The purpose of this study was to explore the core competencies used in higher education institutions in Korea as core competencies are emphasized as one of the abilities required to live a successful life in a rapidly changing 21st century society.
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The purpose of this study was to explore the core competencies used in higher education institutions in Korea as core competencies are emphasized as one of the abilities required to live a successful life in a rapidly changing 21st century society.
Based on a critical mind that the existing subject-centered school education has limitations in educating what is necessary for living in modern society, universities are accepting competency-based education as one of the necessary requirements for solving these problems. The importance of competency-based education is emphasized not only as the acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary for the future society, but also as a practical education for sustainable well-being throughout life.
In this study, the research question was set as follows to examine the current status of core competencies in Korean universities and to analyze the university-specific factors that make a difference in the selection of core competencies. First, what are the core competencies that Korean universities usually select? Second, is the selection of core competencies different depending on the characteristics of the university?
To this end, data on the core competencies and characteristics of 122 universities nationwide were collected, and network text analysis and logistic regression analysis were conducted to derive the following research results.
First, the core competencies used in Korean universities appeared in the following order, communication (66.4%), creativity (64.8%), self-management (48.4%), convergence (47.5%), globalization (45.9%), and problem solving (32.8%). In particular, as communication and creativity were strongly linked to other core competencies, it was found that they were the core competencies that universities are most interested in these days.
Second, the 11 characteristics of universities used as independent variables (location, whether or not to participate in the ACE project, classification of establishment, presence or absence of a women's university, number of full-time faculty members, research expenditure per full-time faculty member, educational expenditure per student, ratio of foreign students, ratio of students with disabilities, employment rate , Tuition), all variables except for two variables (research expenses per full-time faculty member, foreign student ratio) were found to have significant differences in the selection of core competencies. Among them, the university characteristic variable that has the most influence on the selection of core competency was the establishment classification variable.
This study grasps the current status of core competencies that are mainly selected by universities in relation to the future students required in a rapidly changing society, and analyzes university-specific factors that make a significant difference in the selection of core competencies. These results have the following significance. First, it is possible to understand the universities education in Korea and figure out the direction of education in the future. Second, it can provide important implications for understanding competency education for the specialization of universities education. Finally, it is expected that it will be helpful as basic data to explore the role that higher education should play on the changes of the times.
However, in the process of collecting the core competencies of each university, as there were many universities that have not disclosed the sub-elements and definitions of core competencies, there may be limitations in not considering them. In addition, it is revealed that this study did not understand the background and meaning of the use of core competencies by each university because it did not conduct an in-depth analysis of the process and subject for determining core competencies.
To supplement this study, a follow-up research is suggested. First, research related to the process of determining core competencies of universities and the subject of decision is needed. Through this, it will be possible to understand in detail the background of each university's use of core competencies, the components of core competencies, and the definition of core competencies. Second, research is needed to explore more university-specific factors that bring about significant differences in the selection of core competencies. Third, it would be meaningful not only to study the selection and utilization of core competencies, but also to consider how competency-based education was applied to students lives.