I have held the belief for some time that formal degree programs at colleges and universities would be more cohesive, and perhaps more meaningful to students, if curricula were integrated. This would mean that faculty would collaborate with each other to help students see the connections between disciplines such as English composition and literature, mathematics, the natural sciences, the social sciences, the humanities, and so on. It may be that integration is only feasible for the general education portion of any degree program. If so, perhaps colleges and universities should require completion of the general education program first before students move on to their major studies. By so doing, connections have been established and foundations laid.
But maybe this is a pipe dream. There are many things that pose barriers. Students transfer between institutions; they stop out and return. Their studies are rarely an uninterrupted flow at the same college. Faculty collaboration is hindered by the already cumbersome demands on their time. Colleges and universities would have to provide the administrative support and infrastructure to facilitate integration of curriculum.
So readers, what do you think? Is there value to an integrated curriculum? Would it lead to a better educational experience? Should students be required to complete their general education program first? Can it be done, and should it be done?
The social scene and the non-traditional student
13 years ago
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1 comment:
Integration of knowledge is what education is all about. Unfortunately, today's students participate in a terribly fractured educational environment, brought on by just the factors you name - transferring, drifting in and out, changing majors, going part-time, etc. Education is parceled out in three-credit bites.
Many universities, including my own, offer integrated curricula for the first year. Classes are organized around a theme, and students participate in them as a group - in other words, you have the same classmates in composition, math, psychology, etc.
Ideally I'd like to see entire programs designed with this sort of integration. And I think that general education offerings should be integrated with major courses of study, across all years.
The challenge is to pull this off in the three-credit educational bite world.
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