Japanese Graduate Students’ Experiences in Online International Development and Peace Through Sport Courses Using English-Medium Instruction During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate five Japanese graduate (master's level) students’ experiences in online courses in international development and peace through sport that used English as the medium of instruction. The study was situated in the framework of andragogy theory and used a descriptive-qualitative design using an in-depth, semistructured interview approach using online oral and written interviews. Three emergent themes were established. These recurrent themes were (a) learning online specialized content using English as a second language, (b) students’ struggles in group projects through online education, and (c) students’ opinions about the improvement of online education. To better support Japanese graduate students’ online learning, this study encourages academic departments, administrators, and faculty to better design appropriate courses and online activities. This will contribute to a greater appreciation for the richness of sports development and peace and to increasing the availability of meaningful academic and social experiences for graduate students at Japanese universities.

Japanese Professors’ Experiences in Teaching Sport for Development in Online English-Medium Courses

“…Recently, scholars in sport and physical education have used andragogy theory to study graduate students’ experiences (Sato et al, 2017a) and engagement (Sato & Haegele, 2017) in online courses as well as online course materials and content (Sato et al, 2017b) and graduate professional development (Sato & Haegele, 2018). More recently, andragogy theory has been used to investigate graduate students’ experiences in online SFD courses in an EMP (Oishi et al, 2022). In summary, the results of these studies demonstrated that graduate students believed that the online courses helped them store and access online reading materials and assessment tools that solved academic and social issues and concerns.…”

“…For example, students may have more difficulty participating orally and students may be less engaged in lessons (Querol-Julián, 2023). Oishi et al (2022) found that students in online EMP courses felt anxious and had difficulty maintaining eye contact with others and struggled completing group projects. However, online courses also offer a number of advantages and opportunities; for example, Soruç et al (2018) found that audio recording lectures was an important strategy for graduate students in online courses because virtual learning contexts can support students’ listening comprehension by allowing graduate students to replay the lecture as many times as needed.…”

“…However, online courses also offer a number of advantages and opportunities; for example, Soruç et al (2018) found that audio recording lectures was an important strategy for graduate students in online courses because virtual learning contexts can support students’ listening comprehension by allowing graduate students to replay the lecture as many times as needed. Oishi et al (2022) explain that instructors should create online learning environments where interdependence and inter-influence facilitate graduate students’ engagement with issues and collaboration with classmates, and Querol-Julián (2023) suggests that instructors can improve interaction in online EMP classes by using features of emotional intelligence, such as being attentive to students’ responses, using their names, and allowing them more time to respond.…”