21世紀美國高等教育博雅教育模式多案例研究

A Multi-case Study of Liberal Arts Education Models in the United States’Higher Education in the 21st Century

本文通過對美國特定大學和學院的一些課程的調查，探討了美國當前的博雅教育模式。我們假設美國有四種重要的博雅學校，包括絕對博雅學校、獨立的博雅學校、博雅先於專業教育、與集成。然後，我們考察了美國四所典型學校，即威廉學院、普林斯頓大學、哈佛大學、與克萊蒙特麥肯納學院。我們通過訪問這些大學的主頁並參與現有的文獻和論點來設計定性研究，得出一些發現，即博雅教育對美國高等教育有著深遠的影響。我們發現美國博雅教育的價值有三個因素：通識教育、跨學科和思維方式。首先，這些學校的目標是為學生提供廣泛領域的通識教育，並重視修辭、思維和語法/寫作技能等科目的作用。此外，通識教育融入博雅教育，協助學生獲得跨學科知識和基本批判技能。最終，學生們學習如何集思廣益並形成心態來處理生活中復雜的情況。

This article explores the current models of liberal arts education in the US by investigating some curricula of specific universities and colleges in the US. We assume that there are four significant kinds of liberal arts schools in the US, including Absolute liberal arts school, Separate liberal arts schools, Liberal arts before professional education, and Integrated. Then, we investigate four typical schools in the US, namely William College, Princeton University, Harvard University, and Claremont McKenna College. We design qualitative research by accessing the homepages of these colleges and engaging in existing literature and arguments to draw some findings that liberal arts education has a profound impact on American higher education. We found there are three factors to identify the value of liberal arts education in the US: general education, interdisciplinary, and mindset. First, these schools aim to provide general education to students with a broad spectrum of fields and appreciate the role of the trivium of subjects, including rhetoric, thinking, and grammar/writing skills. Besides, general education is integrated into liberal arts education to assist students in acquiring interdisciplinary knowledge and basic critical skills. Eventually, students learn how to brainstorm and shape a mindset to deal with convoluted situations in their life.