European Science Research Articles

New trends in science communication fostering evidence-informed policymaking.

This article aims to assess novel trends in science communication relating to how policymakers in the field of innovation and digitalisation policy consume and use scientific findings. We investigate the mutual influence that science communication and policy have on each other and answer the question how emerging science communication trends in the science-policy nexus might influence the use of scientific findings in the policymaking process. By using Google and the largest scholarly repositories, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and Academia.edu, from 1 st March to 31 st May 2020, we reviewed policy documents and academic literature containing relevant information on the evolution of characteristics of global, European, and national science communication activities and the interrelated policy responses to identify the most relevant current trends in the evidence-to-policy process alongside three key challenges; trust, translation, and timing. The three identified main trends are (1) a stronger engagement between science and policy, (2) more open, reliable, and accountable science communication practices with policymakers, and (3) the increasing digitalisation and visualisation of science communication. We deepened our investigation by conducting online semi-structured interviews with relevant policy stakeholders at the international and national level between 1 st May and 31 st July 2020. With the support of the European Commission and building on the existing network of partners, we identified decision-makers and advisors with relevant experience in fields related to innovation and digitalisation policy working in four countries that represent different levels of generalized social trust: Austria, Italy, Hungary, and the Netherlands, and at the international/European Union level. After an online consultation process with a global set of policymakers, these theoretical findings were translated to policy recommendations showcasing possible solutions in science communication that may be initiated, strengthened, or continued by policy stakeholders in order to reach a more effective and efficient uptake of scientific findings in evidence-informed policymaking.

Proposed synergies between oceanography and metrology

Accurate and traceable measurements are required to understand ocean processes, to address pressing societal challenges, such as climate change and to sustainably manage marine resources. Although scientific and engineering research has resulted in advanced methods to measure Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) there is a need for cross comparison of the techniques and traceability to recognized standards. Metrological laboratories are experienced in accredited methods and assessment of methodology. An EU INFRAIA-02-2020: Integrating Activities for Starting Communities project MINKE (Metrology for Integrated marine maNagement and Knowledge-transfer nEtwork https://minke.eu) brings European marine science and metrology Research Infrastructures together to identify synergies and create an innovative approach to Quality Assurance of oceanographic data. Quality depends both on the accuracy (that can be provided through the metrology component) and the completeness of the data sets. The collaboration between different Marine Research Infrastructures (RIs) places a fundamental role on assuring the completeness of the datasets, particularly at global scales. The MINKE project encourages enhancement through collaboration of national metrology laboratories and the oceanographic community. Metrological assessment of the accuracy and uncertainties within multidisciplinary ocean observations will provide data that are key to delivering policy information. Objectives across all the RIs are to facilitate ocean observation and build wider synergies. MINKE will investigate these synergies, then introduce metrology to the core of various EOV measurements. Currently the marine RIs cover laboratory and field operations, from the surface seafloor, coastal waters to deep sea, fixed ocean stations to ship and autonomous vehicle operations to ships of opportunity, and flux stations focusing on carbonate system variables. The nexus of these operations is the focal point for coordinated improvement of ocean observing methods. Measurement intercomparisons, traceability and uncertainty assessments should be at the core of the scientific observations. Specifically, MINKE will work with RIs and Metrology Institutes to improve the quality of dissolved oxygen, carbonate system, chlorophyll-fluorescence, ocean sound and current meter measurements, through access to metrology laboratories, Transnational Access and intercomparison studies across existing marine consortia and RIs. MINKE will also promote the development of absolute salinity observation, and improvements in marine litter measurements.

