Despite growing advocacy of interdisciplinary approaches to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), there are persistent concerns about the practical and principled epistemic bases on which this can be justified as a mainstream curricular practice. A major issue concerns the nature of interrelations between the STEM disciplines in…

This paper explores service-learning as a mode of cultivating student stakeholders in university education. Previous studies have examined increasing student engagement through experiential learning, writing across the curriculum, and recognizing the interdisciplinarity of general education classrooms, but few have brought these elements into…

In 2008, the University of Melbourne rolled out its restructured undergraduate degree program offerings. Rather than offering a multitude of faculty-specific degrees, the University started to offer a limited number of generalist degrees that serve as developmental pathways to specialist masters programs as well as stand-alone employment…

Baxter Magolda's Learning Partnerships model was used to create a program designed to foster student epistemological development. To assess its effectiveness, the Measure of Epistemological Reflection was administered to the experimental cohort and a comparable group in the traditional general education program. Results indicate that the model…

This paper summarizes the model used for science/society programs at the University of Houston. The model is examined with respect to the following perspectives: the best disciplinary locus for science-related social issues; optimum teaching style, instructional background, and grade level; appropriate instructional objectives; ethical problems;…

Prepared by the General Education (GE) Review Steering Committee of Massachusetts' Bunker Hill Community College in 1991, this guide presents the Committee's GE curiculum Cornerstone model. Following a short preface which discusses the goals and activities of the Steering Committee, chapter 1 presents a rationale for the model and describes its…

This book-length study justifies, describes, and gives an initial evaluation of the general education model developed at Los Medanos College (California). The opening chapter presents a detailed philosophic argument in favor of general education as a principle, and in support of the innovative aspects of the Los Medanos model. The argument is for…

The role of educational evaluation is discussed in relation to interdisciplinary courses in social science. How one evaluates student achievement, a course or an instructor can be defined by means of defining behavioral objectives. That is, the expressed outcomes of the particular course can be expressed as the goals to be met by students and on…

A model for improving medical training in substance abuse is presented based on the proposals of 22 Career Teacher Grant Programs. The grant provides support for training medical faculty to develop and implement a substance abuse curriculum. The model includes objectives for initial preparations and advice regarding the development and…

In 1980, the International Environmental Education Program of UNESCO published Strategies for Developing an Environmental Education Curriculum, to be used as a working document for a series of regional workshops. This publication is a revision of the 1980 document and is intended to provide an update for curriculum developers in environmental…

The Virginia Beach (Virginia) Public School Division, which has a fairly large student population of 55,500 students, has enjoyed strong community support over the last 2 years for its newly instituted comprehensive curriculum assessment and development project. The project's goal of attaining educational improvement in all areas from kindergarten…