This study aims at publicizing the importance of freshman seminars and giving a problem for discussion to the university authorities by researching the operation of freshman seminars in our country and analyzing its effectiveness. The freshman seminar...
This study aims at publicizing the importance of freshman seminars and giving a problem for discussion to the university authorities by researching the operation of freshman seminars in our country and analyzing its effectiveness. The freshman seminar is a liberal arts course for freshmen only giving them more than one grade each during a semester, and specialize an orientation on the school and promoting an interaction between faculties and students. Freshman seminars not only has much advantage to student individuals but also plays a great role to school side in reducing the attrition of students such as institutional transfer and dropout in a way of integration of students in the school. Although such a freshman seminars lesson has been carried out for more than ten years in Korea, the operation status on the lesson and the analysis on its effectiveness have never been studied so far. This study herewith surveyed the operation status on five universities ? Korea, Seoul, Yonsei, Wonkwang and Ewha now operating freshman seminars in the first semester of 2005, and analyzed the effectives of freshman seminars thru questionnaires and interviews selecting one university. The result of analysis on the collected data indicates below.First, the operational universities are divided into three categories ? extended orientation seminars, academic seminars on various topics and hybrid. Korea and Wonkwang University present freshman seminars to students for the purpose of extended orientation and introduction of major study. Freshmen should take this course as required and every college is entrusted the operation right managing the course. Seoul and Yonsei University targeting the promotion of interaction between faculties and students present academic seminars on various topics to the students. The freshmen take the lecture as a general elective course operated by primary education institute or undergraduate school. Hybrid type belongs to Ehwa University operating it as a general elective course whilst every college is entrusted the operation right designating the number of students in the lecture and the professor in charge of the lecture. Further, as for extended orientation seminars, several lectures for the purpose of extended orientation and introduction of major study are opened, while as for academic seminars on various topics, the lectures focused on communication of culture and knowledge are given much weight.Secondly, as for the effectiveness compared with the difference of the group between students attending freshman seminars and not attending them, the former prefers the professor in charge of freshman seminars to the ones of other general lectures and expresses higher interaction between faculties and students rather than the latter one.Thirdly, looking at the related variables thru the multiple regressions for the satisfaction of freshman seminars from the students, the result shows the higher satisfaction for the freshman seminars as the lecture is systemized, students actively participate the lecture themselves and the lecture forms out of the typical form of general lecture.The suggestions are shown as the followings based on the summarized result from the collected data.First, freshman seminars is the essential educational course for all local and metropolitan universities considering the attrition of freshmen and the decrease of interaction between professors due to the wide area college system. The analysis of effectiveness for the selected universities shows the higher close relationship and interaction between professors and students thru the freshman seminars. The increase of this intimacy and interaction makes higher integration of freshmen to the school, rate of entering to the next academic year and reducing the attrition so that it is the fundamental course for the universities.Secondly, freshman seminars should have the character of supporting idea with the financial support from the school and related organization, and should have different operational system with the purpose of introduction. With the purpose of helping university life and introduction of the specialty to freshmen, freshman seminars should provide the required subjects and open the required class by some professors from the mere sense of duty. With the purpose of higher interaction between professors and students to make successful university life, professor should voluntarily open the lecture and provide harmonized school environment. In case of this seminar type, the class should be opened as the requirement not the selective course to make higher sincerity of the lecture from professors.Thirdly, what should be most considered in opening and operating the freshman seminars is the systematic and appropriate contents for which incessant endeavors have to be made. Thru the analysis for examples, lectures on freshman seminars are known to have diversified aims of lectures that can be classified into various types. In the study of effectiveness, the key factor of influence upon the satisfaction of freshman seminars is systematic organization. This shows that lectures should be classified in details for each type, and thus they should provide detailed contents of lectures according to the type. For systematic freshman seminars, the type should be presented for each purpose and the appropriate contents of lectures should be prepared according to each type. Such a composition of contents for lectures should be conveyed to the relevant professors and promoted step by step by getting feedbacks continuously.