Introduction: the intellectual migration analytics

ABSTRACT The term ‘intellectual migration’ initially referred to the exodus of European scientists and other professionals to the U.S. in the first half of the twentieth century. Academic and policy debates around issues of ‘brain drain’, ‘brain gain’, and ‘brain circulation’ in recent decades have intensified the usage of this term. A 2015 paper first attempted conceptualising Intellectual Migration as an analytical framework that encompasses a migration spectrum where students to professionals at different life stages move for intellectual pursuits that can advance career development. Li et al. (2021) articulate the framework by elaborating on the underlying key concepts – intellectual capital, intellectual nodes, intellectual gateways, intellectual peripheries – and the role they play in one’s spatial and social mobilities, and connecting internal migration with international migration. This special issue assembles empirical research that addresses issues like the (un)certainty of engaging in intellectual migration, agency-structure dynamics behind migration decisions, and the value of intellectual capital in the migration process. This introductory piece traces the evolution of the intellectual migration conceptualisation while synthesising the findings to affirm the usefulness of the framework in analysing higher-education and highly-skilled migration.

Identification of social scientifically relevant topics in an interview repository: a natural language processing experiment

PurposeThe present study is about generating metadata to enhance thematic transparency and facilitate research on interview collections at the Research Documentation Centre, Centre for Social Sciences (TK KDK) in Budapest. It explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in producing, managing and processing social science data and its potential to generate useful metadata to describe the contents of such archives on a large scale.Design/methodology/approachThe authors combined manual and automated/semi-automated methods of metadata development and curation. The authors developed a suitable domain-oriented taxonomy to classify a large text corpus of semi-structured interviews. To this end, the authors adapted the European Language Social Science Thesaurus (ELSST) to produce a concise, hierarchical structure of topics relevant in social sciences. The authors identified and tested the most promising natural language processing (NLP) tools supporting the Hungarian language. The results of manual and machine coding will be presented in a user interface.FindingsThe study describes how an international social scientific taxonomy can be adapted to a specific local setting and tailored to be used by automated NLP tools. The authors show the potential and limitations of existing and new NLP methods for thematic assignment. The current possibilities of multi-label classification in social scientific metadata assignment are discussed, i.e. the problem of automated selection of relevant labels from a large pool.Originality/valueInterview materials have not yet been used for building manually annotated training datasets for automated indexing of scientifically relevant topics in a data repository. Comparing various automated-indexing methods, this study shows a possible implementation of a researcher tool supporting custom visualizations and the faceted search of interview collections.

The whiteness of European Library and Information Science

This paper studies the state of discussions on DE&I and racism within LIS in EU higher education institutions.

DiSSCo Prepare Project: Increasing the Implementation Readiness Levels of the European Research Infrastructure

The Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) is a new world-class Research Infrastructure (RI) for Natural Science Collections. The DiSSCo RI aims to create a new business model for one European collection that digitally unifies all European natural science assets under common access, curation, policies and practices that ensure that all the data is easily Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR principles). DiSSCo represents the largest ever formal agreement between natural history museums, botanic gardens and collection-holding institutions in the world. DiSSCo entered the European Roadmap for Research Infrastructures in 2018 and launched its main preparatory phase project (DiSSCo Prepare) in 2020. DiSSCo Prepare is the primary vehicle through which DiSSCo reaches the overall maturity necessary for its construction and eventual operation. DiSSCo Prepare raises DiSSCo’s implementation readiness level (IRL) across the five dimensions: technical, scientific, data, organisational and financial. Each dimension of implementation readiness is separately addressed by specific Work Packages (WP) with distinct targets, actions and tasks that will deliver DiSSCo’s Construction Masterplan. This comprehensive and integrated Masterplan will be the product of the outputs of all of its content related tasks and will be the project’s final output. It will serve as the blueprint for construction of the DiSSCo RI, including establishing it as a legal entity. DiSSCo Prepare builds on the successful completion of DiSSCo’s design study, ICEDIG and the outcomes of other DiSSCo-linked projects such as SYNTHESYS+ and MOBILISE. This paper is an abridged version of the original DiSSCo Prepare grant proposal. It contains the overarching scientific case for DiSSCo Prepare, alongside a description of our major activities.

