This article reports the development of a "course trailer" video series that communicates the professional and academic value of general education courses' core competencies and describes the results of a survey measuring the impact of those videos on student perception. Although general education programs represent a staple of U.S.…

Although designed with good intent, remedial math courses have delayed or terminated many students' college careers. Taking remedial courses can delay enrollment into courses for their major, or may, psychologically, result in students feeling unprepared for college. Despite the original intentions of developmental math programs, there is a…

Despite efforts of both administration and faculty, the intent and the execution of new curricular initiatives are not always in alignment. To understand how the declaration of a campus-wide general education initiative was being implemented, this article combines analyses of syllabi and courses from across disciplines. In an initial review, the…

With the hope of inspiring readers to reimagine the centrality of general education in constituting young adult capacities to create and sustain collective self-governance, this essay describes two courses and one activity built around public problems. General education viewed as a human right as well as a shared responsibility can thus serve as a…

Six online postings and six one-minute papers were added to an introductory first-year class, forming 5 percent of the final grade, but represented significant intervention in class functioning and amount of active learning. Active learning produced results in student performance beyond the percentage of the final grade it constituted. (Contains 1…

Teacher Student relationship;This article examines the relationship between interdisciplinary curriculum and student outcomes. In this inquiry, the author uses data collected during a two-year ethnographic study of six courses in a general education reform at Southwestern University (all names are pseudonyms), a research university with a diverse…

Describes efforts to utilize a biocultural framework in introductory anthropology courses. Explains the biocultural theory of human evolution, describes experimental courses at Cornell University and Colorado College, looks at the problems encountered and lessons learned during these experimental efforts, and considers prospects for future…

Discusses film-oriented writing classes as a way of expanding student vocabularies and illustrating such literary devices as metaphor, irony, and imagery. Offers guidelines for writing instructors wishing to add films to a course plan, using "King Kong,""The Godfather," and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" as examples. (DMM)

The authors examine an institutional assessment model for general education that effectively incorporates instructor-driven strategies. This article is informed by the perspectives of a teaching librarian and a departmental faculty member at the University at Albany, State University of New York. As instructors, they both participated in mandated…

Looks at problems encountered in the development of an interdisciplinary course on South Africa by two African history and English literature instructors. Focuses on problems related to timing, student expectations, and the balanced integration of materials from both disciplines. (AYC)

Offers a model for interdisciplinary courses, altering the relation of the discipline, teacher, and student. Describes a University of Texas at Austin course as an example of the model, which focuses on major models for research; on developing students' methodological competence; and on validity and significance as writing criteria. (AYC)

Describes two courses, "Introduction to Music Literature" and "Spectrum of Music," within the context of the newly revised general education program at Willamette University. Describes the general education program, the value of the music classes for a broad range of students, and the content and instructional methods of the…

Presents a framework used at Western State College to teach an interdisciplinary general education course. The framework helps students organize a large volume of material about Contemporary World Cultures according to a taxonomy of human experience, including artistic/literary expression; thought and belief; relationships/associations with…

Educational innovations are frequently undertaken with little or no planning. There are occasions, however, when it is possible to define educational problems with some precision and to plan changes which will "solve" these problems. Here is a report on such a case in the teaching of introductory anthropology at a large land-grant university.…

Describes an interdisciplinary writing course organized around the theme of language as used by individual disciplines. Reports a significant improvement in students' writing skills, exposure to a breadth of issues to which these skills might be applied in students' respective majors, and an enthusiastic response to the approach. (DMM)