Academic Standards and Mass Higher Education*

This article considers the role of academic standards in the wider context of the problem faced by modem societies of how to reconcile the survival and provision of elite higher education with the emergence of mass education. From the advantage of an outside perspective it examines the division between higher and further education and reflects on the implications of that separation and on the costs and consequences of the academic standards that characterise the British system of elite higher education. It considers the prospects for the emergence from further education of a truly mass system of institutions marked by lower per capita costs and lower standards standing alongside and linked with a system of higher education marked by very high academic standards. The article concludes that what is still lacking is a general recognition that all degree-granting higher education is only a part, albeit a central part, of a broad system of post-secondary and continuing education, marked by a diversity of standard, mission and cost, which has as its mission the advanced education of a whole society and not just its leadership.     

建立高等教育质量国家标准的思考——来自俄罗斯的经验和启示

建立科学完善的高等教育质量标准是国际高等教育发展的趋势,也是我国需要解决的重大问题。俄罗斯《高等职业教育国家标准》的建立背景、制定机构和框架要素等可为我国提供一定借鉴,建立我国高等教育质量国家标准时,也需明确高等教育质量的内涵、确立多元制定主体、设计合理的框架体系。     

高等教育结构的多样化与高等教育大众化

高等教育大众化导致了高等教育结构的多样化,而高等教育结构的多样化又促进了高等教育的大众化。在世界高等教育大众化进程中,高等教育的形式结构、层次结构、等级结构和部门结构等方面都呈现出多样化的趋势。我国高等教育大众化也要走结构多样化之路,在规模扩张的同时要调整与优化结构,使高等教育全面得到发展。     

从高等教育大众化角度审视高校自主招生

自主招生是高考改革中为适应高等教育大众化而推出的一项重要举措。但是,在自主招生实践中却出现了诸如录取标准过高、选择范围有限等问题,忽视了学生权益,有损教育的公平与公正,不利于素质教育的实施,有违自主招生的初衷。为此,呼吁建立更加科学、完善的自主招生制度。     

Mass Higher Education and the Need for New Responses

Three major challenges for higher education are in the centre of the public debate in Europe. First, expansion of higher education: tertiary education enrolment surpassed 50 percent in Japan, the U.S. and Western Europe, and graduation quotas are above 50, 40 and 30 percent respectively. The expansion triggered feelings of loss exclusiveness, increased pressure for efficiency and quality and stimulated reconsiderations of the modes of diversity in higher education. Second, the spread of new technologies seems to lead not only to a more rapid turnover of knowledge, but also to new learning behaviour of students, a shift of the role of academics towards advisory activities. It also might reinforce standardisation of knowledge, steeper packing order of institutions and a cost explosion. Third, the period of managerial experimentation in higher education might be substituted by a process of sorting out the strengths and limitations of an increased managerial approach in higher education. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

关于高等教育大众化与教育质量下滑的忧思

高等教育大众化有其历史必然性。它需要人们从教育理念上、管理理念上、教学方法、管理方法以及人、财、物等方面,为这一过程的到来做好准备。如果人为地加速这一过程,则很可能给高等教育的发展带来诸多困难和隐患。高等教育大众化不能以降低质量为代价,否则高等教育就无法发挥它对整个社会生活和社会发展的“引领”作用。教育质量标准的“多元化”决不是任意化。高等教育质量必须有一个“底线”。     

高等教育大众化视野下新生入学教育思考——以华南农业大学为例

本文通过调查问卷和访谈的方式探讨新形势下大学新生存在的主要问题,探寻新生入学教育策略,实现新生成功的人生转折.     

高等教育规模发展的反思

我国高等教育的大规模发展以1999年高校扩招为标志。扩招为经济增长增添了新的亮点,但伴随扩招也引发了一系列教育和社会问题。解决这些问题,必须以科学发展观作为指导,理性发展高等教育事业。     

高等职业教育课程标准的建设

近年来我国高等职业教育得到了极大的发展,其办学质量也越来越受到重视,然而高等职业教育课程和标准还存在很多问题。借鉴发达国家职业教育课程标准的建设经验,以就业为导向、工学结合、与职业技能标准对接、注意课程标准的更新调整,建立和完善我国高等职业教育的课程标准,全面提升高等职业教育质量。     

美国高等教育认证理事会:认可目标、标准和程序

质量认证是美国高等教育质量保证的重要途径之一.美国质量认证由民间机构完成.各认证机构自成体系,认证的传统、目标、标准和程序各不相同.因此,如何协调各认证机构的质量认证,确保各认证机构质量就变得十分重要.本文试图通过对美国成立不久的全美高等教育质量认证理事会的介绍,以说明该机构在质量认证机构的沟通和协调上所起的重要作用,并在此基础上归纳出美国高等教育质量认证机构资格认可的三个特点.     

