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ERIC Number: ED231412
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1981
Pages: 21
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Functions of the Two-Year College Curriculum.
Clowes, Darrel A.
A study was conducted to review the major functions of a two-year college curriculum as identified in the literature; to relate these functions to specific academic areas within the sciences, social sciences, and science-related technologies; and to relate curriculum functions to specific courses within these academic areas. The literature on the two-year college curriculum is consistent about identifying its four major functions as transfer, general education, preparation for work, and remediation. To determine whether these functions are served by discrete courses, findings from a survey of science, social science, and science-related technology instructors were analyzed. The analysis revealed: (1) the literature-identified curriculum functions were necessary and sufficient--all 1,244 course sections studied could be classified by one or more of the four functions; (2) 34% of the courses served one function, 45% served two functions, 20% served three functions, and 1% served all four functions; (3) transfer was the strongest discrete function and general education the weakest; (4) the transfer function was served in 72% of the sections, general education in 53%, preparation for work in 39%, and remediation in 7%; (5) the highest proportion of courses serving a single function was found in Engineering and the lowest proportion in Agriculture; and (6) the function of courses varied within academic areas. (LL)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: A later version of a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for College Science Teachers (New York, NY, 1981).