Redesigning higher education

About this book

This monograph reviews empirical studies on various aspects of higher education relating to the effectiveness of instruction in regard to four areas: curriculum, instruction, campus psychological climate, and academic advising. After an introduction, the first section describes the development of critical skills, how these skills develop, and the conditions believed necessary to produce them. The following four sections examine the four core areas central to student development and the contribution research suggests they now make to the development: (1) curriculum (methods, the intellectual climate of the classroom, students' involvement, effects of the curriculum); (2) instruction (classroom tests and grades); (3) the campus climate (integration into the campus community, commuter and part-time students, students involvement with faculty, and minority group members); and (4) academic advising (developmental advising, the necessity for training in advising, and evaluation, recognition, and reward of advising). The next three sections describe opportunities for dramatic gains in students' learning, examining evidence about the relative capacity of students to learn at a very high level; describing seven specific changes which can improve students' learning, and addressing issues of leadership, management, and professional development. The final section presents a vision and a challenge to develop a new kind of community on campus. (Contains approximately 650 references.) (DB).