This book argues that what college students read has crucial implications for both their development as individuals and their ability to establish consensus on national issues. The result of visits to college classrooms all over the United States, the book is not the work of a professional educator but of an editor and literary critic who is…

This paper discusses how Fort Hays State University (FHSU) in Hays, Kansas, is attempting to infuse elements of cultural diversity into its curriculum in order to increase students' sensitivities to and knowledge of other cultures. It reviews research and writings on cultural diversity in American society and in American higher education in…

A 1992 Indiana law required public institutions of higher education to jointly identify at least 30 semester credit hours of comparable general education (GE) courses fulfilling graduation requirements at each institution. Ten, 3-hour GE courses were identified and found to transfer among all of the state's institutions except the Indiana…

The dramatic changes that occurred in information technology in the 1990s have rendered the curricular offerings of many college and university information systems and computer science programs obselete. This paper identifies some of the most desirable skills in the current technology environment. By being astute innovators with college curricula,…

Expressing concern that interest in hand lettering and calligraphy has diminished due to limited career applications, seventeen U.S. master calligraphers who teach or have taught calligraphy were interviewed. The calligraphers made six suggestions that have implications for educators: (1) italic based alphabets, rather than the current forms of…

The purpose of this study was to characterize the prior conceptions of molecular structure that organic chemistry students expressed as they learned to interpret nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, and to describe the problem-solving strategies that students employ as they determine molecular structure. The two questions that frame this study…

This book provides a comprehensive guide to the role of the academic department chair in a time when the chair's role is rapidly becoming more important and more complex. Part 1 describes the new roles chairs face, followed by a general discussion of their responsibilities. Part 2 is concerned with the department chair's work with people,…

This information capsule presents the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) status of Associate in Arts degree seekers at Miami-Dade Community College for fall terms 1995 and 1996. Tables present CLAST results by subtest for a cross section of A.A. degree seekers college-wide. For comparative purposes, fall term 1995 statistics (prior to the…

This article provides an overview of the current status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) students on community college campuses, and gives an idea of offerings and programs available at some campuses and districts. A primary difficulty in researching this subject is the anonymity of much of the LGBT population. The "coming…

This is a case study of curriculum and pedagogy used to integrate academic and occupational education in the community college. The study investigated classroom practices, views of integrated instruction on the part of staff and students, and professional development approaches. Thirty-three integrated classrooms in seven community colleges in…

This guidebook for curriculum planners reports on two specific aspects of the current wave of general education reform: the creation or revival of common or "core" courses within general-education curricula and the emergence of cultural complexity and multiplicity as organizing themes in these new, or newly revised, core programs. The book…

This paper discusses the inclusion of race, both as a construct and as an issue, in the introductory level of the college social science curriculum. First, a review of the literature concerning the general higher education curriculum indicates that a general education should prepare students for citizenship. Next, the paper presents evidence that…

Program review at Independence Community College (ICC) is structured so that every program of study will undergo review within a 5-year period. The purpose of the program review effort is to assess the relationship of inputs to outcomes, so that actual outcomes can be compared to expected outcomes. Each program of study is evaluated according to…

This discussion describes standards developed by Villa Julie College (Maryland) to avoid arbitrarily designating courses as "upper-level." Initially the school established a double concept of quality: either the absolute or "floor" sense (taken from minimum standards of accreditation) or the relative or "ceiling"…

Perspectives on characteristics of college curricula, their influence, and assessment are analyzed, based on a 1982 panel held for the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Discussion topics pertaining to programs and degrees included the proliferation of programs, the college credit hour, changing student constituencies, vocationalism…