A Study on the Educational Performance Analysis of a Competency-Based Liberal Arts Classical Literature Class

Abstract

This study aims to diagnose and analyze the effects of competency-based liberal arts British-American classical literature classes through learners’ competency achievement and its relationship to class satisfaction. This study also suggests a direction for integrated achievement of competency through classical education. To this end, pre- and post- competency diagnostic tests and a satisfaction questionnaire was collected from 78 students in this elective liberal arts classical literature class at H University. Independent samples t-tests, correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted. As a result, first, the learners' communication skills, creativity, and problem-solving efficacy were improved. Second, learners were highly satisfied with developing interaction and collaboration skills among team members, and with improving their debate and discussion skills, suggesting that team-based instruction can be an effective teaching method in liberal arts education where learners are relatively less intimate. In addition, regarding the method of assessment, learners were most satisfied with an approach that put less pressure on paper-based exams, and perceived the increase in the amount of learning, the burden of preparation for performance activities, and the inability to check the visible evaluation results as the most difficult points. These results demonstrate the need for professional evaluation criteria and prior guidance regarding the class rubric. Finally, this study found that the improvement of the problem-solving efficacy of the participants did not affect class satisfaction, indicating that the instructor’s active role is needed, particularly when it comes to controlling the difficulty of competency performance activities, and when intervening on behalf of the student’s regarding their difficulties in learning. This study is meaningful in that it has confirmed that liberal arts classical literature education can play an important role in cultivating the competencies necessary for learners while maintaining the intrinsic value of the classics.