Introducing the general education curriculum in a required first-year seminar can be challenging. However, it provides a great opportunity to influence students' perceptions. The results of this study indicate that doing so increases student appreciation for general education and increases student confidence in general education course selection.…

Since 2005, the first-year engineering program at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, has been significantly restructured to include more hands-on learning. A major grant (2004-2009) under the department level reform (DLR) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) facilitated this restructuring. A number of hands-on learning modules were developed…

The Vermont college has radically revamped its class structure to better prepare students for life beyond the lecture halls. The collegewide program, "Education in 3 Dimensions," centers on three main parts: life-skills workshops, an interdisciplinary core curriculum, and professional courses. Required courses make up all three…

Suggestions for reforming K-12 art education are made. The arts must be seen as basic, not as extracurricular activities. Arts in the general education curriculum should teach content, concepts, and critical appreciation skills. An interdisciplinary approach to the arts should be used. (RM)

Objective: This study evaluated the effects of a national interdisciplinary faculty development program, Project MAINSTREAM, on creating curriculum enhancement in health professional education. Method: Thirty-nine faculty completed a two-year, part-time fellowship program featuring interdisciplinary collaboration, mentoring, training meetings, and…

Asserts that, among trends in higher education, none is more debated than the place of general education and the use of the core curriculum as an antidote to specialized education. Argues that psychology can be effectively presented to undergraduates in an interdisciplinary core curriculum. (CFR)

Arguing that recent proposals for educational reform will at best only patch up the present system without bringing about the fundamental changes necessary, the author outlines a new design dividing up American schooling into two components: (1) a required core of basic education courses and (2) elective community education courses. (JBM)