Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
CurriculumInnovationSessions
SampleCurricularModels
StanfordUniversity
Stanfordiscurrentlyrevisingitsgeneraleducationprogram.Thenewprogramwillfocusonteachingasetof
skillsratherthanrequiringcoursesinspecificdisciplines.Theproposedchangeswillemphasizewaysof
thinking,waysofdoingtodevelopstudentsabilitiesforlifelonglearning.Therecommendedchangesinclude
sevenskillareas:
AestheticandInterpretiveInquiry
SocialInquiry
ScientificAnalysis
FormalandQuantitativeReasoning
EngagingDifference
MoralandEthicalReasoning
CreativeExpression
Asignificantchangewouldbetoaddacollectionoffreshmen,interdisciplinarycourseofferingscalledThinking
Matters.ThiscurriculumwouldincludecourseslikeTheScienceofMythBusters,whichwouldspanbiology
andchemistryandwouldusethetelevisionprogramtoteachaspectsofthescientificmethod.Othercourses
couldstillbeofferedthatwouldbesituatedinaparticulardiscipline,suchasabiologycoursecalledBrain,
BehaviorandEvolution.
LynnUniversity
LynnUniversityscorecurriculumiscalledTheDialoguesofLearning.Thisgeneraleducationprogramtakesa
thematicapproachwiththecorecenteredonthreecomprehensivedomains:DialoguesofSelfandSociety;
DialoguesofBeliefandReason;andDialoguesofJusticeandCivicLife.
Thelearningoutcomesforallthesecoursesincludecriticalthinking,communicationskills,informationliteracy,
andtechnologicalliteracy.Allseminarsareassessedbaseduponinstitutionalwiderubricsforeachskillarea
thatisdevelopmental,requiringincreasinglevelsofcompetencyandability.
Overthecourseoffouryears,studentsarerequiredtotake12seminarsinthethreeDialogues.TheDialogues
structureincludestwostages:
1. FoundationalStage:100and200levelscoursesinthethreeareasinthefirsttwoyears
o StudentsmustcompleteeachDialogueateachlevelbytheendofsophomoreyear.
o Studentsmusttakeatleasttwo(oneateachlevel)oftheirFoundationalDialogueswitha
memberoftheEnglishfaculty.
o StudentsmusttakeoneDialoguewithanAmericanfocusandonewithaGlobalfocus.
2. TransformationalandIntegrative/CapstoneStage:300and400levelcoursesinthethreeareas
o Studentsmustcompletetwoseminarsineacharea;atleasttwointheirmajorfieldorcollege.
o SixupperlevelDialoguecourses,studentsmustcompletetwocoursesfocusedntheAmerican
experienceandtwocourseswithaGlobalfocus.
OtherRequirements:
TwocoursesinQuantitativeReasoning(takenduringfoundationalstage)
FourcoursesinScientificLiteracy(oneateachlevelincludingafoundationalcourseandatleasttwo
othersatthe300or400level)
LynnrecentlyinstitutedanInterimseminarcalledDialoguesinInnovation.
SomeoftheDialoguecoursesinclude:
DialoguesofSelfandSociety:EverythingIKnowAboutMyself,ILearnedfromDr.Seuss
DialoguesofBeliefandReason:HumanReasonintheAgeofUnreason:CurrentDebates,Past
Legacies
DialoguesofJusticeandCivicLife:JusticeandGenocideinGlobalContext
DialoguesofInnovation:TalkingTrashandTrackingTurtles
PortlandStateUniversity
PSUsgeneraleducationprogramiscalledUniversityStudiesandtakesanintegrativeapproachthatbeginswith
freshmaninquiryandendsinaseniorcapstoneexperience.Studentstakeaminimumof45credits.
TheFreshmenInquirycourseistaughtbyateamoffacultywitheachfacultymemberpairedwithanupper
divisionstudentorpeermentor.Thefreshmenandsophomorecoursesalsoincludementoringsections.These
arefacultyledsessionsthatmeettwiceaweek;thisisaugmentedbyasmallersessionledbypeermentors.
Studentsworkinsmallgroupsonprojectsthatdevelopcomputerliteracy,dopeerreviews,andrevisionson
papers,andfurtherengagequestionsposedinclassdiscussion.
FreshmanInquiry
Thisisa100level,yearlong,themebasedcoursewhichintroducesstudentstodifferentmodesofinquiryand
thetoolstosucceedincollege(15credits).Thecoursesarethemebasedanduseaninterdisciplinaryapproach
tounderstandhowtheissuesandtopicsarisingfromthemainthemecanbeunderstoodfromdifferent
perspectives.TransfersarerequiredtotakeaonetermtransitioncourseasagatewayintoUniversityStudies.
SophomoreInquiry
Studentstakethree4creditcourses(12credits).Eachcourseleadsintoathematicallylinked,interdisciplinary
clusterofcoursesattheupperdivisionallevel.Studentscanselectfrom25differenttopics.
UpperDivisionCluster
Studentscompleteoneinterdisciplinaryprogramorgeneraleducationcluster(12credits).Theseclassesare
designatedwitha"U"andareofferedbyacademicdepartments.Threecoursesinoneclusterarelinkedtoone
oftheSophomoreInquirycourses.
SeniorCapstone
Thisisa400level,6credit,cooperativelearningexperience.Studentsfromdifferentmajorsandbackgrounds
workasateamandcollaboratewithfacultyandcommunityleaderstounderstandandfindsolutionstoareal
probleminthePortlandcommunity.