Considers the implications of "Academic Preparation for College" and "Teaching for Transition from High School to College" for community colleges. Suggests that four-year colleges will respond by reevaluating the transferability of community college courses and that a liberal arts curriculum is the best approach to basic skills instruction. (CBC)

This document presents the proceedings of the Reinvention Center's second major conference, "Integrating Research into Undergraduate Education: The Value Added," co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The goal of the conference was to distill the distinct characteristics of the…

The "call for change" issued by the Board of Governors of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in "A Call For Change: Recommendations for the Mathematical Preparation of Teachers of Mathematics, 1991" may appear at first glance to concern only the mathematical preparation of teachers. However, two ingredients combine…

Project FOCUS has developed seven mathematics Instructional Modules, each of which focuses on a specific mathematical concept and related skills. The modules are: "Integers and Computation with Integers"; "Fractions and Computation with Fractions"; "Decimals and Computation with Decimals"; "Ratio, Proportion and Percent"; "Graphs and Their…

This commentary focuses on reforms in undergraduate science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SME&T) education since 1986. A snapshot of these programs at the end of the 20th century is presented, and steps to take into the next decade are outlined. The report contains sections that discuss the status and desired directions for our…

This chapter of the "Biennial Survey of Education in the United States" is concerned with the topic of medical education. Probably the most significant development in medical education during the past two years has been the change in attitude of the Federation of State Medical Boards toward certain aspects of professional education. The various…

There is a widespread demand in this country today for greater effectiveness in college teaching. Three facts help to account for this. The maturity and settled purposes of the veteran students is one. The rapid increase in the proportion of young people attending college is another. Finally, the cold war is highlighting the need for a change in…

Discusses the relevance of student demographics, interest in clinical psychology, emergence of professional schools of psychology, awarding of credit for life experience, and the tightening of the job market for doctoral students to the use of student evaluations, the training of graduate students, and the undergraduate curriculum. (Author/GC)

The renewed interest in general education in colleges is addressed in this discussion that also considers the problems associated with core curriculums and distribution requirements. A team teaching structure with an interdisciplinary orientation that also considers the needs of different student populations is proposed. (Author/JMD)

Asserts that history faculty should contribute to the training of secondary social studies teachers. Focuses on the program at California State University (Long Beach), one of the few universities to place single subject credentialing programs within the academic discipline as opposed to within the school of education. (CMK)

The effect of external factors on higher education curricula cannot be fully understood unless attention is paid to governing and controlling factors and to the historical, societal and economic context of the programs. The current market-orientation of regional colleges and the implementation of a nurse education reform are discussed. (Author/MLW)

A new undergraduate program that stresses interdisciplinary connectedness, formal reasoning, intercultural understanding, and speaking and writing skills implemented at Hamline University is described. The Hamline Plan provides skills that students demand: computer literacy and real-life work experience. (MLW)

Content analysis of task force reports on improving the undergraduate major in 10 liberal arts disciplines revealed that each discipline's epistemological character strongly influenced methodology, pedagogy, and curricular innovation, consistent with previous theory and research on disciplines. The role of these factors and pragmatic…

A survey of 68 universities with university colleges or undergraduate divisions, primarily to meet needs of freshmen, and 68 institutions without them investigated the major responsibilities of these units, changes that have occurred in them since a 1985 survey, and advantages of such units to students and institutions. (Author/MSE)

Summative evaluation of library instruction at UCLA found no difference between undergraduate biology students in a lecture group and those in a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) group and prompted the elimination of the lecture method. This article discusses the conceptual framework for the CAI and includes the follow-up survey results. (PEN)