Analysis of University Students Liberal Arts Curriculum Perception and Needs

Abstract

This purpose of this study is to analyze the perceptions and needs of students at University C regarding ‘liberal arts education’ and to draw implications for the reorganization and operation of the liberal arts curriculum. To this end, a survey was conducted on the perceptions and needs of the monitoring group of University C, and in-depth interviews and data analysis were conducted. A total of 91 students participated in the survey, responding to their perceptions of liberal arts education in general and their needs, and the researchers reviewed and analyzed 40 final reports submitted by the liberal arts education monitoring group. Five students, three from the humanities/social sciences and two from the natural sciences/ engineering, who were excellent members of the Liberal Arts Monitoring Group, were interviewed in-depth, focusing on information that could not be found in the survey and final reports nor could be confirmed through interviews. The analysis revealed the following perceptions and needs for liberal arts education.</br>First, students at College C perceived that liberal arts education was necessary overall, but tended to perceive it as less important than education involving their majors. Second, students perceived that the liberal arts curriculum at College C was below average in reflecting their needs. Third, while the survey showed a strong preference for lecture-style classes, the data analysis and in-depth interviews showed that the curriculum should be improved with more interactive teaching and learning methods. Fourth, students at University C felt burdened and fatigued by the relative evaluation method centered on memorization and written evaluation, and demanded a change to an evaluation system that focuses more on the meaning of learning.</br>Based on these findings, the university's dedicated organization for liberal arts education needs to make efforts to change the students' perceptions of the importance and value of liberal arts education and key information for academic guidance. In addition, efforts should be made to reflect student needs in the reorganization and operation of the liberal arts curriculum by establishing and operating student organizations such as student liberal arts curriculum committees and student liberal arts education monitoring groups, or even through competitions. In addition, the dedicated organization for liberal arts education should support liberal arts instructors and share teaching and learning methods that are more in line with liberal arts education through regular seminars for dedicated faculty members. Finally, it is necessary for educators to improve the evaluation system that focuses on students' learning activities in the student evaluation process, and to increase the satisfaction level of liberal arts courses through ‘clarity of evaluation criteria’ and ‘instructor feedback on grades’, and to improve instructors' awareness of student evaluations and to foster their evaluation expertise.