Current Status of Integrated Science in College Liberal Education

This study analyzed the current status of integrated natural science courses that cover all natural science fields offered to liberal arts students in Korean universities. It was found that only 40% of Korean universities offered integrated natural science courses. To examine these courses, we inspected students' course guide handbooks and syllabuses to classify contents and teaching methods. Most of the courses were just a simple combination of physics, chemistry, and biology mainly adopted in traditional "Introduction to Natural Science"-type courses. Developed countries provide integrated science, scientific inquiry methods, and science-related-to-everyday-life courses. True integrated science courses that provide a natural science perspective were extremely rare. Only a few Korean universities have recognized the need for integrated science education, and some have only attempted to do so. However, Korea has not developed its integrated natural science curriculum in liberal education, hence the lack of proper textbooks and teaching materials.