本文以「通識教育的內部結構」、「大學」與「教育部」三者為座標，刻劃出臺灣通識教育發展歷程。並將此歷程分成五個階段：1995年大學法修正之前的階段、「問題界定階段」（1995-2002）、「擘劃、探路與鋪路階段」（2003-2006）、「以通識教育為大學核心的改革階段」（2007-2010），以及從2011年到現在的「後《通識教育中綱計畫》階段」。本文認為，臺灣通識教育必須在下列六個大學大趨勢中才能看出其完整意義：跨領域整合的教育趨勢、以通識教育為軸線重新定位大學、從知識本位到學習本位的教育轉向、從套裝知識教授到核心能力培養的教學轉向、教學成就重新成為重要學術成就，以及社會參與式學習的發展。

This paper characterizes the development of general education (GE) in Taiwan in terms of the interaction of the following three factors: internal structure of GE, universities and Ministry of Education. The development comes into five phrases: 1995 Amendment to the Higher Education Law in accord with the academic autonomy principle; problem identification phrase, 1995-2002; planning, exploration and stage setting phrase, 2003-2006; GE centered university reforming phrase, 2007-2010; post General Education Grand Project phrase, 2011-2014. It shows that a germane understanding of the significance of the GE development in Taiwan should locate the development in the following contexts: the trend of interdisciplinary education, GE oriented trend of universities and collegesre-identification, the turn from the knowledge centered to the learning centered pedagogy in higher education, the turn from the teaching of theoretical knowledge to the cultivation of core competence, the re-identification of teaching achievement as a significant academic achievement, and the development of social engagement oriented learning.