The purpose of this study is to compare the curriculum - especially general education - of women's colleges between Korea and U.S.A., to analyze the merits and the demerits, and to make suggestions for desired curricular changes in Korean colleges.
T...
The purpose of this study is to compare the curriculum - especially general education - of women's colleges between Korea and U.S.A., to analyze the merits and the demerits, and to make suggestions for desired curricular changes in Korean colleges.
This study is bared on 7women's colleges in Seoul and 7 highly reputable women's liberal arts colleges in the United States. The curriculum of each college was examined in general and then the types, components and the amount of credit hours required in general education were specifically compared. According to the findings based on these comparisons, this study offers recommendations to improve the education system in Korean colleges.
First, we need to recognize that $quot;the first degree is not intended to provide vocational training$quot; and to recognize that $quot;the purpose of college is an education in the liberal arts$quot; (Rosovsky, 1990, p. 99), - to study $quot;a curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities in contrast to a professional, vocational or technical curriculum$quot; (Encyclepaedia Britannica, 15th edn., vol. VI, p. 195, cited in Resovsky, 1990, p. 99-100).
Second, each college needs to develop a creative curriculum reflecting its distinctive educational goal.
Third, the faculty of each department needs to devote collaborative efforts to device interdisciplinary courses, instead of overspecializing in their own academic fields.
Fourth, students should be able to cheese general education courses freely from all the departments offering majors.
Fifth, total graduation credit points need to be reduced down to 120 or 128 as is the cafe in the U.S.A. colleges.
Sixth, colleges need to provide students with general education courses well balanced in humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, instead of emphasizing that students take courses related to their own major fields as general education courses.
Seventh, when providing a core general education program, colleges need to define first, according to their distinctive educational goal, what the purpose of the core is, and then design each course to reflect the porpose of that.
Eighth, colleges need to increase individual student's opportunities to choose courses, in order for them to broaden their interests and to discover and develop their natural abilities.