X9003102 Multicultural collaborative learning methodology on regional issues

Hiroshima University Syllabus

Japanese

Academic Year 2026Year School/Graduate School The IDEC Institute

Lecture Code X9003102 Subject Classification Specialized Education

Subject Name 地域課題共修方法論

Subject Name
（Katakana）

Subject Name in
English Multicultural collaborative learning methodology on regional issues

Instructor LOU JIE

Instructor
(Katakana) ロウ　ジェ

Campus Higashi-Hiroshima Semester/Term 3rd-Year, First Semester, 2Term

Days, Periods, and Classrooms (2T) Weds7-8

Lesson Style Lecture Lesson Style
(More Details) Online (simultaneous interactive)

Credits 1.0 Class Hours/Week 2 Language of Instruction E : English

Course Level 1 : Undergraduate Introductory

Course Area（Area） 21 : Fundamental Competencies for Working Persons

Course Area（Discipline） 06 : Globalization/International cooperation studies

Eligible Students 3rd and 4th year undergraduate students

Keywords Multicultural collaborative learning, experiential and inquiry based learning, problem solving, innovation, regional problems

Special Subject for Teacher Education 　 Special Subject 　

Class Status
within Educational
Program
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
Criterion referenced
Evaluation
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)

Class Objectives
/Class Outline As a member of the local community, we university members can, and are expected to, contribute to problem solving or value creation with local stakeholders, which would lead to a smarter and sustainable community. Our university has advanced academic knowledge, diversity, global norms, and accumulated social capital to leverage problem solving in the local community. This course would be the first step for you students to tackle regional problem solving by learning experiential and inquiry based learning and structured idea creation methods.
Diversity is a key for innovation. You will develop the ability and confidence in multicultural and multidisciplinary collaborative learning through intensive practices of teamwork with students from the whole university. The acquired network through the course would become a solid foundation for your future initiative of problem solving.
This course works as an introduction to the next steps, including the course "Multicultural collaborative learning practices on regional issues" in 3T and "Town & Gown Innovation Challenge".

Class Schedule lesson1 Introduction to Experiential and Inquiry Based Learning and Idea Creation Methods
lesson2 Understanding your relevance and potential to regional problem solving
lesson3 Idea Creation Method (1): Creative combination of needs and seeds
lesson4 Idea Creation Method (2): Bias breaking
lesson5 Idea Creation Method (3): Analogical thinking
lesson6 Pilot project of multicultural collaborative learning
lesson7 Problem definition for multicultural collaborative learning
lesson8 Presentations of original multicultural collaborative learning workshops on identified regional issues (Final exam)
lesson9
lesson10
lesson11
lesson12
lesson13
lesson14
lesson15

Text/Reference
Books,etc. No specific textbook. Reference materials will be shared in a class when necessary.

PC or AV used in
Class,etc. Microsoft Teams

(More Details)

Learning techniques to be incorporated Discussions, PBL (Problem-based Learning)/ TBL (Team-based Learning), Project Learning

Suggestions on
Preparation and
Review In this course, you will work with companies to address real-world challenges. To do so, we will use design thinking as our primary problem-solving approach.

However, it is important to understand that design thinking is only a process. You will learn steps such as empathy, problem definition, idea generation, and prototyping, but these alone are not sufficient.

To effectively engage with real business challenges, a basic understanding of business is essential. This includes perspectives such as how companies create value and how they make decisions.

While key concepts will be introduced in class, time is limited. Therefore, you are encouraged to independently explore fundamental business ideas and real-world cases on a regular basis.

Requirements This course places emphasis not only on acquiring knowledge, but also on engaging with real-world society.

Students are expected not simply to learn, but to approach the course with the mindset of actively trying to solve real problems faced by companies and society.

In addition, the course offers flexible participation options. You may attend either online or in person, and you are free to choose your mode of participation for each session. You may also switch between formats depending on your schedule.

The way you engage in activities is also highly flexible. You may work in groups or individually. You are free to change group members or start collaborating with others at any point during the course. Please choose the approach that best fits your situation and each task.

