General education in liberal arts colleges. new dimensions in higher education, number 24 [electronic resource] / Robert T. Blackburn.
An assessment was made of the status of general education in liberal arts colleges. The general education movement was started to provide special cross-disciplinary courses as an answer to the desire for unity of knowledge. Liberal arts colleges within universities were not studied. The author state...
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
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[S.l.] :
Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
1967.
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| Summary: | An assessment was made of the status of general education in liberal arts colleges. The general education movement was started to provide special cross-disciplinary courses as an answer to the desire for unity of knowledge. Liberal arts colleges within universities were not studied. The author states, "the general education movement is dead." he attributes its death to (1) inadequate numbers of committed and qualified faculty members, (2) inadequate program leadership, (3) increase in numbers of students and changes in their characteristics, (4) new demands for specialization, and (5) changes in learning theory which claim that cross-disciplinary studies cannot be mastered by students without a firm foundation in at least two disciplines. The author concludes that the future of general education in the liberal arts colleges will be contingent upon the future state of the liberal arts college itself. In discussing the future of liberal arts colleges, the author states that since colleges exist principally for the faculty and administration and only secondarily for students and society, their survival seems sure. He states, also, that research is needed (1) on faculty attitudes and abilities to match faculty members and college, (2) on course costs, (3) on the process of creating new programs, (4) on what is genuinely new in education, and (5) on what is effective. The author concludes change is being forced by economic pressures, more sophisticated students, and faculty mobility. He states that curriculum change will have to occur, and concludes by describing many kinds of change now being initiated in various colleges. (al) |
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| Item Description: | Contract Number: OEC-2-6-061722-1742. ERIC Document Number: ED013348. |
| Physical Description: | 92 p. |