Redesigning higher education

by Lion F. Gardiner

This monograph reviews empirical studies on various aspects of higher education relating to the effectiveness of instruction in regard to four areas: curriculum, instruction, campus psychological climate, and academic advising. After an introduction, the first section describes the development of critical skills, how these skills develop, and the conditions believed necessary to produce them. The following four sections examine the four core areas central to student development and the contribution research suggests they now make to the development: (1) curriculum (methods, the intellectual climate of the classroom, students' involvement, effects of the curriculum); (2) instruction (classroom tests and grades); (3) the campus climate (integration into the campus community, commuter and part-time students, students involvement with faculty, and minority group members); and (4) academic advising (developmental advising, the necessity for training in advising, and evaluation, recognition,