This course values independent thinking and proactive engagement.

Grading Method Assessment (100%) consists of 40% for continuous participation and 60% for the final presentation.

Continuous assessment (40%) is based on incremental presentations during class. Presentations may be done individually or in groups, and it is up to each student to decide whether to work in a group.

These in-class presentations are not necessarily formal or strictly timed. Brief contributions, such as sharing an idea in a few sentences, will also be considered for evaluation.

The final presentation (60%) may also be conducted individually or in groups, with the format left to each student’s choice. The presentation length will be adjusted depending on the number of participants, but is generally expected to range from approximately 2 to 10 minutes.

As this course is conducted in English, all presentations must be delivered in English.

Practical Experience

Summary of Practical Experience and Class Contents based on it

Message This course is not designed simply to learn abstract knowledge.
It emphasizes learning by doing through a process that starts from real-world problems, and involves research, critical thinking, and proposal development.

The overall program consists of two main components: methodology and practice.

This course focuses primarily on the methodology component. As one approach to problem-solving, it introduces design thinking, covering key processes such as empathy, problem definition, ideation, and prototyping. However, this is only one way of thinking, and in real-world problem-solving, it is not always necessary to strictly follow this framework. What matters most is the ability to think flexibly according to the situation.

The practice component is covered in a separate course, “Regional Collaborative Project Practice.” In that course, students work directly with companies and engage with real challenges faced by them. Through research and analysis, students are expected to develop and present practical proposals.

By combining these two components, the program aims to create a learning experience that moves back and forth between theory and practice. Through this process, students will gain a deeper, experience-based understanding of how problems are identified and how decisions are made in society and in business.

The goal of this course is to help students move beyond a purely academic perspective and develop the ability to think from the standpoint of society and organizations. It also aims to strengthen students’ ability to present ideas in a realistic and persuasive manner, which will be valuable for future careers and professional practice.

Other

Please fill in the class improvement questionnaire which is carried out on all classes.
Instructors will reflect on your feedback and utilize the information for improving their teaching.

Academic Year	2026Year	School/Graduate School	The IDEC Institute
Lecture Code	X9003102	Subject Classification	Specialized Education
Subject Name	地域課題共修方法論
Subject Name （Katakana）
Subject Name in English	Multicultural collaborative learning methodology on regional issues
Instructor	LOU JIE
Instructor (Katakana)	ロウ　ジェ
Campus	Higashi-Hiroshima	Semester/Term	3rd-Year, First Semester, 2Term
Days, Periods, and Classrooms	(2T) Weds7-8
Lesson Style	Lecture	Lesson Style (More Details)	Online (simultaneous interactive)

