A public hearing on the reform of liberal education was held on March 21st at the Gaesin Cultural Center. The public hearing proceeded on the basis of a research paper on liberal education, which had been conducted from October 2010 to January 2011.
CBNU let graduates and enrolled students evaluate Liberal Arts, majors, and the teacher's education the first semester of 2010. As a result of the survey, Liberal Arts received 4.01 points out of 4.5 points, although the average of all three parts was 4.29 points. Thus, the necessity of the overall improvement in liberal education was expressed.
The problems of CBNU's liberal education split broadly into two areas. The first is about the system of liberal education. It is caused by vague subject names and liberal education which lacks diversity. If subject names are ambiguous, teachers who are in charge of the subjects can plan syllabi at their own discretion regardless of the purpose of the subjects. Therefore, students' intentions of selecting lectures can be mismatched by the contents of the lectures. Also, Liberal Arts which don't reflect the societal changes make students have trouble finding interest in the subjects.
The second is about the management of liberal education. It is caused by the lack of developing teaching materials, an insufficient number of full-time teachers for Liberal Arts, and an excessive number of enrollees. When textbooks are not listed up, teachers who take charge of the subjects should furnish references. However, if there are miscellaneous references, the lectures may be incoherent. In the first semester of 2010, part-time instructors were responsible for 83% of the total number of Liberal Arts classes. This can lead to poor quality of education. The average number of the attendees is about 47, but it surpasses an optimum level for a teacher to teach well.
Jeong Hyo-goo, a professor of the Dept. of Korean Language and Literature, said, "Teaching Korean, which is focused on writing, to 40 to 60 students is quite difficult in reality."
Meanwhile, You Young-gab, a professor of the Dept. of Information and Communication Engineering, stated, "Most freshmen classes consist of Liberal Arts. Therefore, teachers of Liberal Arts should give lots of assignments and examinations to the students and create an atmosphere that makes students study hard."
Kim Kwang-min, a research director and a professor of the Dept. of Education, said, "The research paper is not completed. It is just a draft. People who are in charge of the study have realized that much discussion is needed before putting the reform into practice. We are going to apply the reformed education system beginning the first semester of 2012, after discussing and reviewing it thoroughly."
It is possible that public hearings will continue to be held in the future.