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1. What prompted you decide to participate in the "JSPS Science Dialogue" program?
It sounded like an excellent program, I thought I could do a good job, and there was the
possibility that I might get sent somewhere interesting (outside of Kansai).
2. To what did you give greatest attention in preparing and giving the lecture?
The demos, and putting together photos related to Canada and Vancouver. I figured out very early what demos I could do in the time provided, but working out the details, acquiring the parts required and constructing some of them took time and effort.
3. Did you find it difficult to give a lecture in English to Japanese students? Could you give some advice to future lecturers on how to facilitate communication with Japanese students?
With an interpreter present, speaking to a group of students who have been taught some English, it was not difficult. I don't know for sure how much the students understood, however. Their evaluations will be helpful.
4. Could you give your impression with regard to participating in this program?
I think it's an excellent program, with the potential to get a lot of students interested in pursuing university and graduate degrees. I enjoyed it.
5. Was it meaningful in terms of your fellowship activities?
For me, I'm trying to determine what to do as a career, and the opportunity to give a lecture was helpful. For JSPS, making students interested in science is a good investment. Even if the students don't pursue science, they should have more appreciation for science in their careers as lawyers, nurses, journalists, politicians, etc.
6. In what ways do you think the students benefited from the program?
Aside from covering material they would not otherwise have seen, they got to see that science could be fun, and they got to perform hands-on experiments like researchers. They were also exposed to English as spoken by a native speaker, and to a culture outside Japan that they don't learn much about. The most important result should be getting the students interested in science.
7. Could you give some overall advice or comments to future participants in the program?
I had a good idea what to expect thanks to discussions with the high school, and because one member of my research group teaches in a high school part-time. The research group was helpful in telling me what the students would know, how school worked, and what they "knew" about Canada. These resources were available, I just had to ask. Preparing with the translator and getting some idea how much translation he'd do would have been helpful. I spoke slowly and clearly, and tried to include key Japanese phrases in parentheses, to make the talk less overwhelming.
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