Analyzing Differences in Perceptions between Professors and Students and Educational Needs for Competency-Based Liberal Arts Course －Focusing on A College

Abstract

As a result of developing questions to investigate the difference in the perceptions and educational needs of professors and students concerning the competency-based liberal arts curriculum, and through conducting a corresponding survey, 33 professors and 502 enrolled students responded for two weeks in November of 2022. The analysis method utilized the Borich Demand Formula and the Locus for Focus Model. First, as a result of examining the difference in perceptions between professors and students about liberal arts education in A college, the survey found that students had a positive perception of the liberal arts curriculum compared to professors regarding all of the questions. Both professors and students were highly aware of the ‘relevance of liberal arts education level’ while the items showing statistically significant differences were the questions dealing with the ‘adequacy of the number of subjects opened’ and the ‘help to grow as professionals’. Second, as a result of analyzing the educational needs of our university's liberal arts curriculum using the Borich Formula and the Locus for Focus Model, the professors cited ‘lectures with teaching methods suitable for learning’, ‘sufficient communication with students’, and ‘diversity in liberal arts course selection’. Student ‘B’ determined that ‘lecture progress with a teaching method suitable for the learning content’ was their top priority when it came to improvement. Based on these results, to operate a better liberal arts curriculum, we need to seek ways to expand the range of choices for liberal arts education. Furthermore, we need to derive important basic vocational skills according to majors during the reorganization of liberal arts education at universities. This means that liberal arts education needs to reflect these changes in both its design and operational aspects. However, due to the different enrollment periods and limited graduation credits allocated to each department, there are real limitations in designing a course that fully reflects these educational demands. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze in detail the students' needs in order to immediately meet their educational goals, and to establish a flexible curriculum that reflects their demands for non-subject programs.