• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.63-73
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• 2018

This research aims to analyze core competencies of engineering students in Korea as well as to explore the application plans of extracurricular activities(hereafter, ECA) and programs in order to enhance their core competencies. Participation in ECA has long been recognized as having positive benefits and impacts upon students. To achieve the purpose of this study, first, we investigated whether there were differences between core competencies in undergraduates according to majors, gender and grades. 'Core competencies', first introduced in management theory as 'core competency' can be defined as personal attributes or underlining characteristics, capable of delivering a role or job. 'Core competencies' has received particular attention in recent years and there has been much related research (domestic and foreign) combined with diverse factors. However, few studies have addressed the question on engineering student's core competencies as well as the ways of their enhancement. This study was conducted with a total of 286 students, and core competencies have been measured online, through K-CESA. Our findings show that firstly, there were significant differences in undergraduate students' core competencies by majors. Engineering students scored significantly lower in core competencies overall. Second, there was no significant difference in students' core competencies by gender and grade. Third, there was a significant correlation among components of core competencies. Finally, there was a significant correlation between core competencies and grades(GPA, grades in major subject & liberal arts subject), rather levels in the correlation were low. Furthermore, the study suggested that the appropriate application of extracurricular activities would enhance core competencies of students.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.3-20
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• 2021

As we have become more interested in 'competency' that means ability to do something around the world, the competency of the best performers has also been introduced in the university curriculum as a concept of core competency. Research continues on why this competency-based education is needed compared to existing academic-oriented education, how it can be introduced into existing curricula, and how it can be developed and evaluated in detail. This study develops and validates core competency assessment tools that can diagnose core competencies of engineering students. Therefore, this research paper conducted a literature review related to core competencies and also core competency assessment tools of university students. It seeks to explore the implications of core competency assessment tools for engineering students and then lay the foundation for competency-based teaching and learning at engineering colleges. And also it defines the concepts of core competencies and each core competency of engineering students through prior research analysis of competence, core competence, and core competence of university students. The primary core competency assessment tool consisted of sub-factors and questions of core competencies. It were modified through the expert validation of the primary one and then it was used as a core competency assessment tools for preliminary investigation. The core competency assessment tools for engineering students are consisted of 6 competencies, 22 sub-factors, and 91 questions. There are core competencies as follows: engineering basic competencies, major engineering competencies, self-management competencies, communication competencies, interpersonal competencies, global competencies. The preliminary survey was conducted on 426 engineering students attending the Engineering Education FESTA 2019. The preliminary findings were derived by conducting exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, question characteristics analysis, and reliability analysis for validation. The core competency assessment tools developed through this study can be used to verify the effectiveness of the curriculum and programs for students at engineering colleges. In addition, the developed core competencies, sub-factors, and questions can be utilized in a series of courses that design, conduct, and evaluate engineering curricula and programs as competency-based curriculum. The significance of this study is to lay the groundwork for providing competency-based education engineering students to develop core competencies.

• Korean Management Science Review
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.35-56
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• 2017

Technology innovations have been accelerating changes across industries and intensifying competition. Enterprises are therefore required to continuously secure their internal and external competitiveness. Based on the principle that core competencies of a firm are essential to its competitiveness, many research studies have been conducted to figure out the effect of core competencies to business performance. However, individual research works considered a part of core competencies or limited to a specific industry, which means that their findings may differ when additional core competencies are included in their analysis. After re-establishing the definition of each core competency from literature review, this study comprehensively investigated the effect relationship among core competencies and business performance. Structural equation modeling and multiple regression analysis with 421 survey respondents from various industries were conducted for our empirical study.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.50-58
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to explore the core competencies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the major newspaper articles of social network analysis and to examine the core competencies required by each field and target. To do this, we reviewed prior research focusing on core competency concepts and core competencies of engineering students, and analyzed 227 articles related to core competencies of the 4th Industrial Revolution, focusing on five major newspapers. Through analysis, we analyzed social network with 118 refined core competency keywords. As a result of the research, it was found that core competencies of the 4th Industrial Revolution are the degree centrality in terms 'creativity', 'problem solving ability', 'convergence ability', 'collaboration ability', 'conductivity', 'software ability', 'human literacy', 'personality' order. Also, as a result of the analysis of the ego centric network by field and target, the required core competencies of university and industry were found to be different. Through these discussions, it is necessary to restructure the core competence of engineering students in order to nurture the engineering talents necessary for the 4th Industrial Revolution.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.197-206
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a model for diagnosing core competencies at the higher education level. Based on literature reviews, a potential model for core competencies at university was suggested. A tool for validating the model was composed of 24 items, which were delivered to 226 professors and administrative staffs, 730 students, and 134 graduates & external industrial experts. Five constructs (core competencies) were extracted from the data collected among professors and administrative staff responding to the importance of the items. The results of importance and performance surveys on core competencies with students were respectively 3.28 to 3.66 and 2.68 to 3.28 (4-point Likert scale). Statistical differences between importance level and performance level were found in all the sub-categories of core competencies. Borich priority determination formula and Locus for Focus Model were used for the determination of the priority of needs. Importance survey among graduates and external experts showed that the mean of each items ranged from 2.80 to 3.76 (4-point Likert scale). The overall results of the analyses suggest that the final model is appropriate for measuring the core competencies.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.414-424
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• 2022

