, it was found that in the case of local governments with insufficient ICT industrial base, a considerable amount of the economic ripple effect derived from digital investment leaks out of the region. The results also indicate that the digital investment by local governments with insufficient ICT industrial base induces the leakage of employment effects, and might lead to a declining population.

In 2020, global phenomena such as unprecedented scale forest fires, storms, melting glaciers, and dramatic declines in northern polar glaciers are very likely to be caused by climate change. By the middle of this century, it is becoming clear that it is not enough for Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions to be cut by 80％ compared to 1990 levels. In December 2015, to meet the climate targets agreed in the Paris agreement, stricter cuts from Germany are required, limiting global temperature rises to an average of 2 ℃（better 1.5 ℃） compared to pre-industrial levels. With regard to the transition of Germany’s energy systems, this paper begins with a comprehensive model of the Germany power and thermal sector in future energy systems with a major contribution to renewable energy technologies. Based on REMod-D （Renewable Energy Model - Germany）, the basic structure is summarized briefly. Then, we introduce some of the simulation results by REMod-D models by Philip et al. （2020）. The aim is to assess the energy transition and the possibility of climate-neutral systems in Germany.

Due to the COVID-19, many countries including Japan have reinforced regulations at the borders. As many international students could not enter Japan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some universities offered online education services as an alternate. On the other hand, since April 2020, many of international student livening in Japan have not been able to go back to their countries.