Imagine a high school senior gearing up for the 2024 college admissions, who walks into the guidance counselor's office one day asking which university to choose from among Minerva University, Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), or Taejae University.
It's hard to deny the fact that since its launch in 2012, Minerva University has been at the forefront of revolutionizing global higher education for over a decade. Born in California, this educational start-up initially known as 'Minerva Institute' or 'Minerva School at KGI,' rebranded itself as "Minerva University" upon gaining accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges/Senior College and University Commission in 2021. Minerva University has been nothing short of an emblem for "university innovation" in Korea since 2016.
Minerva's groundbreaking approach in California has also made quite an impact in Korea. A corporate founder invested a significant portion of his wealth with the vision to establish a university that develops true global leaders. This ambition is being realized at Taejae University, named after the Korean words for 'large house' or 'great harmony', with former Korea University President Yeom Jae-ho at the helm. Korea's first 'digital university with the world as its campus' is on the horizon.
Between Minerva University and Taejae University is KENTECH. Being the world's first energy-specialized university, providing all incoming freshmen with substantial scholarship benefits, making daring investments to attract top-tier professors and researchers, and hiring a Vice President from Seoul National University's have been the cornerstone of its competitive strategy. Yet, some critics underline the political undertones tied to KENTECH's inception, stemming from the previous government's campaign promises. Such criticisms might explain why it's not widely known that KENTECH joined forces with Minerva in August 2021 to develop a curriculum centered on the "Fully Active Learning"™ teaching method.
So, given this context, what advice should a college counselor give to a high school senior who's considering these three relatively new universities? This question, of course, is purely speculative. The likelihood of this scenario playing out in real life is slim. That is, it's highly improbable that a high school senior would be weighing whether to apply (or attend) Minerva University, KENTECH, or Taejae University.
Let's take note of the curious interplay among the three universities previously introduced, all of which are intertwined around Minerva University. Taejae University partnered with 'Active Learning Sciences', an educational consulting firm established by Professor Kosslyn, who was the Chief Academic Officer of Minerva University. They have eagerly adopted his Active Learning Online model. Meanwhile, Minerva University has been championing a seemingly similar but innovative pedagogical approach called Fully Active Learning™, part of which has been adopted by KENTECH. These two different universities are walking a similar path, having accepted the core of innovative education driven by Minerva University, Active Learning. In essence, Active Learning is a keyword that runs through these three universities.
It is interesting to observe the extent to which Taejae University and KENTECH, who have embraced this innovative education of Active Learning, can influence the socio-cultural context of South Korea by emphasizing "recognized brand". Especially, the deep-rooted reputation preference called “Hakbeol” is a crucial factor that makes students and parents feel unfamiliar with new and unheard-of universities. The phenomenon of viewing the reputation of a university as a more important criterion for college choice than the quality of education or campus life satisfaction is still deeply rooted. The 'liberal arts invasion', considered a social problem since the implementation of the integrated university entrance examination in 2022, well illustrates the pursuit of symbolic capital.
While a diploma from a prestigious university may not guarantee social success as much as in the past in South Korean society, it is still the most powerful means of social mobility, and their strong brands allure many students and parents. If we assume this to be merely a thing of the past, it would be difficult to explain the unique phenomena in Korea, where the lights of the academies in Daechi-dong do not know when to turn off late at night, online lectures by the “superstars” in shadow/private education sectors are sold out in no time, and debates on somewhat hollow topics like whether the regular admission rate of 40% is appropriate are held are broadcasted.
The reason the question "Which is better, Minerva University, KENTECH, or Taejae University?" is inherently difficult to establish is not just because the majors offered by each university do not overlap with each other, or because certain universities select only those who can enter in September, allowing only repeat students to apply.
The first and foremost reason that comes to my mind is that there is still a clear tendency to choose a university based on 'reputation' rather than 'value'. The pattern of selecting a university based on an externalized criterion, which others deem fit, rather than a personalized college selection criterion reflecting one's own value judgment, is likely to exclude such completely new types of higher education. Students, parents, and even college counselors may find it difficult to easily understand what kind of differentiated value and experience these completely different universities can provide to learners.
Especially, the unique context of the Korean college admissions landscape, divided into 'Early Admission' and 'Regular Admission', clinging respectively to school records/portfolio and CSAT scores, and aiming for the top of the food chain in reputation, provides a very convenient excuse to justify such 'update stop'. Since the implementation of the national Advancement of College Education (ACE) project in 2010, there has been a movement that quality of education should become indicators of university competitiveness. But, is the selection of universities by students and parents currently based on these criteria?
At this point when digital technology-based university education has become commonplace, passing through the wave of OCW, MOOC, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the stride of these three universities, promoting their ability to provide excellent education in the online/hybrid environment, should undoubtedly be paid attention to, not only within South Korea but on a global scale.
Can someone bravely advise to choose a university where one can receive digital-based innovative education over a brand like SKY in South Korea? What knowledge, experience, and worldview do we need to possess to judge whether such advice is valid? We are not necessarily bound by the perspective of a career and college counselor. The emergence of completely new universities poses a serious challenge to us all.
--------------------------
* Disclaimer
This content is an edited summary of the article published in June 2023 on the "University Choice 12", a monthly magazine published by University News Network for college counselors in South Korea. For the original article, please visit http://www.dhchoice.com or http://naver.me/FmVyjOvD (download PDF).
Comments
Post a Comment