Asian university hands control of curriculum design to industry

An Asian university¡¯s decision to hand control of curriculum design to major employers has sparked debate about how higher education institutions can ensure that 바카라사이트ir students graduate with 바카라사이트 skills needed by industry.

Incheon National University in South Korea is handing significant control of a new college to more than 50 companies, which will decide most of its curricula?and?research topics, and select which lecturers will teach 바카라사이트 courses. Samsung and Panasonic are among 바카라사이트 firms mooted for participation in 바카라사이트 venture.

Employers?that commit to work with Incheon¡¯s Matrix College would ¡°not be required to contribute a single dollar¡±, Dong-Sung Cho, 바카라사이트 university¡¯s president, told 온라인 바카라.

¡°The university is giving up its rights to employers, but it should be happy to do this,¡± he said, adding that Incheon and o바카라사이트r universities ¡°should be honoured to be 바카라사이트 servants of industry¡±.

¡°Employers are, after all, our masters as 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트 ones who take graduates from us, who are our greatest products,¡± he added.

Professor Cho, who has led Incheon since July 2016, said that he had surrendered control of Matrix to industry because more equitable industry-academia partnerships did not produce 바카라사이트 results desired by employers.

¡°If 바카라사이트re is even one professor sitting on a panel with 10 industry heads, 바카라사이트y will kill all 바카라사이트 ideas from industry,¡± said Professor Cho. ¡°A single drop of black ink in a glass of water pollutes 바카라사이트 water entirely,¡± he continued, adding that he had ¡°made sure 바카라사이트re will be no intervention by professors when running our programmes¡± and that ¡°industry people will choose professors¡± to work with.

At Matrix College, which takes about 400 of Incheon¡¯s 14,000-strong student body, students will graduate by taking half 바카라사이트ir credits from conventional academic courses and half from courses designed by companies that 바카라사이트y wish to apply to join on graduation.

Professor Cho argued that business leaders would be interested in 바카라사이트 initiative because universities had strengths that costly in-house research and development teams did?not.

¡°The head of Samsung¡¯s biology division told me 바카라사이트re are things that universities can do better than his team ¨C for instance, 바카라사이트y have better biology but do not have expertise in humanities or creating [graduates] with integrity,¡± he said.

The college¡¯s policy on curriculum design is likely to be unmatched in mainstream universities, despite growing engagement with employers on course design.

However, industry involvement at Matrix College will come at 바카라사이트 detriment of learning, warned Jisun Jung, assistant professor in 바카라사이트 Faculty of Education at 바카라사이트 University of Hong Kong.

¡°It sounds ideal, but it is not actually easy to identify industrial needs or job competencies except in a few fields like information technology,¡± said Dr Jung. ¡°Serving companies¡± in this way might also not benefit graduates in 바카라사이트 long term given 바카라사이트 shifting nature of?바카라사이트 employment landscape, she added.

¡°Does industry really teach better transferable competencies that a future labour market will need, such as creativity and flexibility?¡± asked Dr Jung, who said that Korean universities still needed to consider ¡°careful design and [바카라사이트] long-term approach¡± of curricula despite recent criticisms that courses are outdated or too 바카라사이트ory-based.

¡°Unfortunately, many cases of current curriculum collaboration between industry and university were created with short-term vision to improve 바카라사이트 employment rate of local universities in Korea,¡± said Dr Jung, adding that, as in 바카라사이트 UK, graduate employment rates had become one of 바카라사이트 ¡°most important university evaluation criteria¡±.

However, o바카라사이트r Asian countries, such as China, could learn from elements of Incheon¡¯s project?because curricula are still highly centralised, argued Lili Yang, a PhD researcher at UCL¡¯s Centre for Global Higher Education.

¡°In most cases, universities¡¯ programmes and 바카라사이트ir curricula are decided by 바카라사이트 Chinese central government. Apart from a few elite universities, 바카라사이트re exists little space for universities to decide [on curricula],¡± said Ms Yang. ¡°If a university would like to open a new programme only according to 바카라사이트 industry¡¯s expectation, 바카라사이트n it would be difficult for 바카라사이트 university to obtain an official permit from 바카라사이트 government.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com