Shaping the College Curriculum

Shaping the College Curriculum focuses on curriculum
development as an important decision-making process in colleges and
universities. The authors define curriculum as an academic plan
developed in a historical, social, and political context. They
identify eight curricular elements that are addressed,
intentionally or unintentionally, in developing all college courses
and programs. By exploring the interaction of these elements in
context they use the academic plan model to clarify the processes
of course and program planning, enabling instructors and
administrators to ask crucial questions about improving teaching
and optimizing student learning.

This revised edition continues to stress research-based
educational practices. The new edition consolidates and focuses
discussion of institutional and sociocultural factors that
influence curricular decisions. All chapters have been updated with
recent research findings relevant to curriculum leadership,
accreditation, assessment, and the influence of academic fields,
while two new chapters focus directly on learning research and its
implications for instructional practice. A new chapter drawn from
research on organizational change provides practical guidance to
assist faculty members and administrators who are engaged in
extensive program improvements. Streamlined yet still comprehensive
and detailed, this revised volume will continue to serve as an
invaluable resource for individuals and groups whose work includes
planning, designing, delivering, evaluating, and studying curricula
in higher education.

"This is an extraordinary book that offers not a particular
curriculum or structure, but a comprehensive approach for thinking
about the curriculum, ensuring that important considerations are
not overlooked in its revision or development, and increasing the
likelihood that students will learn and develop in ways
institutions hope they will. The book brings coherence and
intention to what is typically an unstructured, haphazard, and only
partially rational process guided more by beliefs than by
empirically grounded, substantive information. Lattuca and Stark
present their material in ways that are accessible and applicable
across planning levels (course, program, department, and
institution), local settings, and academic disciplines. It's an
admirable and informative marriage of scholarship and practice, and
an insightful guide to both. Anyone who cares seriously about how
we can make our colleges and universities more educationally
effective should read this book."

--Patrick T. Terenzini, distinguished professor and
senior scientist, Center for the Study of Higher Education, The
Pennsylvania State University

Auteur
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).

Résumé
Shaping the College Curriculum focuses on curriculum development as an important decision-making process in colleges and universities. The authors define curriculum as an academic plan developed in a historical, social, and political context. They identify eight curricular elements that are addressed, intentionally or unintentionally, in developing all college courses and programs. By exploring the interaction of these elements in context they use the academic plan model to clarify the processes of course and program planning, enabling instructors and administrators to ask crucial questions about improving teaching and optimizing student learning. This revised edition continues to stress research-based educational practices. The new edition consolidates and focuses discussion of institutional and sociocultural factors that influence curricular decisions. All chapters have been updated with recent research findings relevant to curriculum leadership, accreditation, assessment, and the influence of academic fields, while two new chapters focus directly on learning research and its implications for instructional practice. A new chapter drawn from research on organizational change provides practical guidance to assist faculty members and administrators who are engaged in extensive program improvements. Streamlined yet still comprehensive and detailed, this revised volume will continue to serve as an invaluable resource for individuals and groups whose work includes planning, designing, delivering, evaluating, and studying curricula in higher education.

"This is an extraordinary book that offers not a particular curriculum or structure, but a comprehensive approach for thinking about the curriculum, ensuring that important considerations are not overlooked in its revision or development, and increasing the likelihood that students will learn and develop in ways institutions hope they will. The book brings coherence and intention to what is typically an unstructured, haphazard, and only partially rational process guided more by beliefs than by empirically grounded, substantive information. Lattuca and Stark present their material in ways that are accessible and applicable across planning levels (course, program, department, and institution), local settings, and academic disciplines. It's an admirable and informative marriage of scholarship and practice, and an insightful guide to both. Anyone who cares seriously about how we can make our colleges and universities more educationally effective should read this book."
Patrick T. Terenzini, distinguished professor and senior scientist, Center for the Study of Higher Education, The Pennsylvania State University

Contenu

Preface xiii

The Authors xix

1 Curriculum: An Academic Plan 1

The Need for a Definitional Framework 2

Defining Curriculum as an Academic Plan 4

Contextual Influences on Academic Plans 11

Constructing Plans: Curriculum Development 15

Evolution of the Academic Plan Concept 16

Advantages of the Academic Plan Model 20

2 External Influences: Sociocultural Context 23

Patterns of Curriculum Debate 25

Evolving Educational Purposes 26

Debating General Education and Specialization 30

Learners: An Emphasis on Access 36

Content Debates: Prescription vs. Choice 45

Instructional Process: Occasional Innovations 52

Evaluation Debates: Emphasis on Quality Control 57

Influences and Potential Reforms 64

3 Internal Influences: College and University Contexts 65

Institutional Influences 67

Unit-Level Influences 77

Emerging Internal Influences 83

Converging Influences 87 …