CHI TIẾT NGHIÊN CỨU …
Tiêu đề
Is liberal arts education a good model for Arab universities?
Tác giả
Guessoum N.
Năm xuất bản
2018
Source title
Universities in Arab Countries: An Urgent Need for Change: Underpinning the Transition to a Peaceful and Prosperous Future
Số trích dẫn
3
DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-73111-7_9
Liên kết
Tóm tắt
The liberal arts philosophy of higher education has resurfaced lately in the Arab world due to two important developments: a) the opening of a number of 'American' universities (by name and/or by system of education); b) the growing debates about the urgency for reform of the higher education system(s) in the Arab world. Among the latter series of discussions, a Task Force on science at universities of the Muslim world (with a focus on the teaching of science at those universities) recently recommended the adoption of a model for science education rather close to the liberal arts higher education model, i.e. with a greater diversity of courses and a strong base of general education, including a good dose of humanities, social sciences, communication, and languages. Could the liberal arts approach be the solution even to the problems of science education and research production in the Arab world? That is a difficult question to address. The state of universities (generally) in the Arab world, and the state of science (teaching, research, and outreach) is known to be poor. There are enough indicators to ascertain this claim, and in this essay I provide a very brief review of the evidence (world rankings, academic publications, research spending, absence of academics and scientists from the media and other public arenas, etc.). There are additional problems, which the above-mentioned Task Force diagnosed, namely: heavily focused curricula, lack of balance between natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, languages, communication, etc., lack of balance between pure and applied sciences, heavy syllabi in science courses and programs, the language of instruction, the effect of religion, and other issues. Having briefly reviewed the problem, I make the liberal education pitch simply and clearly: adopt broad-based, general-education curricula for students majoring in all disciplines, including science and engineering, widen the skill sets of all graduates: mastery of two languages, oral and written communication skills, essential knowledge of natural science, humanities, social sciences, numeracy and basic statistical analysis, etc. © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018. All rights reserved.
Từ khóa
Arab universities; Higher education; Liberal arts; Multi-disciplinarity; Reforms
Tài liệu tham khảo
Bloom D.E., Rosovsky H., Why developing countries should not neglect liberal education, Lib Educ, 89, 1, pp. 16-23, (2003); Dix W., A liberal arts degree is more important than ever, (2016); Furedi F., Liberal education: preparing students for life's journey, Times Higher Education, October, 2014, (2014); Guessoum N., Osama A., Institutions: revive universities of the Muslim world, Nature, 526, pp. 634-636, (2015); Humphreys D., The case for liberal education-responding to challenges, (2006); Janeksela G.M., The value of a liberal arts education, Acad Exch Q., Winter 2012, 16, 4, pp. 37-42, (2012); Mimouni J., Should religion be kept out of the science classroom?, (2015); Appendix F- Draft report of the commission on 21st century education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, pp. 55-86, (2007); Razak D.A., Science education in universities in the Muslim world: no longer contented to merely be bystanders, (2015); Science at the Universities of the Muslim World, (2015); Zou'bi M.R., Science education in the Islamic world: a snapshot of the multilayered role of academies of sciences and the academe, (2015); Zou'bi M.R., Mohamed-Nour S., El-Kharraz J., Hassan N., The Arab States, in UNESCO Science report: toward 2030, pp. 431-469, (2016)
Nơi xuất bản
Springer International Publishing
Hình thức xuất bản
Book chapter
Open Access
Nguồn
Scopus