LOSSES OF ELECTRIC ENERGY IN THE ENERGY SYSTEM OF UKRAINE AND THEIR REDUCTION DUE TO THE INTRODUCTION OF DIRECT CURRENT

The issue of losses of electrical energy in the energy system of Ukraine is considered. Tendencies of changes in the value of losses in the direction of growth in recent years are shown. Such an increase in losses led not only to the fixation of purely technical parameters, but also led to financial losses in the country and consumers in the amount of tens of billions of hryvnias. Statistical data on global losses of electrical energy are shown, showing a global trend in reducing the magnitude of losses. The trend to reduce losses is being implemented by all developed countries. Data on electricity losses correlate with the economic development of the country. Significant losses are a sign of negative phenomena in the economy, and vice versa, smalllosses are a sign of a stable economic condition. The structure of losses was analyzed. A general representation of losses has been proposed, which has received a graphical representation in the form of a diagram, where two types of electrical energy losses are considered: technological and commercial. Such a division into groups of losses made it possible to separate the analyzed parts. It is precisely those types of losses that are least affected by extraneous human impact, such as theft, destruction of equipment, non-payments, etc., are considered. The nature of such influences is not technical, so they were not considered. A parallel is drawn between the level of equipment wear and the level of electricity losses. A logical chain is shown, in order to reduce losses it is necessary to upgrade the equipment. The energy system includes different elements and is very branched. It can be measured not only by a significant number of equipment items, but also by the cost of these items. The total cost of the energy system is very significant, and it is only possible to carry out energy re-equipment in stages. It is proposed to identify the elements of the energy system that are most sensitive in terms of their impact on losses, for which it would be logical to carry out rearmament in the first place. However, based on international experience, it was proposed that when planning the restoration of the power system, immediately take the most promising direction, namely, not the usual re-equipment of networks through the installation of newer equipment, but to take a qualitative step towards introducing a DC system in lowvoltage networks up to 10 kV inclusive. Which, according to the studies of European scientists, will significantly reduce losses, increase the controllability of networks, and improve the quality of electrical energy.

The ‘where’ of EU social science collaborations: How epistemic inequalities and geopolitical power asymmetries persist in research about Europe

A growing body of work has problematised how global epistemic inequality is reproduced in contemporary university settings and epistemic cultures – thinking through the lens of Eurocentrism and utilising the language of a Global North and South. However, the extent to which a relationship between geopolitical and epistemic inequality is woven into knowledge production within Europe has received less attention. Rising EU funding opportunities have facilitated a corresponding climb in transnational European social science collaborations, in concert with an expansion of empirical locations with which these projects engage. Still, increases in member state participation do not necessarily contribute to a more balanced epistemic landscape for knowledge production. Not all countries are treated equally as cases and often, these patterns of inequality reflect what Maria do Mar Pereira calls the epistemic status of nations: the idea that certain countries and continents are considered more or less likely to produce valuable or exportable scholarly knowledge. In this article, Pereira’s theory of epistemic status is extended in its implications to study choices for the selection of countries as cases. We use both quantitative data from the EU CORDIS register and ethnographic data exploring academic and collaborative practices in transnational EU-funded projects. The article addresses the ‘where’ of collaborative research by focusing on epistemic attributes rather than participatory optics. In doing so, we reflect not only on the structures and strategies of science funding in Europe but also further unsettle discussions around global epistemic inequality within academic theory and practices.

