Significant changes made in the French university system in a brief period, affecting teaching, curriculum, degree programs, and institutional evaluation, are examined to determine whether they represent a break from or continuation of an earlier situation. Issues underlying current trends are also discussed. (MSE)

According to speakers at the annual meeting of the American Association for Higher Education, better college teaching requires closer attention to how students learn, but colleges set a poor example for such values as empathy and cooperation. Institutions should encourage student-faculty contacts, emphasize collaboration among students, use active…

The purpose of this study was to document a community college faculty development process through which the faculty learned to reconstruct their curriculum around significant learning outcomes and authentic assessment strategies. Five questions focused the inquiry: (1) What kind of organizational support systems were necessary for the faculty to…

Inflated college grades reflect an underlying problem: inappropriate content, modes of presentation, and modes of assessment. Many popular assumptions about how to address the question of standards (modifying transcripts, freeing teachers from external pressure, using grades as an indicator of quality) emphasize grades rather than standards.…

Since World War II, US higher education has enjoyed a broad public consensus about its basic goals, values, and methods. That consensus is breaking down; and to preserve the best of higher education's heritage, the central tenet of the old consensus, that college opportunity should be as widely available as possible to those who could benefit,…

Emerging challenges for the community college include working with the public schools to accommodate the needs and skills of college-bound students, meeting changing work skill demands, and providing meaningful general education for a diverse student population. (MSE)

A variety of assessment techniques to measure and document the outcomes of interdisciplinary study at the college level are examined, focusing on the contexts and problems of such assessments. Several programs are profiled, suggestions for assessment design are offered, and an annotated bibliography of information sources is presented. (MSE)

Even minor changes in the college curriculum, especially across disciplinary boundaries, can have profound effects on the organization of the institution and roles of faculty and administrators. A typology of eight kinds of campus organizational change outlines the implications of each, and a checklist of considerations surrounding change is…

Argues that promoters and opponents of online education are mistaken. Although technology can be used to enhance the college curriculum, it is useful mainly for such efforts as low-tech, labor-intensive writing instruction. It cannot replace the advantages of face-to-face instruction but should be developed to meet practical instructional needs…

Examines ways in which colleges and universities have attempted to integrate the curriculum and deepen students' involvement in learning, including first-year programs, learning communities, inquiry-based learning, integrative general education, and efforts to connect general education to majors and apply what has been learned from cognitive…

While research in international technical communication has flourished during the last 10 years, there has been little published on technical communication programs outside the United States. This article addresses this need by describing 12 representative academic technical communication programs in Germany, including Germany's first master's…

Over the past 20 years, the formal study of peace at universities and colleges has become an option available to many students. The development of such peace studies programs is diverse. There are a variety of theoretical and ideological/philosophical approaches to peace. However, how to develop a course that is theory-based, and to compare…

The American Studies curriculum in institutions of higher education has traditionally neglected music. Many programs do not include music as a component, and often there is not a single course on U.S. music taught in the music department. The apparent lack of interest on the part of musicologists reflects an attitude that tends to denigrate the…

Research concerning the status of college students and college faculty at U.S. colleges and universities is summarized in a large chart (17 by 22 inches). Patterns in the college curriculum and instruction are also reviewed. The information reflects many positive changes for women in postsecondary education. It also shows that, more than a decade…

Empire State College's alternative approaches to higher education are described in this report. The college is a nontraditional institution emphasizing the following innovative elements: (1) individualized education, carried out through learning contracts; (2) an open format for easy access, placing minimal constraints on time, place, residence…