Takahiro SAITO

Dr. Takahiro Saito is Professor of Evaluation in Office of Management and Planning, and in Graduate School of Human Science, Osaka University. He has served as an expert on quality assurance for installation of institutional research and internal quality assurance system in the university since 2009.He joined the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation, governmental quality assurance agency for higher education in Japan, when it was established. He has engaged in the development of external quality assurance system for all the universities and colleges since 2000. He also served as a member of the Board of Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN), which is a network of quality assurance agencies for higher education in the Asia Pacific region, when it started in 2005, as well as the project leader for quality assurance of distance education and e-learning.He has extensive research experience in evaluating educational projects, including meta-evaluation of assessment works for higher education institutions, meta-analysis of the effectiveness of e-learning programs, and evaluation of vocational training programs in ASEAN countries established through Japan’s Official Development Assistance. Nowadays, he has strong interest in the future usage of ICTs in education. He and his colleagues have been trying to introduce the programming education in elementary schools for seven years and their project was awarded Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education in 2016. He received his Ph.D. from Tokyo Institute of Technology in the field of Industrial Engineering and Management in 1998.