Course title
バイオマスエネルギー論   [Introduction to Bioenergy]
Course category general education courses  Requirement   Credit 1 
Department   Year 2  Semester YearLong 
Course type YearLong  Course code 01el2006d
Instructor(s)
山下 恵   [YAMASHITA Megumi]
Facility affiliation Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering Office   Email address

Course description
This course aims to develop advanced reading skills of second-year students, enabling them to read complex but logically written English texts about topics like science and technology, global news, culture and society, and so on. Building on the skills and knowledge of English composition acquired in the Essay Writing course, students learn the logical connection between paragraphs, how to compare multiple points of view in the text, and how references and quotations are used.
Students are streamed according to their levels of English proficiency.
The evaluation includes each student’s TOEFL ITP test score, as converted to 20 percent of their final grade. All students must take the TOEFL ITP test on the second Saturday of December.
Expected Learning
1) Students should learn to share their knowledge and discuss actively with peers in group work.
2) Students should learn to read English texts for comprehension and critical analysis, comparing multiple points of view as described in the texts.
3) Students should learn how to derive information they need from the text and how to summarize the main points.
4) Students should learn how references and quotations are used.
5) Students should learn how to do free voluntary reading outside of class.

Competency Development: Intercultural Understanding, Global Awareness, Communication Skills, Reading Comprehension Skills
Course schedule
In this course, students will read several scientific news articles from Nature.
Through this practice, students will learn how to comprehend the general meaning of an article, as well as develop skills needed to read each sentence and paragraph precisely and deeply.
This class uses news articles as latest as possible, so the class schedule shown below is to be changed.

Class 1: Introduction
Class 2: Has COVID taught us anything about pandemic preparedness? (1)
Class 3: Has COVID taught us anything about pandemic preparedness? (2)
Class 4: Has COVID taught us anything about pandemic preparedness? (3)
Class 5: Has COVID taught us anything about pandemic preparedness? (4)
Class 6: Summary and test on the whole article (1)
Class 7: Microplastics are everywhere ― but are they harmful? (1)
Class 8: Microplastics are everywhere ― but are they harmful? (2)
Class 9: Microplastics are everywhere ― but are they harmful? (3)
Class 10: Microplastics are everywhere ― but are they harmful? (4)
Class 11: Summary and test on the whole article (2)
Class 12: The secret forces that squeeze and pull life into shape (1)
Class 13: The secret forces that squeeze and pull life into shape (2)
Class 14: The secret forces that squeeze and pull life into shape (3)
Class 15: Summary and test on the whole article (3)
Prerequisites
This course is required for graduation.
Students should make adequate preparations before each class spending the standard amount of time as specified by the university to achieve the credit as well as 30 hours of class attendance.
Students must attend at least two-thirds of all classes to get credit. If a student does not fully attend the class (i.e. is present for less than the full 90 minutes) on two occasions, it should be counted as one absence.
Required Text(s) and Materials
Course materials are distributed in class.
References
Assessment/Grading
Class participation (20%): Participation to class discussion or group work are evaluated.
Tasks given in class (60%): Students’ degrees of critical reading and comprehension of the main points of a passage, abilities for comparison of multiple points of view, skimming and scanning, understanding of references and quotations, and free voluntary reading activities outside of class are evaluated through quizzes and tests, homework, reports, and a final examination.
TOEFL ITP Score (20 %)
Message from instructor(s)
Course keywords
Office hours
Contact me by email.
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Lecture Language
Japanese
Language Subject
English
Last update
3/7/2023 4:27:59 PM