As the importance of accountability and quality of education in higher education has recently increased, the quality improvement and innovation of graduate school education are also deemed to be important challenges. Accordingly, while the previous st...
As the importance of accountability and quality of education in higher education has recently increased, the quality improvement and innovation of graduate school education are also deemed to be important challenges. Accordingly, while the previous studies on BK21 project performance analysis has traditionally focused on the improvement of professors' research performance, this study was mainly conducted based upon the student engagement theory which illustrates the logic of students' active engagement in their academic activities and learning outcomes in undergraduate and graduate programs. In other words, this study explored whether the support for the BK21 project could improve the university's supportive environment and hence promote student engagement and mediate the improvement of learning outcomes. This study also tested whether the effects of the educational; policies were effective by comparative analysis. The main research findings at each stage of this study are as follows.
First, as in the results of various preceding studies targeting undergraduate students, this study probed whether there is a significant difference in the university's supportive environment, student engagement, and learning outcomes depending on the individual characteristics of graduate students. The main results suggested that there were statistically significant differences in the level of satisfaction of the university's supportive environment, student engagement, and learning outcomes on the basis of individual characteristics such as gender, major field, degree course, degree period, and program beneficiary period, etc.
Next, stepwise regression and structural equation (SEM) analysis were conducted to derive the main antecedent factors on the improvement of learning outcomes. As a result of the stepwise regression analysis, when the university's supportive environment, favorable conditions, and student engagement were gradually increased in a statistical term, the explanatory power of the model was also improved. Thus, It was confirmed that student engagement is an important factor that was significantly associated with performance improvement overall.
In addition, a SEM was adopted to examine the structural relationship among the university's supportive environment, the student engagement, and the learning outcomes. The results implied that the sub-factors of student engagement, active and collaborative learning, and professor-student interaction have positive correlational relationships. In addition, the direct and indirect effects on learning outcomes suggested that the university's supportive environment has a indirect effect of improving learning competencies by promoting active and collaborative learning and faculty-student interactions.
Lastly, in order to test and confirm the policy effect of the BK21 project, the non-beneficiary group was composed of a comparative group that is most similar to the beneficiary group through propensity score matching (PSM), and the difference was analyzed to confirm the policy effect of the project. As a result, it was found that the supportive environment of universities which participated in the BK21 project was statistically and significantly outperformed and outstanding. Furthermore, student engagement and learning outcomes of graduate students who participated in the project were also significantly better than those of non-participating graduate students. In other words, it can be interpreted that the various programs and financial investments provided by the BK21 project could improve the university's supportive environment and student engagement, ultimately contribute to the improvement of learning outcomes.
Through an additional qualitative analysis such as focused group interview (FGI), various policy implications and caveats were arranged for public administrators and educational policy practitioners such as strategic directions for measuring graduate students' performance and for enhancing their competency appraisal process as well as for establishing a career tracking and management system even long after graduation, all of which could innovate the student and project performance management.