臺灣與美國工程及技術教育課程之比較研究

A Comparative Study of Engineering and Technology Curricula in Taiwan and USA

近年來，為因應社會經濟轉變，國內技職教育不斷進行改革，其中以專科學校改制及技術學院更名為科技大學最為明顯，但審視目前國內科技校院課程制定，課程內涵與普通大學所訂定的標準相差無異，其課程發展亦不能體現技職教育所倡議之務實致用的精神。本研究以工程領域為例，旨在探討臺灣及美國在工程及技術教育課程的差異性，在文獻探討上，以美國工程及技術教育發展概念為本研究的理論基礎；在研究方法上，採用Bereday四步驟比較分析模式，就不同分析點比較臺灣與美國在工程及技術教育的課程架構。本研究針對比較結果，發現臺灣工程領域的課程發展現況與美國之間有四大差異：一、課程內容缺乏明顯的規範與標準；二、工程及工程技術教育的課程只共用一個標準；三、缺乏工程技術教育的課程發展；四、工程及技術教育的數理及專業課程不因學制的不同而有明顯的區隔。最後，提出七點建議，作為我國未來科技校院課程改革之參考。

In recent years, due to dynamic changes of social and economic systems, technological and vocational education in Taiwan has been constantly undergoing reforms, of which the official changes in technological colleges to technological universities are obvious examples. However, by examining current curriculum planning at technological universities or colleges, curriculum content is not different from general universities. Furthermore, the curriculum development cannot exhibit the essence of technological and vocational education, namely, the importance of hands-on experiences and applied skills. By taking the engineering field as an example, this study aimed to explore the differences in curricula between engineering and technology education in Taiwan and the USA. In the literature review, the evolutionary conception of engineering and technology education in USA serves as theoretical foundation in this study. As a research method, this study adopts Bereday’s four-step analysis model to compare the curriculum structure between engineering and technology education in Taiwan and the USA from different analytical perspectives. After the comparison with the USA, this study summarizes four differences that describe current curriculum development of engineering field in Taiwan. These are: (1) lack of significant curriculum norms and standards, (2) the curriculum of engineering and engineering technology education only shares the same standards, (3) lack of curriculum development in engineering technology education, (4) mathematics, sciences and professional courses without significant differences between different school systems on engineering and engineering technology education. Finally, this study proposed seven suggestions as references for future curriculum reforms at technological universities in Taiwan.