Diagnosis and Suggestion for General Education Evaluation Indicators of Basic Competency Assessment for Universities

Abstract

Evaluation indicators of general education represent the value and identity of general education. University members can clearly understand general education through evaluation indicators. Evaluation indicators serve as standards for establishing and implementing educational policies. Universities support general education according to the evaluation indicators. From this point of view, this study conducted a questionnaire survey to diagnose problems with the general education evaluation indicators of the Basic Competency Assessment for Universities. A survey was conducted targeting 127 universities that joined the Korean Council for University General Education. The total number of respondents was 51. The summary of the survey results is as follows. First, 70% of respondents said that it was reasonable to evaluate general education as ‘operation and improvement of curriculum’. But about 50% of the respondents were negative about evaluating the general curriculum as ‘core competency’ as a diagnostic factor. Second, more than 70% of respondents said that the standard of the general education standard model of the Korea National Institute for General Education, which was established theoretically and academically, was not applied to the current evaluation indicators. So it is necessary to improve the inclusiveness of general education evaluation indicators. Third, about 50% of the respondents were negative about the relevance of the evaluation indicators as a driving force for improving the quality of general education. Fourth, 70% of the respondents thought that the basis for applying core competencies as evaluation indicators for general education was not sufficient. Therefore, they think that evaluation criteria should be designed according to the essential characteristics of general education. Finally, many respondents said that the essential components of the evaluation indicators should include the organization and operation of the general education curriculum, the operating system for improving general education, and the organization and manpower necessary for supporting general education. This study examined the validity of competency-based general education, focusing on general education experts. As a result, it provided clear evidence for developing and designing evaluation indicators for the development and improvement of practical general education in universities. In particular, the Ministry of Education should go through a public deliberation process to improve the acceptance of evaluation results. Therefore, we proposed that the concept of competency should be established first and then the validity of competency-based general education should be reviewed.