2024 Volume 46 Issue 2 Pages 80-85
Liberal and general education is internationally defined as including educational programs that develop studentsʼ general knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as their literacy and numeracy skills, with the primary objective of providing a foundation for the ability to access higher education programs and lifelong learning (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012).
At this roundtable, we discussed the future of liberal and general education in the post-COVID era, by returning to its origins as liberal and general education, which is to cultivate rich humanity, at a time when university education focuses on transferring knowledge and skills.
Report 1: Reforming liberal education programs at a local state university in the US.
Satoshi Ozeki (University of Miyazaki)
In recent years, it has become important to clarify learning outcomes, assess them, and make improvements based on results with regard to quality assurance in higher education in the US. At Western Michigan University, curriculum reforms based on learning outcomes have also been implemented in liberal education programs, with the curriculum focusing on learning outcomes common to all undergraduates.
The new liberal arts program is called Essential Studies (ES) and is intended not only to deepen studentsʼ knowledge but also to develop the intellectual skills most sought after by graduatesʼ employers. These skills include problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, judgment, and decision-making. To acquire these skills, the programs adopt a student-centered approach and structure the course so students can learn independently.
Report 2: Advancing liberal education: from the COVID-19 pandemic to post-COVID-19
Ippei Shiozawa (Nishogakusha University)
In 2020, Japanese universities had to postpone the start of classes by one month due to COVID-19 pandemic. The active learning classes using online that the reporter has been implementing have achieved many results in fully online classes in 2020, hybrid online-face-to-face classes in 2021, and classroom classes in 2022 and beyond.
Reporter incorporated various creative ideas, such as repeatedly asking questions during lectures, creating time for individual thinking, group discussion, and presentations, and conducting library guidance sessions and classes taught by the president online. As a result of these practices, the results of student evaluations of these courses were higher than the overall average in both 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, after COVID-19. The employment situation of reporterʼs seminar students was also better than other university students.
