美国文化概况论文

得分期末论文《美国文化概况》(选修)题目：An Analysis of Differences between American and Chinese Higher Educational and its cultural factors学院：风景园林学院专业：园林学号：101001215学生姓名：秦韵任课教师：吴雪峰二0一二年五月1. Introduction 32. Demonstration 32.1. General introduction to the two higher educations 3 2.2. General history of two higher educations 32.2.1. History of Chinese education32.2.2. History of American higher education 42.3. Detailed analysis of the differences 42.3.1. The difference in subjects 5 2.3.2. The difference in credit system 5 2.3.3. The difference in teaching methods 52.4 Culture factors for the differences 63.Conclusion 7 Bibliography 81. IntroductionThe comparison of educational differences between China and the United States includes both the realizition of the marrow of China＇s traditional education and the insight of the quintessence of American education. We can get beneficial enlightenment by studying the thought , which is beneficial to the current educational reform.2. Demonstration2.1. General introduction to the two higher educationsHigher education in the United States includes a variety of institutions of higher education. Strong research and funding have helped make United States colleges and universities among the world's most prestigious, making them particularly attractive to international students, professors and researchers in the pursuit of academic excellence. Public universities, private universities, liberal arts colleges, and community colleges all have a significant role in higher education in the United States.Higher education in China is continuously growing, changing and developing. There are over 2,000 universities and colleges, with more than six million enrollments in total. China has set up a degree system, including Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees that are also open to foreign students. The country offers non-degree programs as well.2.2. General history of two higher educations2.2.1. History of Chinese educationThe traditional Chinese education system is based on legalist and Confucian ideals. The teaching of Confucius has shaped the overall Chinese mindset for the past 2500 years. But, other outside forces have played a large role in the nation's educational development. The First Opium War of 1840, for example, opened China to the rest ofthe world. As a result, Chinese intellectuals discovered the numerous western advances in science and technology. This new information greatly impacted the higher education system and curriculum.Soviet influence in the early 1950s brought all higher education under government leadership. Research was separated from teaching. The government also introduced a central plan for a nationally unified instruction system, i.e. texts, syllabi, etc. The impact of this shift can still be seen today. Chinese higher education continues its struggle with excessive departmentalization, segmentation, and overspecialization in particular.From 1967 to 1976, China’s Cultural Revolution took another toll on higher education, which was devastated more than any other sector of the country. The enrollment of postsecondary students can be used as example to illustrate the impacts. The number dropped from 674,400 to 47,800. This has had a major impact on education in the 21st century. The decline in educational quality was profound..In 1977, Deng Xiaoping made the decision of resuming the National Higher Education Entrance Examination (Gao Kao), having profound impact on Chinese higher education in history. From the 1980s on, Chinese higher education has undergone a series of reforms that have slowly brought improvement.2.2.2. History of American higher educationReligious denominations established most early colleges in order to train ministers. They were modeled after Oxford and Cambridge universities. Harvard College was founded by the colonial legislature in 1636, and named after an early benefactor. Most of the funding came from the colony, but the college early began to collect endowment. Harvard at first focused on training young men for the ministry, and won general support from the Puritan colonies. Yale College was founded in 1701, and in 1716 was relocated to New Haven, Connecticut. The conservative Puritan ministers of Connecticut had grown dissatisfied with the more liberal theology of Harvard, and wanted their own school to train orthodox ministers.In New York City, the Anglicans set up King's College in 1746, with its president Doctor Samuel Johnson the only teacher. It closed during the American Revolution, and reopened in 1784 under thename of Columbia College; it is now Columbia University.2.3. Detailed analysis of the differences2.3.1. The difference in subjectsThe United States higher education attaches great importance to the humanities and history of education which in the United States is commonly set. For example,University of Maryland, College Park and other 11 universities. Nowadays, we do not have many History Department of Humanities Department in Colleges and universities . Mainly is the kind of comprehensive universities and colleges. At the same time, university in the United States , humanities and history course is the important content of College students. Chinese college of humanities history lesson is basic for their respective professional. Cultural and professional humanities class are rare. In modern society, the renewal of knowledge is very fast. And the knowledge in university is often obsolete. However, humanistic spirit and cultivating mode of thinking is the most fundamental, is not easy to date.2.3.2. The difference in credit systemUniversities in the United States are the implementation of credit system. Every student chooses subjects