Analysis of Learning Objectives Described in University General Education Syllabi

The purpose of this study was to examine the status of learning objectives described in university general education course syllabi and to analyze whether these learning objective statements are appropriate for the purpose of general education. To this end, the learning objectives described in the syllabus of 184 general education courses offered by University A in City G in the first semester of 2024 were analyzed to derive the status of learning objective statements and behavior verbs. The research results are as follows. First, the status of learning objective statements was as follows: 59.2% were ‘sentence type’, 20.1% were ‘bullet style type’, and 20.7% were ‘other statement type. Among the ‘other statement types’, ‘subject outline type’ was the most common at 57.9%, ‘instructor-centered type’ at 10.5%, and ‘mixed type’ stated in the subject outline and instructor language at 31.6%. Second, in the analysis of learning objective behavior verbs, the most frequent verb was ‘understand’, followed by ‘cultivate’, ‘express’, ‘acquire’, ‘explore’, ‘analyze’, ‘understand’, ‘explain’, ‘solve’, ‘apply’, and ‘build’. Also, the general education learning objectives were found to contain many behavior verbs such as ‘appreciate’, ‘empathize’, ‘cultivate’, ‘reflect’, and ‘lead’ which emphasize affective domains. Third, Bloom's analysis of learning objectives also showed that general education reflects the cultivation of affective domain of learning, such as personality, citizenship, and cultural sensitivity in addition to cognitive domains as its educational goals. These results could confirm the current status of university professors' awareness and implementation of the learning objectives stated in the general education course syllabus, and can provide implications for the design and implementation of quality management competency programs.