Shaping the College Curriculum: Academic Plans in Context, 2nd Edition

by Lisa R. Lattuca; Joan S. Stark

• ISBN13: 9780470605400
• ISBN10: 0470605405
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2009-10-01
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

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

Table of Contents

Preface

The Authors

Curriculum: An Academic Plan

The Need for a Definitional Framework

Defining Curriculum as an Academic Plan

Contextual Influences on Academic Plans

Constructing Plans: Curriculum Development

Evolution of the Academic Plan Concept

Advantages of the Academic Plan Model

External Influences: Sociocultural Context

Patterns of Curriculum Debate

Evolving Educational Purposes

Debating General Education and Specialization

Learners: An Emphasis on Access

Content Debates: Prescription vs. Choice

Instructional Process: Occasional Innovation

Evaluation Debates: Emphasis on Quality Control

Influences and Potential Reforms

Internal Influences: College and University Contexts

Institutional Influences

Unit-Level Influences

Emerging Internal Influences

Converging Influences

Internal Influences: Academic Fields

Characterizing Academic Fields

Differences in Course Planning

Seeking Academic Community

Building on the Strengths of Academic Fields

Creating Academic Plans

Course Planning

Program Planning

College-Wide Planning

Systematic Design Models

Sharing Responsibility for Curriculum Design

Learners

Learner Influences on Course Planning

Learner Influences on Program Planning

Learner Influences on College Planning

Multiple Perspectives on Learning

Learners and Learning Processes

Understandings of Learning and Knowledge

Learning in Academic Fields

Considering Learners in Curriculum Design

Instructional Processes

Teaching Styles

Contextual Influences on Courses and Programs

Expanding Choices Among Instructional Processes

Teaching for Intentional Learning

Reflecting on Planning and Teaching

Evaluating and Adjusting Academic Plans

Defining Evaluation and Assessment

Evaluating and Adjusting Course Plans

Evaluating and Adjusting Program Plans

College-Level Evaluation

Evaluating Evaluation

Responding to Accountability Demands

Administering Academic Plans

Curriculum Leadership and Administrative Roles

Models and Strategies for Curricular Change

Evolution, Adaptation, and Strategic Change

Scope of Curricular Change

Models of Change

Using Multiple Strategies for Curricular Change

Learning to Change in Academic Organizations

Maintaining Change

Academic Plans in Context

References

Index

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