Foundations of Higher Education

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It is evident that higher education in the United States has gone through a tremendous transformation since its origins in the mid 1600’s. From schools whose only function was the training of ministers to the contemporary university of free and open access, both society and culture have had tremendous effects on the evolution of higher education in America. This paper will explore those transformations as related by the themes woven through the ten generations identified by. It will also offer evidence to support the identified theme of each generation. Generation One The first generation of higher education in America saw the development of colleges as adjuncts or outgrowths of their respective churches. The original three colleges of the colonies Harvard, Yale and William and Mary all sought to educate their students as ministers. It was the belief that preparation for the ministry was predicated by a liberal education that included studies focused on classical languages and the three philosophies of ethics, metaphysics and science. Generation Two The second generation of higher education in America saw a break from the purely religious institutions of the first generation to a more secular model of education. In addition, the teaching model moved from one of tutors to one of more competent instruction. Instead of primarily educating men for the clergy as in the previous generation, the existing colleges also now sought to educate a growing class of gentlemen who pursued professional and merchant careers. (Geiger, 2005) Generation Three In this generation of higher education in America, several elements gained paramount importance including the idea of a republican education coupled with influences from the E... ... middle of paper ... ...per and/or the purpose is nebulous. Context of the introduction is general and/or purpose is broad; and/or the conclusion identifies basic elements of the paper and/or addresses the purpose universally. Context of the introduction is accurate to the content of the sources and purpose is provided. Conclusion summarizes major elements of the paper and reiterates the purpose. /15 Writing Competence Little evidence of coherence and following appropriate writing standards. Significant spelling, grammatical, punctuation, and/or capitalization errors were noted and/or APA was not followed closely. Minor spelling, grammatical, punctuation, and/or capitalization errors were noted and/or there were minor errors with APA. Comments were clearly expressed without typos, grammatical, and/or spelling errors and APA was followed. /15 Total /60

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