Shaping the College Curriculum : Academic Plans in Context

Updated and substantially revised since its original publication, this new volume serves as a resource for individuals and groups whose work includes planning, designing, delivering, evaluating, and studying curricula in higher education.The academic plan concept, introduced and explained in the first edition, provides the framework for this volume. An expanded review of theory and research on learning enhances the authors' discussion of how the needs of learners can be addressed in the design of academic plans. A new chapter on curricular change builds on research on organizational change and provides practical guidance to assist faculty members and administrators who are considering and implementing substantial improvements in programs. Each chapter includes updated research findings relevant to curriculum planning, accreditation, teaching, and learning. Finally, information on curriculum planning in for-profit institutions and online education programs supplements the primary focus on planning in not-for-profit institutions. The second edition is also reorganized to facilitate use of the book by researchers, faculty, administrators, and graduate students."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

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).