The discipline of education is a multi-faceted system that must constantly integrate new strategies and procedures to ensure successful learning experiences. Enhancements in education provide learners with greater opportunities for growth and advancement. "Open Learning and Formal Credentialing in Higher Education: Curriculum Models and…

The past is the substance from which the present is formed, but college curricula based on this cultural heritage need not exclude the present. Major classical writers and social thinkers must be central to it but should be accompanied by critical engagement with living texts from powerful and active minds. (MSE)

A typology of the vocational intent of various college courses, or the stated objectives and curricula of courses as they relate to specific occupational fields is proposed that makes distinctions about vocational specificity, selection for employment, and training for employment. (MSE)

Higher education can resist the need to open the U.S. mind to greater cultural diversity by ignoring the changing ethnic composition of student bodies and larger society, or realize this opportunity to revitalize the social sciences and humanities with a new sense of purpose and more inclusive definition of knowledge. (MSE)

This paper addresses the issue of defining the concept of core curriculum by first examining some of the literature on the subject, discussing why there is resistance to defining "core," citing common uses for the term "core curriculum," and exploring the historical roots of core curriculum. Next, the paper describes eight…

This paper describes certain fundamental realities and choices that planners and teachers of core curricula at the college level must take into account in order to devise programs of quality and integrity. Six common sense realities and the choices they demand are presented and discussed. First, core programs must avoid reducing the teaching and…

The current discipline-based organizational structure of the college curriculum in which general education is treated as an isolated learning experience should be replaced with a more integrated curriculum. In addition, general education should take different forms in institutions with different missions. Such a curriculum redesign could help…

What works and does not work in school systems, colleges, and businesses is discussed with a focus on curriculum in the schools and other organizations. Organizational studies were completed in several school systems nationwide. Ten chapters look at the following: (1) curriculum management (the case of the academy, what curriculum is, the nature…

It is argued that ethics should be taught in general and subject-specific curricula in Australian universities and that recent developments in Australia give ethics-enhanced priority. Current initiatives and specific administrative and instructional issues are discussed. An interdisciplinary approach to applied ethics instruction is advocated over…

In a broad institutional planning exercise, Ramapo College (New Jersey) used charts to analyze the state of the college and brought in a theater and set designer to help assess the institutional context for its work. The technique has been used to explore organizational patterns in staff utilization, curriculum design and organization, space…

Chronicles the process of reforming the liberal education program at Franklin Pierce College (New Hampshire), organized around the theme of the individual and community. Discusses objectives in integrating the "civic arts" into the core curriculum and challenges encountered in balancing "individual" and "community"…

Describes an observational study on the future of European universities that analyzed how university systems in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States currently structure curricula and certification. Proposes three models for Europe, which were submitted for comment to 30 university leaders in eight countries. Lists the nine…

A survey of Israeli social work faculty (n=62), social workers (n=70), and third-year students (n=90) found an overall positive orientation toward research. Faculty and practitioners feel students are less favorably disposed to research than students do and are unlikely to incorporate it into curricula. (Author/MSE)

This article suggests that higher education is following an outdated model that does not reflect current educational needs. A number of suggestions for change are offered, including redesign of the academic year, departure from the traditional standardized college education to an emphasis on students' academic competence, reorganization of the…

The College Park Scholars Program at the University of Maryland is a learning community, based on the model of a residential college, that was designed to attract and retain academically talented undergraduates. Three experiential learning components developed by faculty for the curriculum are colloquia, service learning units, and discovery…