Faculty member's general education curriculum design model: From the perspective of curriculum.

摘要

Quality Education for college students, which aims at overcoming the problems made by specialization education in the globalization of higher education and the fierce competition of comprehensive national power, has been carried out at universities in Mainland China since mid-1990s. The general education curricula at some universities are similar to American ones. This study focuses on teachers' understanding of general education curriculum, their practical general education curriculum design model and the influential factors in their course planning.;The researcher adopted qualitative research method, took one comprehensive university as a case study to explore the teachers' general education course designs. Based on document analysis, classroom observation and interviews, six teachers unique in their course design have been selected as research subjects. The study gives a deep description of their understanding of curriculum elements such as curriculum objectives, selection and organization of learning experiences, assessment and evaluation; constructs the general education course design model; and explores the reasons for the general education course design from the macro, organizational, and micro levels.;The research constructs a descriptive model for general education course design, finds out that curriculum orientation acts as the key influential factor of teachers' general education course planning, reflects the characteristics of general education course planning, works as the orientation of teachers' course design. Furthermore, the findings show that the background, interests and needs of college students should be taken into account in general education curriculum design. At the same time, the teachers' decision-making in general education courses can be analyzed from two-dimensions---"endemic and exotic, individual and policy".;The study explores the curriculum orientation of teachers in the field of college curriculum. The findings will develop college curriculum theories, deepen the understanding of the concept of curriculum orientation, provide plenty of practical experiences for teachers who give general education courses, and give suggestions for future college general education curriculum program improvement.