Page 236 - Crisis in Higher Education

Redesigning Curriculum and Pedagogy • 207

bachelor’s degree? Should it take at least five years for students to graduate,
with many taking up to seven years? Hopefully the answer is no. The bet-
ter approach is to (1) make learning more efficient so students learn more
in less time, the essence of student-centered learning from Chapter 7 and
(2) rely on graduates to become lifelong learners.
Universities are proponents of lifelong learning, implying that graduates
do not know all they need to know for a happy and productive life. Plus,
graduates from 50 years ago learned many things that are not remotely
relevant todays such as (1) using punched cards as input to computers,
(2) programming with the Formula Translation language, more commonly
known as FORTRAN, and (3) making design drawings with a T-square
and triangles. Graduates could prepare a much longer list of things they
learned, which they have never or rarely used because they worked in a
different field or new ideas and techniques have replaced old ones. There is
even a longer list of things they had to learn along the way to keep pace
with the growth in knowledge. For these reasons, universities are correct
in claiming that people must become lifelong learners, and because they
are correct about this, they are not correct when they expand curricula
because existing knowledge will become obsolete and new knowledge will
be created. Following are some recommendations to consider:

1. 120 credit hour mandate: State government should require under-
graduate programs at public universities to have no more than
120 credit hours.
2. Potential employer needs: Content is determined by interactions
between potential employers and tenured and professional fac-
ulty. These groups must work together to determine what is best
learned in the classroom and what can be learned on the job, so
programs like engineering, accounting, and social work can meet
the 120 credit hour requirement.
3. Cooperative (co-op) education and internships: These programs blend
classroom education with work experience in ways that accentuate
learning. Internship programs, including student teaching, can be
accomplished within 120 credit hours. Completing a co-op program
in four years may take a little more thought and careful planning,
but it can be accomplished.
4. Healthcare-related degree: Many healthcare professionals such as
nurses and therapist earn a four-year degree. In fact, the Bachelor
of Science in Nursing (BSN) is becoming the preferred degree for