The University of California-Merced's Core 1 has potential to foster genuine interdisciplinary thinking by asking students to conceptualize knowledge across fields of inquiry. Core 1 introduces students to the range of scholarly inquiry at the university all in the span of one semester-long, writing-intensive, integrated curriculum that encourages…

This essay argues for the importance of quantitative reasoning skills as part of a liberal education and describes the successful introduction of a mathematics-based quantitative skills course at a small Canadian university. Today's students need quantitative problem-solving skills, to function as adults, professionals, consumers, and citizens in…

Many universities positively impact student retention rates by aligning state competencies and undergraduate coursework with specific learning outcomes known to contribute to success. Faculty from teaching and nursing conducted interdisciplinary focus group research to gather student perceptions concerning whether skills obtained through core…

After describing our interdisciplinary humanities course and its history, we identify challenges these courses face and strategies for keeping them vigorous. We argue that course longevity depends on effective translation of vision and content into explicit goals bridging the gaps between faculty members and between faculty and students. (Contains…

This article examines a six-year process of reforming the core curriculum at a midsize public research university, showing how a seminar for first-year students, a lengthy campus-wide dialogue, and a multidisciplinary community of faculty produced a new core curriculum focused on inquiry, communication, and undergraduate research. (Contains 1…

Proposes a science-oriented general education core, stressing the importance of serious scientific study in understanding contemporary human existence. Describes the four courses comprising the core, which use the evolutionary process as the unifying concept for the study of physics, astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology, anthropology,…

Argues that students benefit from a combined emphasis in general education on interdisciplinarity, civic responsibility, service learning, and writing. Describes an epidemics and AIDS course as a model for students wishing to enter the discourse and debates of society. (Contains 31 references.) (AUTH/NB)

Highlights and criticizes changes in the traditional core curriculum during the 1960s and 1970s. Points to weaknesses in the current "return to basics" trend infiltrating core curricula. Calls for a clearer definition of undergraduate curriculum goals and the adoption of guidelines in order to eliminate the formlessness of the current system. (CAM)

Extensive assessment of innovative core courses pointed to five features of the courses that led to students being actively engaged in learning. Faculty teaching the courses created an environment to foster collaborative learning, facilitated student ownership of learning, structured their courses to connect academic ideas with other disciplines…