美国大学通识教育模式、挑战及对策

American University General Education Models, Challenges and Strategies

哥伦比亚大学、芝加哥大学、哈佛大学是美国著名的研究型大学,在阐述自由教育和通识教育的历史传统和权威定义基础上,以其开展的通识教育为案例,比较分析几种不同通识教育模式的特点和利弊,探究美国实施通识教育的现实限制因素和社会文化根源。从整合通专教育、重视课外海外实践学习、加强系列课程建设、推动网络课程和重视学习结果评价五个方面分析当下美国解决通识教育问题的主要策略,以期为我国高校推行文化素质教育提供参考和借鉴。

Based on AACU definition of the concepts of liberal education and general education, this paper uses three famous American universities Columbia University, University of Chicago and Harvard University as examples of general education, to comparatively analyze specific characteristics, the pros and cons of different models of general education and to explore real constraints and social cultural roots of general education in the United States. We summarizes five main approaches to conquer these constraints of general education： integrating general education with specialized education, emphasizing on extra-curriculum and overseas experiential learning, strengthening construction of series courses, promoting online courses and focusing on learning result assessment, which could provide experiences and revelations for implementing quality education in Chinese universities.