Changes in the College Curriculum

Joyce Davis, MCC

Impact of America 2000 on Educational Research

Several years ago, many of the nation's community colleges focused on their role in relation to the demands that were emerging from the America 2000 report on what business wants from education. This report stated the need for students to have performance skills in the following areas: basic content competency, thinking skills, and personal qualities, i.e. individual responsibility, self-esteem, self-management, sociability and integrity. Pressure existed for institutions to incorporate the "human factors" into their daily operations. This transferred into a message for educators to integrate their curriculum to include the process of learning and the development of personal skills that correspond with community expectations.

To accomplish this, increased attention was given to the potential achievement and success of the community college student, and how to reactivate learning and relearning. Information was amassed regarding the observations of what works best in the teaching-learning environment and the results showed that the majority of college students gained most from experiential learning. This discovery led educators to research teaching and learning strategies that incorporated participatory activities. This research also suggested that most students were concerned with relationships and profited most by enjoying interactive relationships within the confines of the educational setting. This clearly spelled out that the human factor positively influenced success and achievement and greatly contributed to linking education with the real world.

Using Cooperative Learning to Enhance Teaching and Learning

Arizona's community colleges have adopted an intention to work toward enhancing their continued effectiveness in the teaching-learning process. Professional accountability has become a major focus. Leadership training has been implemented to assist college administrative personnel in the mastery of skills that demonstrate the college's intention. Another focus has been on the day-to-day business of classroom experiences. Learning strategies such as cooperative learning have been given considerable attention.

Cooperative learning at the college level "nudges" the instructor toward additional creative planning and toward paying attention to the business of "how to teach" (the process), as well as the traditional business of "what to teach" (content). Many college faculty are being asked to consider a change in professional style. For some, the challenge is a positive one, and for some, the challenge presents a problem. According to Dr. Tom Gordon, educator, humanist psychologist, and author, for the educator with an authentic focus on effectiveness in teaching and learning, the change simply spells cooperation between content and process.

Cooperative Learning: Content, Process, and Outcomes

The curriculum of cooperative learning outlines specific activities that structure college students into learning teams of dyads, triad, small groups, and entire classes. Each named activity is focused on reaching a specific and well-defined educational goal through the process of active learning. The cooperative learning curriculum provides opportunities for positive interactive among diverse populations of college students and can ultimately contribute to a student's enhanced social skills and demonstrations of positive human regard within a nation experiencing much global migration. Cooperative learning curriculum also provides time and opportunities for critical thinking and reflective thought.

Cooperative learning specifically outlines educational goals that include classroom experiences geared to strengthen both cognitive and affective areas of learning. Evaluating student outcomes is one way to assess the effectiveness of the cooperative learning curriculum. Another way is through the feedback that college educators personally experience about their abilities to bring about positive differences in the classroom. This may require that college educators revisit their original commitment to influence their students in a positive way -- to facilitate the learning process to the highest and best good of their students and their community. The question of whether it is worthwhile for a college educator to change from more traditional teaching to more cooperative practices is an individual assessment; however, for this educator, it definitely has been.

The Labyrinth-Forum: Winter 1996

Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI)
Maricopa County Community College District

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