This paper, written for those in higher education mathematics departments, reviews curriculum reform. Three major reasons for programmatic reform are outlined: (1) higher education faces a changing climate; (2) higher education faces a challenging clientele; and (3) mathematics educators face a changing content. The case is made for programmatic…

Explains the Association of American Colleges and Universities' initiative to define the aims of twenty-first century undergraduate education, called "Greater Expectations: The Commitment to Quality as a Nation Goes to College." Then introduces articles that describe successful change and innovation at three colleges. (EV)

Describes the seven steps over a course of several years, which enabled Worcester Polytechnic Institute to implement and sustain a reconstruction of undergraduate education to involve no set curriculum, but rather three qualifying projects. (EV)

Examines various challenges facing higher education in light of growing concern over the quality of undergraduate degree programs and the graduates of these programs and formulates recommendations to colleges of business. (Author/JOW)

Many leaders of our profession have called for improvements in the way we educate statisticians. Sound recommendations have been made by many, based on real-world experience in the practice of statistical science. These calls for reform have gone largely unheeded, at least in part because of our current paradigm of statistical education.…

A variety of studies provide evidence that the stock of college-educated labor has fundamental effects on state and local economies through its association with wages, economic growth, personal incomes, and tax revenues. As a result, policymakers in many states try to increase the percentage of the state's population (or workforce) that has a…

Anyone who believes that educational reform is something needed only at the school level will be disabused of that notion by reading this document. This report, prepared by a committee of distinguished citizens from academia, industry, and public policy, calls for sweeping change in mathematics education at the College - University level to…

Analyzes the impact of a wide reaching educational reform program on the attitudes and world outlook of a current generation of anglophone and francophone undergraduates in the province of New Brunswick, Canada, drawn from summaries of questionnaires and personal interviews in the students' mother tongue. (Author)

Explores the nature of economic and social changes that have highlighted the post World War II period and suggests implications that these changes hold for undergraduate education. (Author/PG)

The goal of this paper is to show how one political science department at a small midwestern university (Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois) used good assessment practices identified by the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) and others to effect improvement. The paper argues that these principles can be followed and produce…

The foundational studies of education develop an orientation needed by the teacher for coping with social problems. (CK)

The author describes the rapid growth in American higher education in the 20 years following the Civil War. Educational characteristics of this era included development of "people's" universities, reshaping of undergraduate curriculum, coeducational and graduate programs, and innovative educational administration. (Author/AV)

Examines Robert Maynard Hutchins's efforts, during his tenure at the University of Chicago, to transform and revitalize undergraduate education by focusing exclusively on a liberal arts curriculum based on the classic literature of Western civilization. The article covers the controversy surrounding his views as revealed in "The Higher…

Examines efforts at Syracuse University since winning the 1996 Hesburgh Award for transforming into a "student-centered research university." Concludes that the institution has been successful in creating consensus for its redefined mission, building supporting infrastructure, and changing its campus culture. Asserts that it can serve as…

The new Rhetoric and Writing major at Mount St. Mary's College (an independent Catholic, liberal arts institution in northern Maryland) developed in response to local conditions and local problems. In 1988, owing to a mutual recognition of the different missions of the writing and literature programs, the writing faculty were officially separated…