Credits	1.0	Class Hours/Week	2	Language of Instruction	E : English
Course Level	1 : Undergraduate Introductory
Course Area（Area）	21 : Fundamental Competencies for Working Persons
Course Area（Discipline）	06 : Globalization/International cooperation studies
Eligible Students	3rd and 4th year undergraduate students
Keywords	Multicultural collaborative learning, experiential and inquiry based learning, problem solving, innovation, regional problems
Special Subject for Teacher Education		Special Subject
Class Status within Educational Program (Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
Criterion referenced Evaluation (Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
Class Objectives /Class Outline	As a member of the local community, we university members can, and are expected to, contribute to problem solving or value creation with local stakeholders, which would lead to a smarter and sustainable community. Our university has advanced academic knowledge, diversity, global norms, and accumulated social capital to leverage problem solving in the local community. This course would be the first step for you students to tackle regional problem solving by learning experiential and inquiry based learning and structured idea creation methods. Diversity is a key for innovation. You will develop the ability and confidence in multicultural and multidisciplinary collaborative learning through intensive practices of teamwork with students from the whole university. The acquired network through the course would become a solid foundation for your future initiative of problem solving. This course works as an introduction to the next steps, including the course "Multicultural collaborative learning practices on regional issues" in 3T and "Town & Gown Innovation Challenge".
Class Schedule	lesson1 Introduction to Experiential and Inquiry Based Learning and Idea Creation Methods lesson2 Understanding your relevance and potential to regional problem solving lesson3 Idea Creation Method (1): Creative combination of needs and seeds lesson4 Idea Creation Method (2): Bias breaking lesson5 Idea Creation Method (3): Analogical thinking lesson6 Pilot project of multicultural collaborative learning lesson7 Problem definition for multicultural collaborative learning lesson8 Presentations of original multicultural collaborative learning workshops on identified regional issues (Final exam) lesson9 lesson10 lesson11 lesson12 lesson13 lesson14 lesson15
Text/Reference Books,etc.	No specific textbook. Reference materials will be shared in a class when necessary.
PC or AV used in Class,etc.	Microsoft Teams
(More Details)
Learning techniques to be incorporated	Discussions, PBL (Problem-based Learning)/ TBL (Team-based Learning), Project Learning
Suggestions on Preparation and Review	In this course, you will work with companies to address real-world challenges. To do so, we will use design thinking as our primary problem-solving approach. However, it is important to understand that design thinking is only a process. You will learn steps such as empathy, problem definition, idea generation, and prototyping, but these alone are not sufficient. To effectively engage with real business challenges, a basic understanding of business is essential. This includes perspectives such as how companies create value and how they make decisions. While key concepts will be introduced in class, time is limited. Therefore, you are encouraged to independently explore fundamental business ideas and real-world cases on a regular basis.
Requirements	This course places emphasis not only on acquiring knowledge, but also on engaging with real-world society. Students are expected not simply to learn, but to approach the course with the mindset of actively trying to solve real problems faced by companies and society. In addition, the course offers flexible participation options. You may attend either online or in person, and you are free to choose your mode of participation for each session. You may also switch between formats depending on your schedule. The way you engage in activities is also highly flexible. You may work in groups or individually. You are free to change group members or start collaborating with others at any point during the course. Please choose the approach that best fits your situation and each task. This course values independent thinking and proactive engagement.
Grading Method	Assessment (100%) consists of 40% for continuous participation and 60% for the final presentation. Continuous assessment (40%) is based on incremental presentations during class. Presentations may be done individually or in groups, and it is up to each student to decide whether to work in a group. These in-class presentations are not necessarily formal or strictly timed. Brief contributions, such as sharing an idea in a few sentences, will also be considered for evaluation. The final presentation (60%) may also be conducted individually or in groups, with the format left to each student’s choice. The presentation length will be adjusted depending on the number of participants, but is generally expected to range from approximately 2 to 10 minutes. As this course is conducted in English, all presentations must be delivered in English.
Practical Experience
Summary of Practical Experience and Class Contents based on it
Message	This course is not designed simply to learn abstract knowledge. It emphasizes learning by doing through a process that starts from real-world problems, and involves research, critical thinking, and proposal development. The overall program consists of two main components: methodology and practice. This course focuses primarily on the methodology component. As one approach to problem-solving, it introduces design thinking, covering key processes such as empathy, problem definition, ideation, and prototyping. However, this is only one way of thinking, and in real-world problem-solving, it is not always necessary to strictly follow this framework. What matters most is the ability to think flexibly according to the situation. The practice component is covered in a separate course, “Regional Collaborative Project Practice.” In that course, students work directly with companies and engage with real challenges faced by them. Through research and analysis, students are expected to develop and present practical proposals. By combining these two components, the program aims to create a learning experience that moves back and forth between theory and practice. Through this process, students will gain a deeper, experience-based understanding of how problems are identified and how decisions are made in society and in business. The goal of this course is to help students move beyond a purely academic perspective and develop the ability to think from the standpoint of society and organizations. It also aims to strengthen students’ ability to present ideas in a realistic and persuasive manner, which will be valuable for future careers and professional practice.
Other
Please fill in the class improvement questionnaire which is carried out on all classes. Instructors will reflect on your feedback and utilize the information for improving their teaching.

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