Community colleges have always embraced general education in principle, but have largely failed to deliver a meaningful program of general studies. Definitions of general education stress the importance of teaching the common knowledge, cultural and environmental understanding, skills, values, and attitudes needed by each individual to be an…

The development of a national database describing the real undergraduate curriculum, the courses that college and university students actually take, is reported. Based on analyses of student transcripts from 30 public and private institutions of varying sizes, this report provides a rationale for the database; analyzes student choices across the…

What works and does not work in school systems, colleges, and businesses is discussed with a focus on curriculum in the schools and other organizations. Organizational studies were completed in several school systems nationwide. Ten chapters look at the following: (1) curriculum management (the case of the academy, what curriculum is, the nature…

A discussion of the field of clinical linguistics outlines the scope of the discipline, notes its relationship to other speech- and language-related fields, and describes the components of an undergraduate program for individuals in a linguistically relevant clinical field. It suggests general linguistics curriculum components for clinical…

Linguistics gives the student of literature an analytical tool whose sole purpose is to describe faithfully the workings of language. It provides a theoretical framework, an analytical method, and a vocabulary for communicating its insights--all designed to serve concerns other than literary interpretation and evaluation, but all useful for…

This issue of "Forum," a journal designed to provide a marketplace of ideas for California community college faculty, contains six articles on current educational concerns. The first article, "Model Curriculum Committee: Santa Monica College," by Randal Lawson and Darroch Young, discusses the process of curriculum development…

Presents a syllabus, developed by the Exeter University Department of Classics, for a degree course designed to do justice to both the literary and the historical aspects of the ancient world. The course is called "Latin and Ancient History." (Author/KM)

Describes the addition of a collection management module to an advanced reference course in the arts and humanities, and reports the preliminary findings of a practicum that used the Research Libraries Group Conspectus as a basis for collection analysis in the humanities for a university library. (Author/CLB)

Responds to Shapiro's "Scholarly Concerns of a Faculty of Education." Summarizes Shapiro's argument and recommendations; analyzes and makes recommendations regarding scholarship within Faculties of Education; and concludes with observations and suggestions concerning the administrative reorganization of Faculties of Education. (DMM)

The introductory course has a variety of objectives for both students and the college, including recruitment and screening of majors, provision of prerequisite knowledge, explorations of learning, developing commitment to college, and cognitive development. Fostering these goals depends on the students, faculty, and classroom climate. (MSE)

This monograph provides college academic administrators, institutional researchers, professional and learned societies, and academic advisors with information to improve understanding of the paths students take through engineering programs in higher education. The evidence used in this study comes principally from the 11-year college transcript…

The intent of this discussion paper is to provide a survey of emerging trends in general education reform at institutions of higher education. Ten themes are identified: (1) rethinking the major; (2) concern with student learning beyond course content; (3) an increased emphasis on diversity; (4) the importance of technology; (5) efficiency and…

Colleges must seek a curriculum that prepares a student for a career as well as citizenship. A trilinear curriculum is suggested that combines equal parts of general, integrative (theme-oriented, interdisciplinary, and elective), and vocational courses and that begins with precollegiate education. (Author/MSE)

The success of distance teaching depends largely on students' comprehension and appreciation of print communication. A communication gap exists, and many students are unable to recognize levels of complexity presented to them. Changes in course structure can help alleviate this learning problem. (MSE)

Steps in making a higher education institution a multicultural place of learning include expressing mission in terms of human cultures, developing faculty for excellence in multiculturalism, evaluating curricula with regard to different ways human cultures have focused on issues, ensuring that perspectives offered are not monocultural, and…