Research on the present situation and future development of external degree systems in the U.S.A.and U.K.

本研究旨在了解美国和英国对外学位授予的制度、现状和固定视角。它主要集中在终身学习社会发展和成熟的背景下，关注其历史发展和今天的运动。在1995-98财政年度的研究资助期间，我们进行了三种调查：对个别有外部学位计划的机构进行问卷调查，对这些机构的目录进行调查，以及文献研究。我们认为，这可能是第一次对美国各种形式的外部学位制度和日本如此大规模的英国学分积累和转移制度进行全面调查。作为研究的结果，除了外部学位要求的定义、操作和变化外，该体系还需要建立评估基础设施。这一基础设施包括通过标准化考试获得的学分、通过庞西计划的校外学习获得的学分或对经验学习的评估。另一个发现是，随着信息技术的快速发展和/或成人学习需求的扩大，该系统可能受到社会转型的影响。

This research was designed to gain the knowledge on the system, present situation and fixture perspective of external degree granting in United States and United Kingdom. It mainly focused its historical development and the movement nowadays within the context of development and maturation of life-long learning society. During the period of research aid, fiscal years 1995-98, we made three kinds of survey, questionnaire inquiry to individual institution with external degree program, survey of catalogs of these institutions and literature research. We believe that this may be the first comprehensive survey of external degree systems with various forms in U.S.and the credit accumulation and transfer system in U.K.with this large scale in Japan.As results of this research, besides the definition, operation and variation of requirement of external degree, it came to light that the system needs infrastructure of assessment to be established. This infrastructure includes credit by standardized examination, credit by learning outside university as PONSI program or evaluation of experience learning. Another finding is that the system may be influenced by the social transformation with rapid development of information technology and/or enlargement of needs of adult learning.