Designing the Learning Plan : A Review of Research and Theory Related to College Curricula / Joan S. Stark and Others.

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)

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