“Hungarian Supremacy Cannot Be Debated”. Hungarian Conservative Sociologists on the Nationalities Question (1908–1918)

Abstract Magyar Társadalomtudományi Szemle (MTSZ), i.e. Hungarian Review of Social Sciences, was published between 1908 and 1918, and it was the highest-toned journal of contemporary Hungarian conservative sociology. At that time, in the last years of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, one of the most pressing social issues was the nationalities question: what rights belong to non-Hungarian-speaking nationalities living in the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary? This question was answered by two schools of tender-aged Hungarian social science. In general, liberal-left sociologists following Western scientific patterns believed that the language and cultural rights of national minorities need to be expanded. Conservatives, on the other hand, called for a restrictive policy to maintain the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Hungary. The analysis of the authors and writings in favour of the extension of rights has been completed (Litván 1978, 2006; Litván–Szücs 1973). Conservative sociologists who support the restriction, however, have so far received almost no attention in the history of sociology. In this writing, I would like to fill this gap. After the short institutional presentation of contemporary conservative sociology, I will focus on their central journal, MTSZ. I will analyse the articles in which the authors have taken a position on the nationalities question. I argue that the articles published in the MTSZ have primarily addressed the nationalities question as a political and demographic issue. Therefore, I will describe these two types of writing. (Beyond that, some articles focused on social theory, culture, or education when writing about the rights of non-Hungarian-speaking minorities.) My basic question is how those aspects of the nationalities question appeared in MTSZ and how those all create a specific political store of knowledge. If we get answers to this, not only will we shed light on one of the forgotten but exciting schools of early Central European social science, but perhaps the history of the first quarter of the 20th century will also be better understood.

European Universities Initiative – a Policy of Scientific Cooperation on the Basis of Transform4Europe and The 4EU+ Alliance

The motivation for the analysis is the European Year of Skills 2023 announced by the European Commission. The mian purpose of the article is to show the problems of the contemporary functioning of European science cooperation policy. Knowledge in a broad sense, including scientific and expert knowledge, is increasingly important in the process of political decision-making. The article presents the evolution of the approach and spread of the European Uniosą activity in the internal and external dimensions of its science policy. The authors analyzed the operational tools of European Union’s (EU) scientific cooperation, which include the European Universities Initiative, Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programs. The following research methods were used to achieve this goal: case studies, statistical analysis and analysis of sources such as policy documents, normative acts, university rankings, available scientific literature and Internet sources. The subjects of the study are "European universities" – members of alliances: Transform4Europe and The 4 EU+ Alliance, subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis.

The Construction of the First Volga-Don Canal of Peter the Great

This article studies the history behind the construction of a navigable canal meant to connect the Volga and the Don through their tributaries, the Kamyshinka and the Ilovlya, in 1697–1698. The authors aim to clarify the history of the first project of Peter the Great to modernise the country’s transport infrastructure and analyse it in the context of the events of the initial stage of the Petrine era. The study refers to maps and plans of the area, materials of office work – documents that both have been previously published and are introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time and come from the funds of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, as well as the results of archaeological exploration carried out at the Selimov Val cultural heritage site in the village of Petrov Val in Kamyshin district of Volgograd Region. The study demonstrates that the period of 1697–1698 saw the construction of a structure meant to perform both fortification and hydraulic functions in the interfluve of the Kamyshinka and the Ilovlya. B. A. Golitsyn and E. I. Ukraintsоv controlled the construction, while Prince A. F. Shakhovsky directly supervised it. The project was authored by engineer J. Bröckell, and Peter I attached great importance to it, repeatedly discussing it with European statesmen and scientists during the Great Embassy. Pososhniye lyudi (people in sokha-based military service) were recruited in the settlements and districts of the Volga cities and did the construction work on the Kamyshinka. Logging was carried out along the River Sura in Alatorsky and Yadrinsky uyezds. By the end of 1697, a fortification was built where the Kamyshinka and the Ilovlya were closest to each other, the remains of the fortification perfectly preserved to this day. However, it turned out impossible to build a navigable canal. Having received news of the departure of J. Bröckell, the author of the first project, from the country in the winter of 1698, Peter I and other members of the Great Embassy began to look for and invite “sluice masters”, i. e. specialists in the construction of navigable canals. Thus, the first unsuccessful attempt to connect the Volga and the Don was why the tsar paid close attention to the theoretical and practical issues of building navigable canals as a significant area of science and technology.

