Research On Current Situation And Development Of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Education At Arizona State University

The increasingly complexity of social economy and practical problems calls for more and more interdisciplinary talents with related knowledge and problem-solving ability in modern society.At present,the construction of “Double World-class”has become the theme of higher education in China.As an important foundation of modern higher education,undergraduate education plays an important supporting role in the construction of “Double World-class”,which is also the key direction of higher education reform.Therefore,considering the actual demand for interdisciplinary talents,it is quite urgent doubtlessly for universities to explore how to consolidate the World-class undergraduate education as the foundation project of “Double World-class” construction by fostering interdisciplinary education.Arizona State University(hereafter ASU for short)is one of the fast growing institutions of higher education in the United States in recent years.Michael M.Crow,the President of ASU ever since 2003 till now,has led a series of innovative initiatives and achieved outstanding outcome,leading ASU to develop from an average public university to a first-class research university.The reform of undergraduate education was the main initiatives taken by ASU.Its distinguishing feature was the integrated and normalized development of interdisciplinary education.In view of this,this study takes ASU as a subject to conduct in-depth research on how to develop the interdisciplinary undergraduate education at an innovative and reformed university.What were the background factors shaping and fostering theuniversity's interdisciplinary education? How is the current situation? What characteristic and potential factors will affect its future development? The dissertation tries to provide ideas and methods for Chinese universities to explore and implement undergraduate interdisciplinary education attempts and reforms through the discussion and solution of the above problems.And it also tries to bring the experience and lessons that can be used for reference to advance the current “Double World-class”construction.This study takes ASU as a subject and summarizes and sorts out the background factors and the current situation of the interdisciplinary undergraduate education at ASU based on the documentary research method.The internal conditions and external environment of the interdisciplinary undergraduate education development at ASU are systematically analyzed by referring to the SWOT analysis method.The study draws the following main conclusions.Firstly,based on the analysis of the overall and individual subjects,it can be found that the development of the interdisciplinary undergraduate education has shown some integrated and normalized features.And its advantages are mainly manifested in the cultivation objective that accord with the university's overall mission and vision,the curriculum that integrates a variety of interdisciplinary learning methods,the teaching resources that absorb interdisciplinary research and entrepreneurship resources,and the interdisciplinary faculty guaranteed by the system.Its disadvantages are mainly manifested in the neglect of the cultivation of traditional discipline knowledge,the relative lack of both evaluation methods for the interdisciplinary teaching and stability for the interdisciplinary teaching organization.Secondly,in addition to the combined effects of the above advantages and disadvantages,the development of interdisciplinary undergraduate education at ASU also faces certain opportunities and challenges from the external environment.On one hand,the financial support from government and non-governmental organizations for interdisciplinary programs and the demand on employment market caused by social economy transformation have brought external opportunities for ASU to foster the interdisciplinary undergraduate education.On the other hand,the competition for interdisciplinary education and the reduction ofArizona's public funds have brought external challenges for ASU to foster the interdisciplinary undergraduate education.Finally,considering the characteristics and potential factors which affect the future development of interdisciplinary education at ASU,it can be found that its future development generally shows a good trend.Nevertheless,ASU should continue to improve the basic courses of disciplines,the transformation of teaching resources,as well as the teaching evaluation methods in future.