NCCRESt

part of the Education Reform Networks

New Dimensions of the Community College Curriculum. Final Paper

This paper discusses general education (GE) programs and compares course requirements at community colleges in the United States. Through a review of the literature, the author presents the rationale for three types of GE programs: (1) core curricula, the most prescribed type of GE, practiced only by 5% of four-year institutions; (2) distributional requirement systems, which account for more than 90% of GE programs; and (3) the free elective program, the least prescriptive form of GE. These programs attempt to provide familiarity with core knowledge, obtained by studying the humanities and social sciences, as well as basic skills. As society increasingly becomes dependent on technology, computer literacy is emerging as one of these basic skills and a vital addition to GE requirements. The paper describes a content analysis of 18 community college course catalogs. Findings indicated that: (1) computer literacy requirements are high in both transfer and non-transfer programs, yet the course content varies considerably; (2) GE requirements for non-transfer degrees are more oriented toward specific skills than general knowledge; (3) the structure of

• Author/Creator: Zeszotarski, Paula
• Date Published: 03-17
• Notes: Connect to the catalog at the library of the University of Colorado at Boulder. English Document (RIE) 141 Reports--Descriptive EDRS: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
• Year: 1999

This resource is cataloged under:

• Subject: Comparative Analysis
• Subject: Computer Literacy
• Subject: Core Curriculum
• Subject: Educational Development
• Subject: Educational Objectives
• Subject: General Education
• Subject: Multicultural Education
• Subject: Student Needs
• Subject: Two Year Colleges

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