TIRIAMASIS DARBAS PASITELKIANT KLASĖS BENDRUOMENĘ: „ŠVENTOSIOS UPĖS TARŠOS VERTINIMAS“ PILIEČIŲ MOKSLO PROJEKTE „PLASTIKO PIRATAI“

The Lithuanian coordinators of the new European eco-citizen science project "Plastic Pirates", the Lithuanian Centre for Non-formal Education for Schoolchildren, have invited the Lithuanian coordinators of the project to join the project. This project is not only internationally significant, but also has the distinction of being a citizen science project. It is a practice that is becoming increasingly popular around the world, where data can be collected by any citizen who wants to, and then the data collected is evaluated by scientists and used in real scientific research. The aim of the Plastic Pirates project is to strengthen scientific cooperation in Europe, promote citizen involvement in science, raise environmental awareness and reduce negative environmental impacts. The project has already been joined by 10 European Union countries. Through various activities and investigations, students will learn about research on the state of Europe's rivers, learn how to carry out research correctly and learn about the problem of plastic pollution in seas and oceans. One of the main activities of the "Plastic Pirates" project is research. "Assessment of the pollution of the Sventoji River" is a research activity carried out by the second grade pupils of the Verdenė Gymnasium in Visaginas and their parents. A training film based on practical activities: the Research paper. "Assessment of the pollution of the Sventoji River" in the citizen science project "Plastic Pirates": (369) Tiriamasis darbas. „Šventosios upės taršos vertinimas“ piliečių mokslo projekte „Plastiko piratai“ - YouTube In summary: - The assessment of the pollution of the Šventoji River has been carried out according to the specified methodology. - The protocol with the collected data has been forwarded to the scientists. - 290 metres were walked along the river and 37 pieces of litter were collected. - The total weight of all litter (including plastic waste) was 4,153 kg. - The total weight of all plastic waste is 1,043 kg. - The children cooperated with their parents during the survey. The hypothesis was confirmed: - We were able to carry out the study and to present the data to scientists. (Some time later, we contacted the scientists and found out that microplastic particles had been found in our sample.) Keywords: citizen science, inquiry, project-based activities, STEAM, classroom community.

Surviving in a male academia: gender gap, publication strategies and career stage in South European political science journals

Women’s underrepresentation in top political science journals has been a central concern of both the American Political Science Association and the European Consortium of Political Research, which have promoted studies to assess the extent and features of the gender gap. However, so far in Southern Europe, research on this topic has been scarce. Our work adds to the literature by presenting new data on three journals: the Italian Political Science Review, the Spanish Political Science Review and South European Society and Politics. The research has three main goals: to gauge the gender gap in the three journals; to examine whether gender influences publication preferences; and to investigate how career intersects with gendered publication strategies. The analysis is built on a database of almost 800 articles and about 1400 authors, published in these three journals in 2011–2022. Our main findings are that South European journals reveal a gender gap similar to other international journals, where just one-third of authors are women; that this publication gap is accompanied by gendered publication strategies; and that the routes men and women follow to succeed in academic publishing diverge at every career stage. Finally, we argue that women's preferred strategies may not offer the optimum path to career success.

Brans, M. & Timmermans, A. (Eds.) (2022). The Advisory Roles of Political Scientists in Europe: Comparing Engagements in Policy Advisory Systems. Palgrave Macmillan

Brans, M. & Timmermans, A. (Eds.) (2022). The Advisory Roles of Political Scientists in Europe: Comparing Engagements in Policy Advisory Systems. Palgrave Macmillan

