(Final)From-Competence-to-Commitment-summary

summaryInthisarticle,“FromCompetencetoCommitment”,theauthor,ErnestBoyer,statesthattheundergraduateeducationshouldmovethestudentfromcompetencetocommitment.Firstly,theauthorrevealsacommonphenomenonthatmanycollegestudentsareconfusedaboutwheretoputtheirbelief.Inordertoworkoutthisproblem,undergraduateeducationshouldreflectinloyaltiesthatriseaboveself.Next,Collegegraduatesshouldfulfillcivicobligations.TheimperativemeasuresshouldbetakentonarrowthegapbetweenpublicpolicyandpublicunderstandinginAmericanteachingtoday.Thecomplicatedpublicliferequiresmoreparticipationofcitizens,notonlyspecialists.Democraticprocessalsoneedssomecitizenswhoarewell-educated,careforthesociety.Undergraduatecollegehasagreaterresponsibilitythananyotherinstitutiontoprovidethewiseleadershipwhichisneededbynation.Inadditiontothis,collegegraduatesalsofulfillobligationfromtheglobalperspective.Theplanethasbecomemorecrowed,moreinterconnected,moreunstableinthepasthalfcentury,anewgenerationofcollegestudentsneedtoadaptthischange.Theyshouldknowaboutcultureotherthantheirown,understandtheinterdependentnatureoftheworld,andeventuallyrealizewhatobligationstheyshouldtake.Inthecapacity-buildingaspects,creditsandcompletedcoursethatcanprovestudenttodealsuccessfullywithdiscreteproblemsishighlyprized.Onthecontrary,someimportantcapacitiesareignoredbypeople.Thequalityofcollegeeducationshouldbemeasuredbytheintegratedperformanceinclassroomandtheperformanceofthegraduateintheworkplaceandfurthereducation.Intheend,collegeshouldencouragestudentstoenlargethescopeofvisionanddiscoverpatternsthroughtheknowledgetheyhaveacquired,andeventuallytaketheirresponsibilityeffectively.