This article argues that liberal education can not thrive as a backward-looking set of principles, but must adapt to social change if it is to continue to be central to higher education. Educational leaders are urged to reexamine, and structurally reform, undergraduate education to preserve the centrality of general education. (MSE)

Describes the efforts of the General Education Working Group, formed in fall 1992 to set forth the purpose and goals for general education at Portland State University and develop a curricular model designed to achieve those goals. Provides detailed results of the assessment and of the proposed general education program. (34 references) (MAB)

Describes a study conducted at Oakland University (Michigan) to examine the degree to which syllabi in general education classes reference general education guidelines. Finds that knowledge transmission was primary in syllabi, whereas skills and attitude development were less emphasized. Proposes that syllabi can be used better by promoting the…

Prepared by the General Education (GE) Review Steering Committee of Massachusetts' Bunker Hill Community College in 1991, this guide presents the Committee's GE curiculum Cornerstone model. Following a short preface which discusses the goals and activities of the Steering Committee, chapter 1 presents a rationale for the model and describes its…

This book examines the American experience in liberal education and demonstrates that there has been a "crisis" surrounding the curriculum of the modern U.S. university for the past two centuries. It points out where and how contemporary critics of the curriculum are wrong, historically speaking, and shows how American ideals of "liberal…

This essay describes the general education curriculum in six New England institutions who had received funding from foundations or government agencies to assist them in reforming such curricula. It is an examination of the importance of outside funds in the process of designing and implementing major changes in the general education curriculum. It…

A rationale and guidelines are presented for the development of a general education program at Fraser Valley College (FVC). Section I notes some of the factors in the United States, Canada, British Columbia, and FVC that favor or hinder the strengthening of general education programs. Section II presents a justification for a general education…

The range of controversies and changes emerging from the current revival of general education are examined, and many ideas, examples, and recommendations for achieving realistic and successful curricular reform are offered. Instead of either offering an apology for general education or advocating any particular approach, the book draws on solid…

The genesis of Harvard's new Core Curriculum, which resulted in major changes in the university's general education program in the 1970s, is presented in a candid account. The narrative highlights the contest of conflicting beliefs about the ends and means of undergraduate education, and reveals the strategies employed to resolve conflicts and to…

Calls for an end to aridity in the general education curricula of 2-year colleges by promoting a much closer link between the study of traditional disciplines and the community which surrounds academe. (JT)

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…

Between October 1982 and May 1983, a survey was conducted to study educational practices across Canada with regard to the general education component of community college programs and to ascertain the opinions of faculty and administrators about what these practices should be. By means of a questionnaire mailed to a stratified cluster sample of…

The learning community movement is a response to several widespread educational problems, including the mismatched expectations of career-oriented students and research- and discipline-oriented faculty; the inadequate amount of intellectual interaction between students and between faculty and students; the lack of coherence among most of the…

Perspectives on the undergraduate curriculum are offered at a faculty convocation by the President Emeritus of Ohio State University. Criticisms of the content and quality of college studies are noted. It is suggested that for the most part today's curriculum reflects the legacy of the 1960s and 1970s by emphasizing the individual's right to…

A bibliography of approximately 90 materials authored, coauthored, or edited by Lewis B. Mayhew from 1950 to 1979 on the nature of higher education as a field of study is presented. Specific topics include: declining enrollments; academic and social goals and values; higher education, work, and the professions; graduate education; changing…