DOCUMENT RESUME ED 287 439 HE 020 913 AUTHOR Stark, Joan S.; And Others TITLE Designing the Learning Plan: A Review of Research and Theory Related to College Curricula. INSTITUTION National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, Ann Arbor, MI. SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE 86 GRANT OERI-86-0010 NOTE 99p.; From the NCRIPTAL Program on Curricular Integration and Student Goals. AVAILABLE FROMNCRIPTAL, Suite 2400 School of Education Building, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2748 (Technical Report No. 86-C-001.0, $10.00). PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC0* Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *College Curriculum; College Instruction; *Curriculum Development ;` Definitions; *Educational Research; Higher Education; Instructional Improvement; Planning; Research Design; *Research Needs; Secondary School Curriculum IDENTIFIERS Alverno College WI; College Outcomes Assessment ABSTRACT A summary of major writings on college and pre-college curriculum literature are presented in this report, which is an early step in establishing a framework for the research program of the NCRIPTAL (National Center for Research in Postsecondary Teaching and Learning) Program on Curricular Integration and Student Goals. Section 1 on the, literature of college curricula includes: historical and background reports (e.g., Carnegie Council on Policy studies); prescriptive views of quality, related to recommendations of national reports; strategy views, related to the educational process (e.g., national report recommendations, disciplinary approach, and discussions of student development); studies of curricular change (e.g.., those at Alverno College, and liberal arts outcomes research). Definitions of curriculum are offered in the second section, which focuses on pre-college literature, as well as discussions in the literature of: the nature of curriculum development or planning; theoretical assumptions and approaches to curriculum planning and curriculum; cognitive psychology and curriculum development; and the teacher as curriculum planner. The final section proposes six assumptions for use in models of curriculum research, identifying such variables as student involvement, the organization of a discipline, and student outcomes. Fourteen pages of references are included. (LB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Designing the Learning Plan A Review of Research and Theory Related to College Curricula 3 Papers in this series available from NCRIPTAL Approaches to Research on the Improvement of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning: A Working Paper Patricia J. Green and Joan S. Stark Focusing on Student Acadoimic Outcomes: A Working Paper Joanne M. Alexander and Joan S. Stark Postsecondary Teaching and Learning Issues in Search of Researchers: A Working Paper Carol D. Vogel and Joan S. Stark Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom: A Review of the Research Literature Wilbert J. McKeachie, Paul R. Pintrich, Yt -Guang Lin, and David A. F. Smith Psychological Models of the Impact of College on Students Harold A. Korn Faculty as a Key Resource: A Review of the Research Literature Robert T. Blackburn, Janet H. Lawrence, Steven Ross, Virginia Polk Okoloko, Jeffery P. Bieber, Rosalie Mei land, and Terry Street The Organizational Context for Teaching and Learning: A Review of the Research Literature Marvin W. Peterson, Kim S. Cameron, Lisa A. Mets, Philip Jones, and Deborah Etting ton Electronic Information: Literacy Skills for a Computer Age Jerome Johnston Design in Context: A Conceptual Fvamework for the Study of Computer Software in Higher Education Robert Kozma and Robert Bangert-Drowns 4 Designing the Learning Plan A Peview of Research and Theory Related to College Curricula by Joan S. Stark and Malcolm A. Lowther with assistance from Sally Smith Grant Number OERI-86-0010 Joan S. Stark, Director Wilbert J. McKeachie, Associate Director Suite 2400 School of Education Building The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1259 (313) 936-2748 Acknowledgments: The authors thank Clifford Adelman, Jack Rossmann, and Patrick Terenzini for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Excerpts of works cited here are reproduced to make you aware of their availability. We encourage you to refer to the works in their entirety and have fully cited works referred to in this report. Because some works were still in draft form at the time of this review, we have cited the draft, which may have been altered in subsequent publication. 