Hiroshima University participates in the "National Student Survey" conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Following the previous report, we will report the results of the second half of the survey, which asked multiple questions (#9-13) about students’ learning experiences in their classes.

　Assignments, such as quizzes and reports, are important opportunities to check whether students understand the course content and develop their skills to gather and summarise information on their own. In all university types, including Hiroshima University, more than 90% of respondents answered "often" or "sometimes." This suggests that there are frequent such opportunities. Although the proportion of "often" at Hiroshima University seems to be slightly lower, there seems to be no major difference in trend with other universities when "sometimes" is included.

　The results of Question 10, "Did you receive appropriate comments on your assignments?", suggest that the proportion of students who received appropriate comments on their assignments is below 50% across all university types. The results show that this proportion of Hiroshima University is higher than the average for national universities, but lower than for private universities. Furthermore, although more than 90% of students responded that they had "often" or "sometimes" received assignments (c.f., Question 9), the results of Question 10 indicate that appropriate comments were not often returned. It may be necessary to confirm the significance of returning comments for student learning. It is also considered necessary to investigate what kind of comments students expect and what kind of comments are helpful for students’ understanding. For teachers, it is a daunting task to provide comments on all assignments for each undergraduate student. Therefore, it may be worth considering the further use of teaching assistants, for example.

　Regarding the frequency of group work and discussions, students at Hiroshima University have fewer opportunities than those at public and private universities. However, there is hardly any difference from the overall trend of national universities. Group work and discussions are opportunities to output what students have thought, explain, and argue, deepening students’ existing knowledge. We believe that providing more opportunities for students will lead to improved student abilities.

　Subsequently, Hiroshima University exhibits a tendency that the opportunity for question-and-answer sessions in classes is approximately equivalent to that of private universities. It is somewhat higher when juxtaposed against the overall trend of national universities. As mentioned in the preceding question, the opportunity for questions and answers serves as an outlet for students to expound upon their comprehension and thoughts, thereby playing a pivotal role in enhancing students' learning. It appears advisable to continue actively harnessing the potential of question-and-answer sessions moving forward.

　Hiroshima University students are 10-20% more likely than students at other universities to report that they have taken English-taught courses outside of language learning courses. This suggests that Hiroshima University is committed to internationalisation, as one of the initiatives to achieve its goal of “establishing a comprehensive education nurturing global talent," as set out in the 2022 Hiroshima University International Strategy. Of course, the number of English-taught courses is not the only factor that matters—the quality matters more.

　Based on the results of the “National Student Survey”, we have summarized the results of the questions related to students’ academic experiences. We did not find significant differences between the overall trends of our university and other universities in Japan in terms of the frequency of assignments, the feedback on them, and the interactions between students and faculty. On the other hand, regarding the number of courses taught in English, which is an indicator of internationalisation, we obtained results that suggest that our university offers slightly more courses than the average of universities in Japan.