TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Course description and aims

This course is designed and delivered to cultivate the following abilities, attributes, and perspectives which are appropriate and required for those students who study at one of the top leading comprehensive universities of science and technology in Japan.
By the completion of this course, the students will have
1) the ability to recognize and explain the nature and broadening scope of certain fields and/or disciplines in science and engineering,
2) the ability to examine the ELSI (Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications/Influences) of those fields and/or disciplines and what role they should play in society and for society,
3) the attitude to seek the broad and transdisciplinary perspectives on science and engineering, and
4) the ability to develop an attitude to examine one's own field of study with a multi-dimensional framework.

This course is designed, developed, and offered jointly by the respective School and the Institute for Liberal Arts.

The classes in this course introduce concept, techniques/methodology, applications, and current status of seven research fields in life science and life engineering (Microbial Engineering, Bioorganic Chemistry, Techniques of Measurement and Imaging in Life Sciences, Medical Engineering, Biomaterials Engineering, Protein Engineering, and Sports Science), and then discuss their contribution to society, problems, and expected future progress. The aim of this course is to cultivate the students to understand advanced knowledge regarding life science/engineering and to convey them to others concisely.

Student learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students will able to:
1) Understand the methodology, applications, and current status of microbial engineering, and explain its contributions to society
2) Understand the research area that encompasses bioorganic chemistry and its applications and utility, and explain how each technology gives back to society with its achievements
3) Understand the techniques of measurement and imaging in life sciences, and explain their contribution to society
4) Understand the current situation and problems in medical engineering and how it should be developed for society
5) Understand the role of biomaterials engineering and explain its contribution to society
6) Understand the current situation, problems, and perspective on protein engineering, and explain its contribution to society
7) Understand and explain how some knowledge from sports science is useful for our social life

Keywords

Microbial Engineering, Bioorganic Chemistry, Techniques of Measurement and Imaging in Life Sciences, Medical Engineering, Biomaterials Engineering, Protein Engineering, Sports Science

Competencies that will be developed

Class flow

As with all other courses in this category (400 Transdisciplinary Course), this course is offered in the "Active Learning" mode which requires students to take an active role in their own learning. Therefore, students are required to submit a summary report at the end of each session. (In case you are not able to attend a class, you should inform the instructor of your reason for absence in advance.) Class attendance is required and taken into account for grades.

Each class deals with one research field in life science or life engineering. At the beginning of the class, an expert introduces the topic, and then each student writes and submits a "summary report" describing what he/she learned through the lecture, as well as his/her impression. At the end of the class, their contribution to society, problems, and expected future progress are discussed based on the selected summary reports.

Course schedule/Required learning

Textbook(s)

None

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Handouts will be distributed at the beginning of class when necessary. The PowerPoint documents to be used in class will be made available in advance via OCW-i whenever possible.

Assessment criteria and methods

For the credits of this course, as with all other courses in this category (400 Transdisciplinary Course), students must submit an original paper which addresses "the nature and scope" of a given field/discipline and its "societal role." An important part of the assessment is based on the quality of the paper. The instructor will explain details of the requirements for the paper in the first class meeting.

Assessment will be based on “summary reports” for each topic (70%) and contribution to discussion (30%).

Related courses

• None

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

Prospective students should have interests in life science and life engineering.