Jung Dae-yong, a business administration professor at Ajou Univerisity, delivers a lecture at the Suwon-based institution which ranks second in the category assessing the quality of teaching staff from the student satisfaction index. He says that the school’s rating system motivates him and helps provide courses that meet students’ needs. By Kim Seong-Ryong
Compared to 29 other major universities, the students at Korea University of Technology & Education (Koreatech) are the most satisfied with their school’s faculty members, administrative service provided by personnel and career support, according to a survey jointly conducted by the JoongAng Ilbo and polling company Research & Research.
The survey, titled the University Customer Satisfaction Index, quizzed 100 students each from 30 major universities nationwide on a one-on-one basis about their schools’ offerings in eleven categories.
The tech-specialized university in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, showed high numbers in the largest number of categories, followed by Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech) and Sungkyunkwan University, a big jump from the previous year’s ranking of 26.
Established in 1991 by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the state-funded university says its commitment to offering hands-on learning and aligning courses with students’ career paths contribute to enhancing student satisfaction.
All of the professors have at least three years of employment experience. They frequently help students find internships in various institutions and companies.
The employment rate of its graduates is 82.9, the highest among four-year institutions in Korea.
Woo Hyun-seok, who attends Koreatech, first hesitated to register for the school but now feels proud of it.
“It was hard to choose when I was in high school. It was lesser known than others and has a short history. I also wanted to go to Seoul like many of my friends”, the 27-year-old senior said.
“But now, my friends are jealous because my school provides practical education at cheaper tuition fees”, he said.
The engineering department at the college charges students 2.57 million won ($2,313) per semester, lower than the national average of 3.3 million won.
In addition to the relatively low expenses, a single student is granted an average of 1.5 million won per semester.
Ajou University in Suwon, Gyeonggi, came in second place in the category assessing professor quality. The institution has adopted course evaluations since 1996 and put the ratings on the school’s intranet so students can access them.
If a professor receives consistently low scores, the teacher is unlikely to be promoted.
Jung Dae-yong, a business administration professor, says the school’s rating system keeps him motivated and helps provide courses that meet students’ needs.
“I try to reflect the evaluation when I make a syllabus for the next semester”, said the professor, who was selected as a top teacher twice.
He said his course is demanding but is still the most popular course. The reason behind the popularity lies in his commitment to communicating with students.
During the discussion-oriented course, the 50-year-old professor always wears jeans and asks course-takers to call him by his English name in order to make them feel comfortable during class discussions.
Unlike Ajou University, some students from Soongsil University and Chonbuk National University expressed discontent with teaching and lecture quality.
“One professor spends 40 minutes out of a one and half hour class doing nothing, asking us to ‘generate a new, novel idea’. And he sits down and takes a rest”, said a media major at Soongsil University.
“For the rest of time, he just reads his PowerPoint materials. There’s no discussion, no questions. We don’t call him a professor, but a man reading PowerPoint”, the student said.
Students at Chonbuk University had a similar problem.
“Our statistics professor is always late and, throughout the class, he asks us to solve questions from textbooks. Even if I have a question, there’s no opportunity to ask”, said a sophomore at Chonbuk University.
The two schools were at the bottom of the ranking in the segment assessing teaching quality.
A number of universities embrace the evaluation system, but the system is a mere formality for some schools.
Seoul National University, known as Korea’s most prestigious, refrains from releasing the result of student assessment to the college undergraduates and only notifies it to professors and lecturers.
“There is a lecturer who has taught a course for five years. I heard the lecturer always get complaints on the evaluation, but there is no change”, said a junior music major at Seoul National University, who was interviewed for the survey.
In contrast to SNU, Sogang University goes the extra mile to enhance teaching quality. The university offers expert feedback on lectures if a professor requests it.
If a teacher requests feedback, teaching method specialists will provide advice.
“The experts said that I use too many hand gestures and my speaking is a little too fast”, said Kim Jae-woong, a professor in the liberal arts department at Sogang, which came in seventh in the teaching quality category.
In the segment that measures counseling skills by faculty members, Koreatech again secured the top spot.
Kaist came in second, as it strengthens its counseling system with college counselors.
“I was worried about my health and thinking about taking a year off”, said Suk Dong-ryul, who majors in mathematics at the prominent institution.
“I didn’t know what to do, but my adviser told me that it would be O.K. to put aside my studies and rejuvenate myself. Then, the adviser said that I can stay focused on my studies better after taking the rest”, the 22-year-old said.
At Chonnam National University, chemistry professors are assigned three students to provide advice for their future careers.
“I meet and talk with the professor at least once a month”, said Chung Rok-am, a 25-year-old senior majoring in chemistry.
“I was not confident about my decision to go to graduate school. But the professor gave me a lot of practical advice, which helped me make a better decision later on”, he said.
But some schools failed to provide counseling service that fulfils the need of students.
“There is a designated counselor, but I’ve never had counseling”, said a senior at Kyungpook National University.
“I met him once, but he didn’t know my name”.
The Koreatech students were the happiest with their school’s administrative services as well. They say their school personnel is kind and efficient.
By contrast, those attending Korea University were not satisfied with services regarding academic affairs.
“When I printed a copy of the proof of enrollment in English, my name was wrong on the copy and a school officer scolded me”, said a senior at Korea University.
The leading university scored 51.38 out of 100 in school personnel services, coming in 18th out of 30.
Dongguk University implemented a monitoring program where 20 designated students continue to assess the performance of administrative personnel.
The assessment result is reported to the dean of the school and affects the promotion. And its effort appears to be paying off as the institution ranked third on the list.
The school faculty members agree on the need to improve colleges’ offerings by paying attention to students’ voices.
“The education for the next generation is critical for the country’s competitiveness”, said Min Kyung-chan, head of the Future Strategy Department at Yonsei University.
“So, the universities which were negligent in their duties should look back and try to make it better”, Min said.
By Special Reporting Team
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