0 1986 by the Regents of The University of Michigan The project presented, or reported herein, was performed pursuant to a grant from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement/Department of Education (OERI/ED). However, the opinions expressed herein do not necessar- ily reflect the position or policy of the OERI/ED and no official endorsement by the OERI /ED should be inferred. Contents Introduction 1 Context for the Report 1 The Current State of Knowledge about College Curricula 4 Boundaries of the College Curriculum Literature 6 I. A Summary of Major Writings on College Curricula 11 A. Recent Reviews of Curriculum Literature 11 B. Historical and Background Reports 12 Work of the Carnegie Council on Policy Studies 12 An International Perspective 15 The Current American Scene 16 C. Prescriptive ViewsThe Quality Educaticnal Product 17 Recommendations of the National Reports on Particular Educational Products 18 A "Liberating" Perspective 19 A Research Synthesis on Academic Outcomes 20 D. Strategy ViewsA Focus on the Educational Process 21 Introduction 21 The Educational Process Recommendations from the National Reports 21 A Disciplinary Approach 23 The Curricular Notions of HaMburton 27 A Curricular Classification by Bergquist 28 The Case for Curricular Design 30 Instructional Development Strategies 31 Other Important Contributions 31 Student Achievement and Student Effort 31 Student Development Approaches (Cross) 33 Student Development Approaches (Chickering) 34 Student Development Approaches (Perry) 35 E. Studies of Curricular Change 37 The Alvenio College Studies 38 Winter, McClelland, and Stewart's Research on Liberal Arts Outcomes 40 The Immediate Future 40 F. Summary 42 II. Summary of Precollege Curriculum Literature 45 A. Definitions of Curriculum 45 B. Nature of Curriculum Development or Planning 46 Discourse on the Nature of the Curriculum 46 Literature on Curriculum Research 46 Literature on Curriculum Development 47 C. Theoretical Assumptions for Curriculum Planning 47 D. Approaches to Curriculum Development 49 The Balance of Participation 49 A Knowledge Structure Lase 52 The Dilemmas of Curricular Change 53 t t) E. Frameworks for Building Curricula 54 F. Cognitive Psychology and Curriculum Development 56 G. The Teacher as Curriculum Planner 59 H. Summary 63 III. Models for College Curricular Planning and Research 67 A. Definitions 72 B. Tentative Definitions 74 /C. Conclusion 75 References 77 8 vi Figures 1. The Permeable Boundaries of Literature Bearing on the College Curriculum 7 2. Path for a Student Development and College Impress Model (C. Robert Pace) 32 3. Matrix for Identifying Curriculum Development Strategies (Short) 51 4. Relationship Between the Model of Course Planning and Components of Course Design (Posner & Rudnitsky, 1982) 60 5. A Model of Teacher Thought and Action (Clark & Peterson, 1986) 62 6. Tentative Curriculum Design Model 71 vii Designing the Learning Plan Introduction The primary tasks of NCRIPTAL's Research Program on Curricular Integration and Student Purposes are to establish a framework for systematic research concerning college curricula, to field test the framework, and to design and commence collaborative studies that may assist colleges in determining the potential effect of various curricular strategies on learning outcomes for students of different backgrounds and goals. This technical report is an early step !.n establishing a framework for the research program. As such, it examines a wide variety of alternative ways in which discourse concerning college curricula could be solidly based on documented evidence and selects the most promising of these for further development. Thus, the technical report has three specific purposes and, correspondingly, after an initial introduction and context statement, the report is organized in three sections: Section I summarizes recent literature about college curricula, noting the particular foci, strengths and deficiencies of existing persuasive arguments, frameworks and research models. In order to focus the review, a scheme to establish boundaries of the relevant literature is first presented. Subsequent sections cover (1) general reviews of the curriculum literature in higher education, (2) background works (historical treatments, descriptions of current practice); (3) literature concerned with the educational product, including (a) exhortative writinE,or frameworks describing v'ews of good quality education or what college students should learn and (b) empirical studies concerned with educational outcomes, (4) literature concerned with the educational process, particularly curricular planning or design, and (5) discussions and research on curricular change. The section concludes with our prediction that the balance