Shaping the College Curriculum

Lisa R. Lattuca is associate professor and senior research associate at the Center for the Study of Higher Education at The Pennsylvania State University. She is the project director and co-principal investigator for a multi-year, national study of the impact of a new set of outcomes-based accreditation standards on the educational experiences and learning of undergraduate engineers. She is the author of Creating Interdisciplinarity: Interdisciplinary Research among College and University Faculty (2001), and coedited College and University Curriculum: Developing and Cultivating Program of Study that Enhance Student Learning (2001) and Qualitative Research in Higher Education: Expanding Perspectives (2001). Joan S. Stark is professor emerita in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education and dean emerita, The School of Education, University of Michigan. She is the former editor of The Review of Higher Education and the former director of the National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, a national research center funded by the U.S. Department of Education. She is the author or editor of numerous books and monographs including: Reflections on Course Planning (1988), Student Goals for College and Courses (1989), Planning Introductory College Courses (1990), and Assessment and Program Evaluation (An Association for the Study of Higher Education Reader, 1994).

• Preface xiiiThe Authors xix1 Curriculum: An Academic Plan 1The Need for a Definitional Framework 2Defining Curriculum as an Academic Plan 4Contextual Influences on Academic Plans 11Constructing Plans: Curriculum Development 15Evolution of the Academic Plan Concept 16Advantages of the Academic Plan Model 202 External Influences: Sociocultural Context 23Patterns of Curriculum Debate 25Evolving Educational Purposes 26Debating General Education and Specialization 30Learners: An Emphasis on Access 36Content Debates: Prescription vs. Choice 45Instructional Process: Occasional Innovations 52Evaluation Debates: Emphasis on Quality Control 57Influences and Potential Reforms 643 Internal Influences: College and University Contexts 65Institutional Influences 67Unit-Level Influences 77Emerging Internal Influences 83Converging Influences 874 Internal Influences: Academic Fields 89Characterizing Academic Fields 91Differences in Course Planning 93Seeking Academic Community 101Building on the Strengths of Academic Fields 1115 Creating Academic Plans 115Course Planning 116Program Planning 127College-Wide Planning 132Systematic Design Models 135Sharing Responsibility for Curriculum Design 1436 Learners 145Learner Influences on Course Planning 147Learner Influences on Program Planning 151Learner Influences on College Planning 152Multiple Perspectives on Learning 153Learners and Learning Processes 159Understandings of Learning and Knowledge 168Learning in Academic Fields 174Considering Learners in Curriculum Design 1797 Instructional Processes 183Teaching Styles 184Contextual Influences on Courses and Programs 187Expanding Choices Among Instructional Processes 191Teaching for Intentional Learning 212Reflecting on Planning and Teaching 2258 Evaluating and Adjusting Academic Plans 229Defining Evaluation and Assessment 231Evaluating and Adjusting Course Plans 235Evaluating and Adjusting Program Plans 248College-Wide Evaluation 257Evaluating Evaluation 266Responding to Accountability Demands 2679 Administering Academic Plans 269Curriculum Leadership and Administrative Roles 27510 Models and Strategies for Curricular Change 301Evolution, Adaptation, and Strategic Change 302Scope of Curricular Change 304Models of Change 305Using Multiple Strategies for Curricular Change 318Learning to Change in Academic Organizations 322Maintaining Change 327Academic Plans in Context 329References 331Names Index 359Subject Index 367