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Exploration Into The Development Of American Assessment System At Doctoral Level

Posted on:2010-08-06Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:L Y ZhaoFull Text:PDF
GTID:1117360275986960Subject:Higher Education
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
The quality of doctoral education is both the landmark of higher educaton and animportant index of the innovation capability of a country at the era of knowledge-basedeconomy.Therefore,the governance of doctoral education has drawn worldwideattention.As an important countermeasure,the assessment on the quality of doctoraleducation has become one of the most important international hot topics.Based on thedevelopmental level and the cutural comparative superiority,the disseration focuses onassessment at doctoral level from the perspective of histroy and structure,probes into itscharacterstics and future trend comprehensively.Historical speaking,judged by the objectives,measurements,evalutors,methods ofthe assessment.,American assessment system at the doctoral level has experienced threeperiods on fulfilling the goal of promoting the enhancement of doctoral education quality.First,the period of certification admittance in the 20th centry:the calling for doctoraledcuation standardization and the self consciousness of program self-protectionstimulated the birth of American program accreditation at that time,the rigorousaccreditation systesm had played an important role in the phase of Amercian doctoraledcuation standardization.Second,the period of the evaluation system construction:Since the 1930s,the information demand-driven ranking system started and became astrong external driving force to stimulate the internal reformatin of most docotoralprograms.Thus,many institutions began to set up rigorours internal assessment system.Third,the period of reflection and reconstruction on the system:pushed by the socialdemand and academic research,the evaluation objectives have changed fromstandardization to improvement,the assesment criteria is becoming more related to theprogram quality,more and more stakeholders engaged,various methods can be chosen tocollect evidence.The reality shows that the calling for effectiveness is the contiunousmotivation.of the assessment system development.Structurally speaking,the American Assessment system at the doctoral level mainly consists of program accredition,internal self-review,external ranking system.Based on different models and procedures,they are in pursuit of the same value andcommitting themselves to the enhancement of the doctoral program quality.Accreditation is assuring the programs to meet the minimum requirements,and realizingthe purpose of standardization.The national research doctoral program ranking system isdeveloping more effective method to stimulate the internal development of programs.The internal assessment system which formed under the external stimulation andself-control is now trying the ongoing informative assessment to promote the idealalignment of the key elements of doctoral program.Reflection and reconstruction has become a new topic on the American Assessmentsystem at the doctoral level since the 1990s.The effectivenss of Amercian docotraledcuation assessement system has been questioned and criticized.Thereafter,severalinvestigations on the assessment were launched then.Based on the investigation andreassessment,the researchers put forward a series of strategies:first,make the process ofassessment more scientfic;second,enhance the utility and influence of the evalutionresult,third,advance the quality of evaluation by launching meta-evaluation.TheAmerican assessment system at thedoctoral level is exceeding itself by continuouscritical reflection,and it will be promoted by the pursuit of effectivenss,and reaching itsfinal ideal gradually.The dissertation gives a panoramic description and an objective analysis on theeffectiveness of the American assessment system at doctoral level.It intends to providea valuable assessment reference for the quality governance of Chinese doctoral education.Finally,it expects to stimulate the development of higher education assessment bothpractically and theoretically.
Keywords/Search Tags:America, doctoral education, assessment at the doctoral level, assessment system, effectivenss of assessment
PDF Full Text Request
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