In recent years, the health professions have moved from "eminence-based" solutions to "evidence-based" problem solving. This evolution provides new opportunities to implement integrative curricula for those preparing for the health professions. These new curricula can be built on the Essential Learning Outcomes identified through the Association…

General education programs need not be circuitous or formless. They should: stress development of the intellect; focus on problem-solving skills; integrate general objectives and professional competencies; and foster interdisciplinary studies. (MSE)

The defining task for undergraduate departments is the design of a major, including the number and content of courses as well as other requirements. Department members must weigh the desire to produce graduates superbly prepared for further study against the charge that the major requires too large a share of an undergraduate's course options.…

While there is good reason to stress critical thinking skills in the liberal arts curriculum, these skills should be complemented by training in alternative methodologies that focus on synthetic, dialectic, and creative modes of awareness and expression. (MSE)

Evidence that thought is a displaced social process contradicts the assumptions that the mind is a mirror of nature and thought a private, individual process. A curriculum that involves learning to identify beliefs, to analyze and express beliefs socially, and to understand and form communities of knowledgeable peers is described. (Author/MLW)

A national survey of higher education stakeholders, including college-bound students, parents, executives, human resource managers, and recent graduates, found agreement that problem solving, critical thinking, and writing/oral skills can be defined as career skills and are the most important goals of higher education. However, many don't…