One of the possible ways to find ways to improve the effectiveness of higher education is to study foreign pedagogical experience. The science of education (educology), like other fields of knowledge and social practice, cannot develop in isolation from world experience. The sphere of education in this case is subordinated to the general trends and patterns of development. In this regard, it seems relevant to take a fresh look at the existing experience of education, including foreign, to rethink it, to find ways to use advanced ideas in the domestic practice of education.
Modern universities in the United States are divided primarily into research universities, where the focus is on research, and non-research universities, where the focus is on the teaching process. Research universities (235 universities) play a special role in the U.S. system of higher education and occupy a special place in American society. In addition to the high quality of their teaching, they conduct extensive research. At one time in the United States, scientific research was not consolidated into a single organization like European academies, so the first scientific research began at institutions of higher education. In addition, until World War II, the federal government’s non-training funds for pure research activities were very small, and research schools had little chance to separate from universities into independent research institutions.
The first research university was opened in Baltimore in 1876, bequeathed by Johns Hopkins. Initially, the university was conceived as an exclusively scientific center, where basic research and the training of only scientific personnel were to be carried out. But very soon, due to a lack of financial resources and for some other reasons, the educational program of the college was added, and as a result, the first research university was formed, which began the history of all research universities in the United States.
The overall goal of U.S. higher education is to produce an educated, responsible, pragmatic individual who is capable of systematic thinking, sound judgment, and creativity.
In view of the above, we note that higher education has always played a leading role in society as an institution for the transmission and dissemination of knowledge, the basis for scientific research and the development of new technologies.
Today, higher education is facing new problems of a multidimensional nature. In particular, it has to learn:
to determine its place in society in the present and future (society, for example, expresses its attitude towards education, including through funding: “appropriate” – from the state and “casual from enterprises”);
in conditions of low financial support from the state to present such a quality of educational services, which meets the requirements of all stakeholders, in particular, and the world community;
adequately assess the results of its activity and constantly improve it;
to determine the models of its development (goals, strategies, policies, performance and efficiency indicators);
to determine those measures that will allow it to successfully operate and develop in order to produce (and have themselves) professionals who are able to meet the requirements of all the numerous consumers of educational services;
The solution of all the above-mentioned tasks, in market conditions, is largely related to improving the quality of education. Today, the quality of education is the main competitive advantage of any higher education institution. The quality of education has been and remains the most important indicator determining the long-term development of any society in one direction or another.