according to their interests. As long as the credits to graduate with diploma and degree. The American higher education system is extremely diverse and flexible, which is also in the world higher education; It is a opportunity to expand their knowledge, but also offers convenience condition to the students towards their interest in the direction of professional development. Students can also be dropped out of school to go to work. His credits can be remained and a year or a few years later he will continue to study in the university. In China, the student may choose the specialty according to own interest and hobby, but change of specialty in the school is not easy, and transformation of school is more difficult. At present, China's University also opening towards the direction. More and more students go to universities to further their studies.2.3.3. The difference in teaching methodsUs’s higher education was considered as the best education in the world . Comparing the elementary education between American and China, people's universalview will be: China's elementary education aims to build the foundation of education with more study and less thought. While US's education aims to build such an education to raise the creativity with less study and more thought. US's education pays more attention to raise student's self-confidence,independence,spirit of supporting oneself, but China's education emphases on training the students to be strict,rigorous spiritual. When American school inspects the result of student, they emphasize more on the ability to analyze and solve the question but not the ability of memory or description.2.4 Culture factors for the differencesEducation, is a kind of cultural phenomenon, different education reflects the different social and cultural connotation.The United States of America is a country of immigrants. Its ancestor is from all over the world. Moving to the United States is not only the geographical position of the move, but also the customs of the host country to the new place of residence. It is called Multicultural Education which is in order to pursue multiple racial, ethnic and cultural groups shall jointly enjoy the equal right to receive education.With a short history, the United States did not have a heavy historical burden. Its civilization and culture are lack of sense of history and stability. The United States developed market culture, science and technology is the modern culture prominent symbol. But China has a long history and splendid civilization and culture, broad and profound. The same as the other civilization, Chinese culture accumulation will inevitably be some dross, some negative, conservative ideas and affects the behavior of people in various fields.China is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual country. But from the point of development, minority area education level is generally low. We should learn about the tolerance of cultures in America which means a kind of liberal education.In my opinion, one of the main problems with todayˊs education is that too much emphasis is placed on the test score. It has become the most important criterion for college enrollment, A student, however creative and intelligent, will not beadmitted into a college if his total scores are just one point less than required. It also one of the crucial factors either in job assignment or in employment competitions.The competition for high scores among students become intense. Students find themselves concentrating more on strategies to achieve high scores than on acquiring the knowledge. They will play truant of some subsidiary courses, skip over the substance which will not be tested on, even pump teachers for hints on upcoming exams.Teachers are apt to give the students high scores .As their job is judged mainly by the students performance in terms of scores，some teachers even leak “accidentally”the exam questions or lower their criteria of scoring.As a result, the competition for high scores becomes so intense that it actually defeats the academic goals of education.3.ConclusionWith different history,higher education in the United States includes a variety of institutions of higher education and higher education in China is continuously growing, changing and developing. There are differences in subjects: the humanities and history of education in the United States is commonly set. Chinese college of humanities history lesson is basic for their respective professional. Cultural and professional humanities class are rare; There are differences in credit system: Universities in the United States are the implementation of credit system and the American higher education system is more diverse and flexible than Chinese education; There are differences in teaching methods: China's elementary education aims to build the foundation of education with more study and less thought. While US's education aims to build such an education to raise the creativity with less study and more thought. US's education pays more attention to raise student's self-confidence,independence,spirit of supporting oneself, but China's education emphases on training the students to be strict, rigorous spiritual. Education, is a kind of cultural phenomenon, different education reflects the different social and cultural connotation. We should learn about the tolerance of cultures in America which meansa kind of liberal education. What is the most important is that high scores means nothing sometimes.BibliographyArye Perlberg. Evaluation of instruction in higher education: Some critical Issues[J].Higher Education,1979陈燕军.中美教育文化的差异[D].2007烨子.中美教育的差异告诉我们什么?[J].长春出版社,2008: 13-16/view/4881711.htm/view/3aacb243b307e87101f69696.html。