This chapter delineates the consortial activities of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) to explore models of undergraduate research and to address the impact of undergraduate research on faculty workload. The significant progress made on the member campus of the University of Wisconsin-Superior over the last 10 years is…

This article describes and analyses recent state-mandated undergraduate curriculum reforms in Ethiopian higher education in light global trends as well as local concerns and priorities. Two aspects of the recent curriculum reforms form the focus of the present analyses, i.e., the harmonisation of undergraduate curricula and the integration of…

During the most recent decade, interdisciplinary instruction at the undergraduate level has increased rapidly. Independent colleges and universities are both innovators in developing new approaches to interdisciplinary education and strong supporters of traditional liberal arts disciplines. Some observers argue that interdisciplinary approaches…

The last 3 decades have witnessed the rise of reforms aimed at conjoining Canadian universities to the economic system. Critics have pointed out how reforms have emphasized economic utility in universities to the detriment of their sociocultural mission, producing negative effects. One curricular innovation that has spread in tandem with reforms…

A key role for educational leaders within undergraduate medical education is to continually improve the quality of education; global quality health care is the goal. This paper reports the findings from a study employing a power model to highlight how educational leaders influence the development of undergraduate medical curricula and the…

In the context of continuing pressures from managerialist and neoliberal drivers of university reform in Australia, Macquarie University's recent undergraduate curriculum innovation, based on "People," "Planet," and "Participation," has resulted in the embedding and integration of experiential learning in its…

Although studies claim increases in underrepresented populations choosing STEM majors, barriers to retention, and higher education degree completion in STEM still exist. This study examined efforts of a prominent technical university to attract and retain urban high school graduates through a tuition scholarship program. We sought to determine the…

BHEF has achieved particular success in operationalizing its National Higher Education and Workforce Initiative (HEWI) in Maryland focusing on cybersecurity. Leveraging its membership of corporate CEOs, university presidents and government agency leaders, BHEF partnered with the University System of Maryland to build a system-wide response to the…

STEM undergraduate education reforms are more likely to be effective if undertaken not by individual faculty members but by faculty networks or "communities of transformation." The article describes four such communities that have persisted over many years and served large numbers of faculty through annual events, newsletters and…

An Australian scholar in the Arts and Humanities responds to recent US models emphasizing civic-engaged learning as a way to renew the humanities in undergraduate education. Policy contexts and curriculum initiatives of kindred trends in recent Australian undergraduate education in the humanities are contrasted in this essay. The Australian…

This study investigates interactions between calculus learning and problem-solving in the context of two first-semester undergraduate calculus courses in the USA. We assessed students' problem-solving abilities in a common US calculus course design that included traditional lecture and assessment with problem-solving-oriented labs. We investigate…

An audit of economics provision shows that over the past decade economics has disappeared from large parts of the UK's higher education landscape, especially the post-1992 universities. In the north of Britain the binary system has effectively re-emerged leaving many potential students unable to study key subjects such as economics. Post-1992…

"Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education" outlined five core concepts intended to guide undergraduate biology education: 1) evolution; 2) structure and function; 3) information flow, exchange, and storage; 4) pathways and transformations of energy and matter; and 5) systems. We have taken these general recommendations and…

As India marches towards an exciting new future of growth and progress, medical education will play a pivotal role in crafting a sustained development agenda. The idea of creating a healthy society is no longer a debatable luxury; its significance has been grasped by policy shapers worldwide. In a developing nation like India, medical services…

In this article, the author responds to the recent article by Lynne Bianchi commenting on the Donaldson report, "Teaching Scotland's future" (Donaldson, 2011). He agrees that the Donaldson report has indeed been a catalyst to drive change across the entire landscape of initial teacher education (ITE) in Scotland. In fact, not only ITE:…