This document presents summaries of speeches and discussions held at the conference on changing patterns for undergraduate education sponsored in May 1972 by Harvard University and the College Entrance Examination Board. Participants from more than 100 colleges met at the conference to discuss the following questions: What is the perception of…

Harvard University and other institutions of higher education are reappraising their curriculum in order to recapture the intellectual values that underlie the classic liberal arts program. Simultaneously these schools are attempting to make their curriculum more relevant to social needs so that their students can cope in a competitive, highly…

The standard prescriptions for reforming undergraduate education include better students, more time on basic academic subjects, more clinical experience, and more rigorous and standardized evaluation of students at all points in the program. Further scrutiny of these recommendations is presented. (MLW)

Over the past decade, undergraduate colleges and universities of all sizes, both public and private, throughout the United States, have begun to pursue reform for the sciences and mathematics. Evidence of this is illustrated by the almost 700 colleges and universities that are involved in Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL). Over the 1996-97 year, PKAL…

The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) project involves gaining access to data on student learning from the National Council of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors (NCEES) that schools and programs do not normally have. This document contains an executive summary in addition to the full length report on the accomplishments of the project. The…

Programs developing and supporting partnerships between scientists and elementary and secondary school classrooms have been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as well as other federal funding agencies. This document reports on a study exploring the impacts, challenges, and strategies of programs that link science graduate and…

"A disturbing and dangerous mismatch exists between what American society needs of higher education and what it is receiving. Nowhere is the mismatch more dangerous than in the quality of undergraduate preparation provided on many campuses. The American imperative for the 21st century is that society must hold higher education to much higher…

The current debate about the core curriculum is seen as focusing on "means" rather than the "ends" of general education. Unless the aims of education are debated and some consensus is achieved, it is thought the quality of undergraduate education is not likely to improve. (Author/MLW)

Analyzes the Comprehensive Assistance to Undergraduate Science Education (CAUSE) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The CAUSE awards by type of institution for the fiscal year 1979 and the period between 1976 and 1979 are presented. (HM)

Argues against a type of program evaluation of undergraduate institutions that assumes students are products. Proposes that if students are products, then students are raw materials. Discusses the philosophical problems of considering students as raw materials. (DDR)

Explains the procedures used in an experiment that reinforces the universality of the concepts of saturation using the binding of the ligand aspartame to the protein receptor that determines taste. Illustrates the hyperbolic nature of protein binding. (DDR)

A decade after mathematicians began a crusade to make calculus more relevant to undergraduate students ("Reform Calculus"), a backlash threatens to derail the effort and divide the profession. Critics charge the movement has watered down mathematics courses, teaching only superficial use of skills. The debate is fierce and the stakes…

It is argued that the present direction of changes in Australian higher education ends its distinctive mission. Transfer of colleges to the custodianship of universities is seen as leading to increased homogeneity. Emphasis on research and graduate study is seen as reducing pluralism and basic commitment to undergraduate education. (Author/MSE)

It is not research and undergraduate teaching that are in conflict, but how we perceive and value those activities and organize our institutions to reflect those attitudes. Remedies include renewing faculty and graduate student commitment to home campuses, appropriate evaluation and rewards for excellence in teaching, and institutional…

Describes some features in the changing landscape of activities intended to improve both quality and access in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) undergraduate education. Offers a framework for discussion of historical change endeavors as an aid in considering next steps. (Author/MM)