Discusses reasons for the decline in literature enrollments and methods available for stimulating student interest. These include extensive publicity, expanding course offerings to include popular genres and media, offering special studies courses whose focus changes each semester, and the learning contract, where student and instructor develop…

In order to promote multi-cultural literacy among its students, Delaware County Community College (DCCC) developed a multi-cultural sequence of humanities electives. The sequence emerged as a response to the predominantly White student body's lack of knowledge or curiosity about other cultures. The first of the four courses in the sequence is…

This report describes the process used by Oakland Community College (OCC) to define general education and to identify courses to fulfill general education requirements in accordance with that definition. Following an overview of the curriculum development process, three recommendations are presented. The first defines general education as…

Reveals the dangers of the unchecked proliferation of special interest courses; e.g., overlap of course content with established offerings; ignoring major aspects of a subject in favor of minor aspects and failure to gain a comprehensive understanding; conflicting credit-granting policies; and needless competition with area schools. (AYC)

In an effort to determine whether OR 100, a college success orientation seminar offered at New Jersey's Cumberland County College (CCC), should be upgraded to a college-level course and whether OR 101, a one-unit orientation course, should be required of all students, CCC surveyed 288 two- and four-year institutions in New Jersey, Delaware, and…

This model provides community college economics instructors with a flexible plan for developing instructional programs and materials to improve the level of economic understanding among non-business majors. More specifically, the model provides instructors with some exposure to the systems approach to instructional design and to appropriate…

The general education requirements of 27 public community colleges and 9 state universities in Florida, as determined through a review of those institutions' catalogs, were compared with the general education requirements of Central Florida Community College (CFCC). Results showed CFCC's 39-hour requirement in general education to be more…

A study was conducted at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) to examine the course-taking patterns of 94 graduates of the associate in arts (AA) curriculum, 1,957 graduates of the association in general studies (AGS) curriculum, and 99 graduates of the associate in science (AS) curriculum. Using a computer-based approach to transcript…

The heterogeneous nature of community college populations has resulted in an academic dichotomy within two-year institutions. Most institutions offer two types of programs: (1) discipline-based, university parallel programs, oriented toward transferring students to four-year institutions; (2) vocational/technical programs, oriented toward terminal…

Examines a study of the general education course-taking patterns of graduates and dropouts from degree and certificate occupational programs at a rural community college in Virginia. Indicates that most respondents took general education courses to fulfill degree requirements, with English, mathematics, and economics being the most frequently…

This study examined effects of a Dalton Junior College (Georgia) student success course, Dalton College Studies 101 (DCS 101) since it was first offered in 1987. The course meets twice a week, is strictly elective, and carries institutional credit. All students were first-time students and since most students enroll during the Fall quarter, only…

In fall 1970, the liberal arts curriculum at Bronx Community College (New York) was revised to provide more flexibility for student program structuring. Analyses of cumulative student progress data for pre- and post-revision students indicate that the revision was successful in increasing persistence and graduation rates; it also seems to have led…

A survey was administered to 1,903 students enrolled in 45 sections of History 27 (American history) and Political Science 5 (political institutions), both 3-unit courses required for graduation at Cerritos College (California), to ascertain whether students would have taken either course if it had not been required and to determine preferences…

Part of a systematic, in-depth assessment of Miami-Dade Community College's (MDCC's) educational programs, student support systems, and selected campus-level activities, this volume of the college's institutional self-study report examines the impact and effectiveness of MDCC's academic policies and curriculum reforms. Introductory material…

As an aid for curriculum development officers at the California community colleges, this monograph presents course outlines for a model Administration of Justice curriculum. After introductory material describing the history of the curriculum development project that resulted in the creation of the model, the monograph presents descriptive…