高等教育的理想与现实--也谈我国高等教育大众化

从世界高等教育大众化的发展历史与我国教育的基本现实两个角度,对我国高等教育大众化问题进行了分析,阐明了我国高等教育大众化的前景与现实.     

美国高校学生事务发展专业标准述评

本文就美国高校学生事务发展专业标准出台的背景与发展脉络、CAS一般标准、CAS标准的功能与作用等方面进行了介绍、分析和评点,以期对建立我国高校学生工作专业标准和促进高校辅导员队伍专业化发展有所启示。     

论高等职业教育的质量与标准

高等教育的大众化使高等职业教育的大发展成为必然,但我国高等职业教育在大发展的同时并未伴随质量的提高,这除了高等职业教育发展过程中出现的各种客观原因以外,更多的是高等职业教育自身的质量观和质量标准问题。高等职业教育与普通高等教育质量与标准的差异,体现在学术标准和职业标准的差异上。高等职业教育的质量标准由职业能力、普适性能力和学术能力组成,其中,职业能力是体现其质量的核心标准,普适性能力和学术能力则是衡量其质量的一般标准,三者在实现高等职业教育目标中的作用依次递减。     

OER perspectives: emerging issues for universities

This reflection examines some of the continuing and emerging issues in the open educational resources (OER) field. These include blending OER with university management structures; formal and non-formal OER; the need for sustainable OER business models; and expanding awareness, adoption, and use of OER. In the future, research will need to examine the concept of open educational practices (OEP) and OER issues relevant to faculty incentives and career advancement in the university. The author suggests there is no silver bullet solution to the “open” road ahead. Proprietary and open content will coexist in the education sector. OER are not a panacea for resolving all the range of global education issues and divides. OER are, however, a valuable resource that must be developed and sustained. OER may ultimately be the genuine equalizer for education and for empowering social inclusion in a pluralistic, multicultural, and imperfect world.     

Mass Higher Education and the English: Wherein the Colleges?

One of the distinctive features of the English encounter with mass higher education has been the uncertain and ambiguous role of further education colleges as providers of undergraduate education. Both before and during the major expansion that marked the shift to a mass scale of higher education in England, the higher education offered by colleges in the further education sector was commonly regarded as a residual or ancillary activity; its courses mostly at levels below the first degree and its growth in numbers among the slowest in higher education. In the period that followed, these same colleges were accorded a special mission in the delivery of short‐cycle undergraduate education and, through their involvement in foundation degrees, were expected to lead a large part of the expansion in future years. The elevation of this provision, from a zone of ‘low’ or no policy to one of ‘high’ policy, has coincided with a radical reform of the planning, funding and quality arrangements for post‐compulsory education. Under conditions less than favourable to the achievement of their higher education goals, colleges remain the responsibility of one administrative sector and higher education institutions the responsibility of another.     

发展高等职业教育是实现高等教育大众化的必然选择

无论是从马丁·特罗 (MartinTrow)的高等教育发展阶段划分理论中的有关论述 ,还是比较研究一些已经进入高等教育“大众化”阶段国家的“大众化”进程 ,以及从我国现阶段经济社会发展的需要等方面来看 ,大力发展高等职业教育是实现高等教育“大众化”的必然选择。最后 ,对发展高等职业教育提出若干建议。     

对高等教育大众化后我国精英教育的思考

精英不但应具有优异的才识或专业技能,更重要的是强烈的责任感。精英教育是一种追求卓越的教育理念,当前我国高等教育应坚持精英教育和大众教育并举。在高分就是精英、拥有高学历就是精英、名牌大学培养的都是精英等观念的影响下,我国培养出大量伪精英。实施精英教育需要先进的教育理念,要改革传统教育模式,关注社会需求,加强实践能力训练,将人才的价值取向从考试能力转变到实际能力上来,培养学生的社会责任感,积极探寻培养创新型人才的教育模式。