Exploring Students Perceptions and Needs Regarding the Liberal Arts Curriculum in a Flexible Major Declaration Program: A CQR-M Approach

This study was conducted to explore perceptions of students in a flexible major declaration program regarding the liberal arts curriculum and the types of courses they consider necessary to support their choice of major. To this end, data was collected using an open-ended questionnaire from 80 students enrolled in a flexible major declaration program at a four-year university in Gyeonggi-do, and qualitative data was analyzed using the modified consensual qualitative research method (CQR-M). Key findings are as follows. First, flexible major declaration program students' perceptions of the liberal arts curriculum prior to university enrollment was categorized into the domains of personal value and academic success expectations: ‘benefit’, ‘intrinsic interest’, ‘time and effort investment’, ‘task difficulty’, ‘learning expectations’, and ‘course context’. Further, ‘interest and enjoyment’, ‘knowledge expansion’, and ‘content usefulness’ were also frequently reported. Second, after experiencing liberal arts courses upon entering university, perceptions were grouped into the domains of personal value and academic success expectations and further categorized into the top-level categories of ‘utility value’, ‘cost of time and effort’, ‘satisfaction of intrinsic interest’, ‘assignment difficulty’, ‘instructor factors’, ‘depth of instruction’, ‘interest and enjoyment’, ‘academic burden’, and ‘beneficial course content’ were also frequently reported. Third, flexible major declaration program students' perceived requirements for liberal arts curricula to support their major-selection process were categorized into the ‘usefulness in preparing for desired major entry’, ‘identifying intrinsic interest’, ‘alleviating the perceived burden associated with time and effort investment’, and ‘forming a sense of belonging to the desired major’. In addition, ‘connection to the desired major’ and ‘indirect experience of various majors’ were also frequently reported. On the basis of these findings, the study discusses the significance of the liberal arts curriculum for students in flexible major declaration programs and offers practical implications for improving liberal arts curricula to better support students’ autonomous major selection.