This chapter argues that the first year of college needs to be reconsidered. The authors offer, as an alternative, a new kind of course, one created by groups of faculty members from different campuses, multidisciplinary in focus, delivered in a blended format, focused on civic outcomes, and intended primarily for first-year students.

This chapter explores relational boundary crossing in doctoral education as a way to improve student learning and faculty satisfaction. A brief introduction sets the stage by articulating a recognized set of challenges for student learning in the current context of U.S. doctoral education. The chapter then introduces elements of an innovative…

This article is the third of three case studies of successful implementation of experiential education at very different types of institutions. This case study discusses the use of David A. Kolb's Experiential Learning Model in the implementation of innovative graduation requirements in experiential education that began in 2008. Purdue University…

This article reviews the preceding articles and distills from that collection answers to three questions that all good teachers need to ask and answer. The preceding articles in this volume have been written by teachers who have used the ideas of integrated course design (ICD) in an effort to improve their teaching and their students' learning.…

By tracing the historical roots of general education, we can make many of our current issues and problems in general education more understandable. This chapter is an overview of historical trends that have taken general education from the concept of a unified curriculum with no distinction between "specialized" and "general" education to the…

This article presents an interdisciplinary approach to course redesign that enhanced student learning across all six categories in Dee Fink's taxonomy. A meta-analysis of the results provides evidence that integrated course design produces significant learning. In this article, the authors tell four connected stories: (1) how Fink's book,…

When the University of North Dakota began working to improve general education, two concerns were recognized. The first issue, which faculty and administrators across campus found immediately engaging, was how to change general education so that it would be a better program, more likely to yield clear student learning benefits. A second concern,…

At a time when higher education appears to be diverging from a sense of shared purpose, learning communities offer a way to maintain the balance between striving for oneself and contributing to the common good. They promote cooperation, help students forge interdisciplinary connections, empower students, revitalize the institutional environment,…

Across the country, college faculty are redefining core knowledge and skills to include learning about pluralism in the United States and about world cultures. They are experimenting with new pedagogical approaches that engage cultural diversity in effective ways. Interdisciplinary collaboration, thematic curricula, and cooperative learning…