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particular subject, u being the number of units of the subject, and n being the number of subjects in the
semester.
(1)
GPA
n
∑
i=
1
= n
∑
u g
i=
1
i
u
i
i
According to equation 2, the number of grade points (GP) per subject ranges from 4 (> 80%) to 0 (< 40%).
(2)
⎧4
⎪
⎪
3
GP = ⎨2
⎪1
⎪
⎪⎩
0
, if
, if
, if
, if
, if
performance
=
performance
performance
performance
performance
=
=
=
=
[ 80%,
100%]
[ 70%,
80%)
[ 60%,
70%)
[ 40%,
60%)
[ 0%,
40%)
The intention of this measure is that the maximum number (nmax) of units for which a student can register is
controlled by the GPA of the previous semester as shown in equation (3).
⎧25
, if GPA ≥ 3.
0
⎪
(3) n max = ⎨21
, if 1.
0 < GPA < 3.
0
⎪
⎩12
, if GPA ≤ 1.
0
The regulation demonstrated by equation 3 is a result of the experience with students who are not able to selfestimate
their capacity. In the trade-off between a high learning quality, indicated by a high GPA, and a high learning
quantity, indicated by a high number of units, some students tend to promote the latter at the expense of the former.
Obviously, this is not only a typically Japanese phenomenon, but is also apparent in German universities, judging
from the experience of the German author, who reports of students who tend to just pass examinations but do not
care about the learning quality.
This extrinsic motivation for examination results usually reveals itself when students feel that they will not
necessarily need the subject’s topical content in their future career. Therefore, the DLNR contributes to avoiding this
phenomenon by either making students open to recognizing the potential future need of the subject’s content or
encouraging them to refrain from choosing this subject.
The introduction of the DLNRS at the SIE, is supported by a curriculum planning class, which aims to teach the
student to develop an individual curriculum that meets his/her needs and desires by him/herself and a workshop that
aims to develop an ambience of mutual trust between a professor and his/her students.
Table 1. Unit composition for graduation
Field of the subjects Units
Introduction to SIE, computer literacy 2
Liberal arts subjects 40
Major subjects 60
Any subjects other than free subjects 22
∑ 124
The relationship among prerequisite conditions GPA and GP, the quantitative unit composition requirement for
graduation as shown in Table 1, and other aspects are difficult to obtain and to keep track of Instead of compulsory
subjects, there are prerequisite subjects whose GP should not be E level (the lowest rating) for students to register in
the related subject. Instead of the traditional rigid academic year, there is a unit composition regulation for
graduation as shown in Table 1, where the total number of units that students can register in each semester is
regulated based on their GPA of the previous semester, whether the number of units that students can get differs in
each subject, and whether or not some subjects have prerequisites.
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