Supports a national core curriculum for Canadian public schools which incorporates attitudes and values consistent with the economic, cultural, and social well-being of the country. Notes needs for materials development and selection, student evaluation methods and leadership, and lists seven concerns regarding a national curriculum. (SB)

Differences in computer use, attitude, and efficacy between female and male college freshmen were studied. It was found that when computer training was integrated into classroom work, sex differences in attitude and use declined. Unstructured, voluntary exposure to computers, however, elicited responses suggesting opposing mechanisms for females…

The new Ursuline College (Ohio) core curriculum is based on controversial theories about unique ways in which women learn. In freshman seminars, students are encouraged to discover personal truths by drawing connections between the liberal arts and their own lives. (MSE)

Describes the general education program adopted by New York's Broome Community College after eight years of debate and a full campus vote. Indicates that the program includes a core of academic requirements and incorporates communication, civic, global, critical thinking, moral, mathematical, scientific, technological, and health education…

Describes the design, implementation, and assessment of the general education program at Bunker Hill Community College, in Boston, Massachusetts. Indicates that the program is designed to serve as an academic commons where students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds can come together and share common intellectual experiences. (MAB)

A new liberal arts curriculum to meet the challenge of global interdependence is proposed. Four courses (human culture, global values, comparative environmental studies, and global transformations) would form a required common core, with 28 electives providing opportunities for students and faculty to exercise choice and personal responsibility.…

It is proposed that the college core curriculum should provide students with the background to understand magazines and books read by culturally literate, college graduates. As an example, Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" is examined for important themes, language, and historical and cultural figures. (MSE)

Describes the implementation of a humanities-based curriculum for all ninth and tenth grade students at St. Michael's Academy (Austin, Texas). The ninth grade core is thematically organized, integrating the study of English and religion. The sophomore core integrates world history, world literature, and comparative religions. Describes sample…

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)

A three-semester study investigated the effects on academic performance of a freshman seminar paired with a core sociology course. Students in the paired course achieved higher grades in the course and higher grade point averages for the semester of intervention than did nonparticipating control group students. After two years, freshman seminar…

Describes how three faculty members created a learning community at a nonresidential campus by creating and teaching a linked block of three core-curriculum courses (Composition 1, Speech Communication, and Cultural Anthropology) for incoming freshman students. Relates first-day class activities, describes the linking of assignments and communal…

To bring students up to internationally benchmarked standards, high schools must abandon the ineffective general curriculum and focus resources on a narrower, academic curriculum. Professional and vocational education should be provided in postsecondary settings after students receive certificates of initial mastery. A 12-point school redesign…

The Council for Basic Education advocates for a strong liberal arts education, linked to high standards in core subject areas. A basic education has an academic focus centered on intellectual values. If students graduate from schools with high academic expectations, companies will have internationally competitive work forces. Equity can be…

Focuses on how a culture that values the work of teaching undergraduates might be fostered, suggesting in particular how the institutional culture, academic program, the core curriculum, and Freshman Seminar at Mount Saint Mary's College (Maryland) supports the teaching of first-year students, making it an enjoyable challenge rather than drudgery.…

Most education systems prepare their students to function in the national language and at least one additional language. However, only one-third of U.S. elementary schools offer students language-learning opportunities. Multilingual societies have competitive advantages over monolingual societies in international trade. Ameliorative steps are…