College and University Curriculum: Developing and Cultivating Programs of Study that Enhance Student Learning

This volume is designed to serve both as a curriculum text and instructional text - to engage instructors, students, and others in critical reflection and dialogue about curricular, teaching and learning, and assessment issues in higher education. The selected articles also represent theoretical and applied concerns and challenge readers to bridge those concerns by discovering and enacting myriad intersections of theory and practice. The organizing concept behind this volume is that of the academic plan that states, whether intentionally or not, every curriculum includes eight interacting elements: purpose, content, sequence or arrangement of subject matter, learners, instructional process, instructional resources, evaluation strategies, and adjustments (or changes to the plan). Features include: One or two case studies at the end of each chapter Includes primary documents to provide an historical perspective and contemporary readings that comment on current issues and concerns Selections cover topics that few other higher education curriculum texts address collectively, such as theoretical perspectives on curricula, contextual influences on faculty and curricula in higher education, course design, pedagogy, learners and learning, assessment, innovation, and change Addresses both the elements of academic plans and the organizational, disciplinary, and socio-cultural influences that shape decisions about these elements