Parents and taxpayers are frustrated by reports of students who have failed to master the reading, writing, and thinking skills they expect of college graduates. They are searching for evidence of how much or how little students learn at competing institutions. And they are wondering why a third of full-time college graduates don't finish a…

Missouri is the "Show Me" State. And with this goal in mind, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) offers this report card to examine the state of higher education in Missouri. If the nation is to ensure its continued preeminence in higher education, policymakers, trustees, alumni, and taxpayers must know what is going on in…

In the Fall of 1994, the Computer Science Department at Coastal Carolina University (Conway, South Carolina implemented a formal ethics component in the introductory computer science course required of all majors. Prior to the introduction of this ethics component into the curriculum, a survey of ethical attitudes was administered to all computer…

Focusing on the appropriate use of prerequisite courses, this document discusses good practices for implementing prerequisites as developed by the Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges. The first section provides an introduction to the use of prerequisites, discussing the need to balance student access and success, as well as state…

Developed in response to the expanding role of faculty in community college governance and curriculum development, this report reviews the role, structure, and duties of local college curriculum committees and presents standards of good practice. Following an introduction, the role of the curriculum committee is described, and relevant sections…

This paper presents the findings from an evaluation of SUCCEED (Southwestern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education), a National Science Foundation (NSF) coalition. The presentation is made in several stages: (1) a review of the background and goals of the NSF coalitions, SUCCEED in particular; (2) a discussion of the methods…

This paper addresses the issue of defining the concept of core curriculum by first examining some of the literature on the subject, discussing why there is resistance to defining "core," citing common uses for the term "core curriculum," and exploring the historical roots of core curriculum. Next, the paper describes eight…

This paper describes certain fundamental realities and choices that planners and teachers of core curricula at the college level must take into account in order to devise programs of quality and integrity. Six common sense realities and the choices they demand are presented and discussed. First, core programs must avoid reducing the teaching and…

This annotated bibliography lists books, articles, and other related sources dealing with the areas of speech communication education and critical thinking. Besides works dealing specifically with the area of speech communications, a majority of the sources focus primarily on the general topic of critical thinking, its value to secondary and…

Focusing on the teaching of alternative dispute resolutions at universities, Claudia L. Hale and Leda M. Cooks argue that mediation should be taught primarily as a communication process that involves the joint efforts of mediator and disputants. Teachers of mediation should begin by distinguishing mediation from other forms of dispute resolution,…

This digest offers general information about American community colleges and lists a variety of sources of additional information about these institutions. The digest provides the defining characteristics of community colleges and information on their curricula; statistics on enrollments and student characteristics; information on faculty…

The 13 chapters of this book attempt to challenge assumptions about international education and urge comprehensive curricular changes involving integration of international and global education into all disciplines. Chapters are organized into three parts that address internationalization for the 21st century, multidisciplinary perspectives on…

Total Quality Management (TQM) has been proven successful in businesses worldwide for more than a decade. Educators, however, have been slow to apply the techniques to education. TQM can be used in higher education, particularly in schools of engineering and business administration. In TQM, the education of the student is considered the product…

A study aimed to provide information about the current communication curriculum offered through undergraduate programs. A systematic search of the undergraduate catalogs of 565 institutions was conducted viewing Speech Communication Programs available in the Central States region. Results indicated that all but five institutions offered at least…

Developed by unit managers in Central Ohio Technical College's Academic Affairs division, this annual plan for 1983-84 attempts to provide the basis for communication with individuals both within and outside the division; unify the campus around shared goals; and review progress. Introductory material describes the development of the program plan,…