To what extent is the Course Experience Questionnaire applicable to Japanese Education?

With a shift towards global education and ?world-class? universities, reliable methods to measure the quality of courses becomes more pertinent. The quality of Japanese higher education has been questioned. Simultaneously, the quality assessment system in Japanese higher education has been called fragmented. The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) is recognised as a statically reliable and valid tool for assessing the efficacy of courses and is used in higher education in many countries around the world including Australia and the UK. Therefore, there is potential for its use in Japanese institutions. However, it is based on Western concepts of student learner theories. Confucian values influence Japanese education. Therefore, the extent to which the CEQ could be applicable for use in Japanese higher education requires examining. However, this remains largely unexplored. In this paper first, Japanese academia is examined using two constructs: 1. Hofstede?s cultural dimensions, and 2. a Confucian framework. The findings are then used to examine concepts within the CEQ, to unearth their applicability within Japanese education. This study reveals there are potentially complex ramifications related to implementing the CEQ as a tool for measurement in Japanese higher education. Further research into student learner theories in a Japanese context is recommended to find a way forward for global assessment in higher education.