Objectives: This study was established to ascertain the requirements and implementation of core competencies for employees of the a workers' health center. Methods: The study consisted of a four-step process: a literature review, focus group interviews, expert opinions, and a questionnaire. The survey was conducted online among 119 employees of the National Workers' Health Center. Results: As a result of the research, eleven core competencies and 37 sub-competencies were derived in three areas: Competence as a social worker, competence to perform duties, and competence for maintaining expertise. The key demands for core competencies were "health consultation" and "understanding of small businesses.". They responded that they needed to "maintain an ethical attitude" and "consult on workers' health.". The largest score difference between core competency requirements and competency implementation was "collaboration with the community.". Conclusions: It is necessary to increase competencies not only for competencies with high core requirements, but also for relatively low competencies. In addition, efforts should be made to improve the core competencies of the employees of the Workers' Health Center to effectively respond to changes in the industrial structure and crises such as COVID-19.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.16-28
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop nurses' core competencies and sub-competencies and to verify the validity and importance-performance of core competencies. Methods: The core competencies of nurses were derived through an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as a literature analysis of domestic and foreign accreditation institutions. Validity and importance-performance analyses were conducted on the core competencies derived from nursing colleges nationwide. Results: Six core competencies of nurses were revealed: integration of knowledge and nursing skills, critical thinking, communication, leadership, safety management, and global competency. Further, eighteen sub-competencies were derived. The content validity ratio values for the core competencies were higher than 0.74. Communication skills among multidisciplinary teams and communication skills among nursing teams were shown to be the most important competencies to be improved. Conclusion: The results of this study are meaningful in terms of how the core competencies of nurses were derived and evaluated for the fourth cycle of nursing education accreditation according to the changes of time and culture.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.47-56
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• 2023

This study identified the core competencies of aircraft maintenance quality engineers and compared the importance and retention of core competencies. Through literature research, 21 core competencies were derived in three areas of management technology, elemenal technology and collaboration technology, and a survey was conducted on the importance and retention of core competencies for 42 aircraft maintenance quality engineers. As a result of the survey, the importance of all core competencies of aircraft maintenance quality engineers is 3.95/5 on average, and the retention of all core competencies is 3.99/5 on average. 'Risk Management', 'Creating Document', 'Honesty/Moral' were identified as the most important competencies in each area, and 'Quality Management', 'Language', 'Honesty/Moral' were identified as the most possessed competencies in each area. An IPA (Importance-Performance Analysis) was performed to analyze the details. Through IPA, 'Risk Management' and 'Safety Management' were evaluated as having a low degree of retention compared to a high level of importance. Therefore, they were identified as a core competencies that need to be improved first. In addition, the characteristics of each core competency and the recognition level in the field were also identified. This study will be helpful in defining the roles and functions of aircraft maintenance quality engineers to improve flight quality and prevent aviation accidents.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.7-18
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the core competencies for 119 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and to provide evidence for the development and utilization of 119 EMTs, education and training programs. Methods: Data were collected with a questionnaire that consisted of items on the general characteristics of the subjects (8 items) and importance and satisfaction levels for 10 competencies, including 34 items on subfactors. The Borich Needs Assessment Model was used in designing the questionnaire. A locus for focus model was used to derive the top priority competencies for the improvement of core competency in the profession. Data were analyzed with by SPSS ver.21 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Results: The core competencies for 119 EMTs were derived from technical competency, information competency, communication competency, problem-solving competency, self-development competency and interpersonal competency. In addition, among the sub-factors of these competencies, 16 abilities (including leadership), ability to apply technical knowledge, technical comprehension, conflict management ability, ability to create documents, problem handling ability, ability to think, technical selection ability, and computer literacy were included in the priority category. Conclusion: This study derived and presented the core competencies for 119 EMTs to enable them to meet the modern day requirements of their roles, which may contribute to enhancing their professionalism.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.77-84
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• 2018

Purpose - The aim of this study was to analyze the educational needs of distribution company salespeople in core competencies for convergence and their general perception of convergence education. Furthermore, this study provides basic data on core competencies for convergence needed by them. Research design, data, and methodology - A survey was conducted on 104 distribution company salespeople who worked near Seoul, Korea to analyze the perceptions of their educational needs in core competencies for convergence education, according to their socio-demographic characteristics. The socio-demographic characteristics were gender, age, workplace size, education background, work experience and business category. The questionnaire consisted of demographic factors (7 questions), general perception of convergence education (5 questions), perception of importance of core competency for distribution company salespeople (9 questions), and current perception of distribution company salespeople on core competency of convergence workers (9 questions). Park et al.(2014)'s categorization of convergence core competencies was used: Cognitive convergence (creative thinking, critical thinking and understanding of convergence knowledge), convergence performance (problem solving, communications, collaboration and application of convergence tools) and attitude toward convergence (empathy and responsibility). Data was collected through an independent sample of t-tests and a one-way analysis of variance and the Borich Needs Assessment Model was used to identify the educational needs of distribution company salespeople in the core competencies of convergence education. Results- The results show that the subjects recognized the need for convergence education to be high among the general perceptions. The perception scores for workers of different backgrounds only varied according to the size of the business. Moreover, the results of the educational needs analysis and the ranks of the required core competencies of convergence workers by the subjects were as follows: 1. convergence knowledge understanding competency, 2. creative thinking competency, 3. convergence tool application competency, 3. communications competency, 4. problem solving competency, 5. collaboration competency, 6. critical thinking competency, 7. empathy competency, 8. responsibility competency. Conclusions - This study highlights the necessity of developing university curriculum that can nurture the core competencies of conversion education reflecting distribution company salespeople's requests as well as cultivating qualified convergence workers required by distribution company workers.