Revival of the Material Cultural Relics of the Renaissance by Modern Technology

European art, culture, science and philosophy underwent substantial progress during the Renaissance, leaving behind rich material cultural relics that have inspired and mesmerized people for ages. Due to their fragility and the passage of time, these priceless artifacts are vulnerable to theft, loss, and damage. This paper expresses the impact of modern technology, which has proven to be a helpful ally in maintaining and renewing the material cultural relics of the Renaissance in order to address these concerns. The impact of contemporary technology on the Renaissance's material cultural relics is examined in this article, as is how it can efficiently preserve, transmit, and disseminate these priceless relics. The difficulties that Renaissance cultural artifacts encounter as a result of historical developments and the passage of time are covered in the study. These priceless cultural artifacts are fragile, which makes them more susceptible to theft, loss, and destruction. The paper makes the case that leveraging contemporary technologies can more successfully preserve, transmit, and spread Renaissance cultural heritage. Examples include virtual reality, artistic creativity, and social media. For instance, augmented reality (AR) can be used to see how the Last Supper frescoes in the Convent of Santa Maria de Milano originally appeared. The essay also looks at how preserving and passing on Renaissance cultural history inspires and enhances the present and future while fostering cultural variety, innovation, and tolerance. Finally, the report emphasizes the significance of considering the potential negative effects of technology, including the possible harm that immersive experiences may cause to people's physical health.

From product-sales models to digital ecosystems and open science

Watch VIDEO. Scholarly publishers in small language countries face unique challenges, such as limited funding and resources, lack of visibility and recognition, and the dominance of international commercial publishers in the global academic publishing market. Therefore, understanding the role of publishers in promoting scholarly research in small language countries is crucial. This research aims to evaluate the publication of scholarly journals in a small language country (Lithuania) by analyzing the owners and publishers of scholarly journals. After collecting information about all scholarly journals published in 2020, a list of publishers and owners was compiled. The results show that since 1990, the publishing of Lithuanian scholarly journals has grown significantly: 225 scholarly journals were published in Lithuania, by 73 different publishers, in 2020. Social publishers, mostly state-funded universities, scientific institutes, colleges, still had the largest market share of scholarly periodicals, but commercial publishers also appeared and started to make a business out of publishing scholarly journals. Judging by the number of published articles, the five largest Lithuanian social publishers – state universities – published almost half of all scholarly articles published by Lithuanian publishers. Journals of social science were published the most, and one in five journals published in Lithuania applied relatively small publication fees. The analyzed data on publishers show that Lithuanian publishers have tried to take over and reorganize a number of scholarly journals from the Soviet era, while adapting to the dynamically changing world of scholarly publishing, and moving from simple product-sales models of the 20th century to new digital ecosystems of the 21st century, in which the essential distribution of publications is carried out digitally. The emerging diversity of publishers, the relatively moderate application of publication fees, and the growth in the number of articles show that Lithuanian publishers are quite well prepared for further challenges – the implementation of the European Science Foundation Plan S recommendations.

Now is the Time: The Impact of Linguistic Time Reference on Corporate Default Risk

Synopsis The research problem This paper assesses whether and how people’s perceptions of time — strong future time reference (FTR) versus weak FTR — affect corporate default risk. Motivation or theoretical reasoning Studies have shown that default risk varies across firms, regions, and countries, highlighting the need for a comprehensive understanding of the contributing factors. Traditional studies focus on how firm-level, industry-level, national and international economic and financial variables shape corporate default risk, but they fail to explain cross-country and cross-regional differences in corporate default risk from the perspective of informal institutions, particularly, language. This study takes the first step to examine whether and how future-oriented language shapes corporate default risk. The test hypotheses We first tested whether strong-FTR language decreases corporate default risk. We further tested whether the effect of strong-FTR language on default risk depends on firms’ level of information transparency. In addition, we tested whether the effect of strong-FTR language on default risk depends on a country’s disclosure requirements. Lastly, we tested whether the effect of strong-FTR language on default risk depends on a country’s control of corruption. Target population We find that corporate default risk is significantly higher in regions dominated by speakers of weak-FTR languages, using a comprehensive sample of firms in 36 countries with 180,013 observations spanning from 1988 to 2017. Adopted methodology Ordinary least square regressions were used in this study. Analyses Corporate default risk is measured by two proxies of firm probability of default, following Merton [(1974) Journal of Finance, 29(2), 449–470] and Lee and Lin [(2012) Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions, and Money, 22(4), 973–989]. Our independent variable is Strong FTR, which equals 1 if a language belongs to the strong-FTR language family, as defined by the European Science Foundation’s Typology of Languages in Europe (EUROTYP) project. If a language does not require “obligatory [FTR] use in (main clause) prediction-based contexts” [Dahl (2000)Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe, O. Dahl (Ed.), pp. 309–328], then we put this language into the weak-FTR group. On the other hand, if a language does have the above-mentioned requirement, then it belongs to the strong-FTR group. Findings We found that corporate default risk is significantly higher in regions dominated by speakers of weak-FTR languages. Furthermore, the FTR effect on default risk is weakened in countries with stronger formal institutions (e.g., high disclosure quality, greater transparency, and less corruption). Our results introduce a new explanation for heterogeneity in corporate default risk, provide insights about whether language is an economic institution, and adds to research on the effects of languages on economic and financial outcomes.

Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions in European sports science students: Towards the development of future sports entrepreneurs

This study aims to analyse the determinants of sport science students’ entrepreneurial intentions considering the cultural effect on these relationships. The sample comprises 764 final-year sport science students from five European countries: Lithuania, Spain, Ukraine, Serbia, and Croatia. A validated structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The results showed significant direct effects between attitude towards behaviour and perceived behavioural control in sport science students’ entrepreneurial intentions in all countries. Entrepreneurial skills presented an indirect impact (through attitude and perceived behavioural control) on all countries’ entrepreneurial intentions. However, the importance of each of these variables in explaining entrepreneurial intentions varied according to the students’ national culture. This study presents a series of educational policy implications to improve sports science students’ employability by developing their entrepreneurial spirit.

Exploring Improvement Possibility of Undergraduate Liberal Arts Education Inspired by European Liberal Arts and Science Model

Exploring Improvement Possibility of Undergraduate Liberal Arts Education Inspired by European Liberal Arts and Science Model

Exploring Improvement Possibility of Undergraduate Liberal Arts Education Inspired by European Liberal Arts and Science Model

In order to improve liberal arts education in Korean universities, it is necessary to analyze the characteristics of European Liberal Arts & Science [LAS] programs. This is because LAS in Europe reflects the orientation of modern liberal arts education such as universal, academic, and contemporary property, and can supplement the limitations of the Korean liberal arts curriculum, which is heavily influenced by sub-disciplines. The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of the European University College [UC]s’ Liberal Arts & Science model for undergraduate liberal arts education in Korean universities. To this end, text data of three European UCs and Amsterdam UC [AUC] were collected, preprocessed, and then analyzed using techniques such as frequency analysis, topic modeling, and a semantic network. By comparing the results of the frequency analysis, 14 common keywords were extracted and classified into universal (<i>social, human, public, development</i>), academic (<i>research, science, knowledge, skills, analysis</i>), and contemporary (<i>international, global, contemporary, data, economic</i>) orientation. In the structure of the semantic network, some keywords were assigned in several topics. As a result of analyzing 5 keywords of 8 topics in the course titled Data of AUC LAS, 18 of 226 courses included an Introduction. 11 of them are introductory courses of convergence and 7 are theme-oriented courses, which is different from the cases in Korea, which are mostly focused on introductory courses in sub-disciplines. Based on the analysis of texts of AUC LAS, this paper proposes three things: the introduction of a coordinator system and convergence courses, the strengthening of the role of advisors, and the development of teaching-learning methods. The results of these discussions based on text data analysis can be used to improve the standards of liberal arts education in Korea or to reorganize liberal arts education at each university. They can also be used as a reference when developing and managing educational programs such as in institutions dedicated to liberal arts education, university colleges, and departments for self-designing curriculum at Korean universities.