Humanities Curriculum Research Articles

Gifted Girls and the Humanities

In recent years, attention has been drawn to differences between the school experiences of females and those of males. Although particular focus has been on conditions that contribute to attrition and underachievement of females in science and mathematics, similar conditions may exist in humanities classes. Specifically, students in English and history/social studies classes frequently encounter materials that are disproportionately by and about males and an overall classroom environment that is more supportive of males. All students need a curriculum that reflects the contributions of talented female authors, strong, active female characters, social activists, political and historical figures. Additionally, changes in the types of assignments, classroom organization, and teacher behaviors are necessary to address the needs of gifted girls in these courses by more adequately supporting their learning styles, preferences, and strengths. This article suggests appropriate modifications of humanities curricula to address these needs.

See me, hear me: Using film in health-care classes

This essay argues that film deserves a place within the medical humanities curriculum and demonstrates effective strategies for employing it within medical ethics and humanities classrooms. Part One of the article emphasizes how and why medical ethics teachers can utilize documentary and fictional films, such as “Thomas Szasz and the Myth of Mental Illness,” “The Deadly Deception,”Whose Life Is It Anyway? and “Voices From the Front” in their courses. Such films encourage students to move beyond abstract debates and confront the human pain inherent in all ethical dilemmas. Part Two focuses on documentary and fiction film in the medical humanities classroom. In this section, the author details how to incorporates films, such asThe Doctor, The Waterdance andHospital, into the humanities classroom, juxtaposing them with various literary works, such asOther Women's Children, Borrowed Time, andCeremony. Part Three of the essay presents a detailed discussion ofThe Elephant Man andFrankenstein, illustrating how visual and literary texts compliment each other within the humanities classroom. Overall, the author demonstrates how films function as engaging and complex visual texts providing unique insights in the particularities of American health care and, as such, can become valuable components within medical ethics and humanities classrooms.

Performing the System Design Process: An Intelligent Way to Learn

Structuring the ideal human factors curriculum has received considerable interest in recent years. A common theme stresses the need for hands-on learning. The United States Air Force Academy recently developed a human factors design course that emphasized critical thinking skills through interactive, collaborative techniques. Steps critical to the system design process were taught to the students and were subsequently performed by student design teams. The teams then submitted competitive proposals for a workstation being built as part of an actual dormitory renovation project. A “winning” design was selected at the culmination of the course, and was later implemented by construction contractors. The design effort received universal praise by Academy management, architects, and civil engineering personnel. Educational success was measured by standardized student critique data which rated the course significantly higher than composite scores from all Academy offerings. Collaborative hands-on design appears to have been a successful method of teaching critical human factors principles.

Regenerating curriculum and pedagogy: the English experience

ABSTRACTThis article identifies two traditions in the development of curriculum theory and practice in England. The first, it is suggested, grew from the Nuffield tradition of investigative subject‐based enquiry and has evolved in a broadly social constructivist and child‐focused way. The second, with origins in the Humanities Curriculum Project, has developed through action research and professional, reflective practice and is teacher focused. The paper argues for the integration of these interrelated perspectives to embrace the emergent field of study around pedagogic content knowledge (in the USA) and didactic transposition (in France).

Training development quality assurance system (TDQAS)

Performance + InstructionVolume 34, Issue 3 p. 35-39 Article Training development quality assurance system (TDQAS) Howell F. Wright, Howell F. Wright Wrighth@alpha.acast.nova.edu Howell F. Wright is a Senior Project Manager in the Education Branch, Kansas City Support Services Division, Internal Revenue Service. He is earning an Ed.D. in Adult Education from Nova Southeastern University. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Kansas City Metropolitan Center of Webster University where he teaches in the Human Resource Development graduate curriculum. He can be contacted at 210S West 121st Street, Eeawood, Kansas 66209.Search for more papers by this author Howell F. Wright, Howell F. Wright Wrighth@alpha.acast.nova.edu Howell F. Wright is a Senior Project Manager in the Education Branch, Kansas City Support Services Division, Internal Revenue Service. He is earning an Ed.D. in Adult Education from Nova Southeastern University. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Kansas City Metropolitan Center of Webster University where he teaches in the Human Resource Development graduate curriculum. He can be contacted at 210S West 121st Street, Eeawood, Kansas 66209.Search for more papers by this author First published: March 1995 https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.4170340310 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume34, Issue3March 1995Pages 35-39 RelatedInformation

Using electronic mail for a small-group curriculum in ethical and social issues

To initiate an electronic mail (e-mail) program as a supplement to a medical humanities curriculum focusing on ethical and social issues. In 1991-92 an e-mail track (called NET) was established for second-year students participating in Medicine in Contemporary Society, a four-year curriculum in medical humanities at the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine. In 1991-92 ten students volunteered to form a NET group; in 1992-93 22 students, forming two groups, were randomly selected from a volunteer pool of 76 students (from a class of 100). In both study years, the NET students analyzed and discussed electronically a series of cases posted sequentially through the academic year. Faculty tutors reviewed the students' responses, interacting with the groups and with individual students by e-mail. NET was evaluated in two ways: at the end of the course, the students completed e-mail questionnaires that included quantitative and qualitative assessments; and throughout the course, the tutors assessed the students' participation, quality of case analysis and discussion, and quality of writing. The students' assessments indicated that they considered NET to be more educational than the lectures, "live" group discussions, problem-based learning exercises, and formal papers in the medical humanities curriculum; that they made gains in computer literacy; and that NET enhanced their abilities to think about ethical and social issues. The tutors judged that the students had improved their written self-expression as the course progressed. NET adequately accomplished the goals set for it as an adjunct to the small-group sessions and other components of the medical humanities curriculum.

The first patient: Reflections and stories about the anatomy cadaver

Dissecting a human cadaver is an important step in the professionalization of medical students, but its transformative aspects (e.g., the potential to teach detached concern, empathy, compassion, and peer accountability) are rarely considered in medical curricula. At SUNY Stony Brook we begin our 4‐year medical humanities curriculum by focusing on systematic reflection about dissection. For their first paper in the Medicine in Contemporary Society course, students write a three‐ to five‐page narrative, recounting either their personal response to dissection (essay) or an imagined life story of their cadaver (fiction). The assignment includes two sequential versions of the paper, each critiqued by faculty and peers, and ends with small‐group discussion. In the first 2 years, narratives were almost evenly split between essay and fiction. Seven themes categorized most student responses: initial apprehension; detachment; curiosity about the cadaver's person; the need for student‐cadaver connection; self‐quest...

Assertions and alternatives: Helping ESL undergraduates extend their choices in academic writing

English as a second language (ESL) undergraduates in various educational contexts are likely to make assertions in their writing that experienced academic readers judge to be unwarranted or unnecessary, or to qualify their assertions in ways that appear inappropriate to subject lecturers and ESL teachers. After reviewing reasons why this should be so, this article presents and discusses short extracts from essays written by first-year undergraduates following an ESL-medium humanities curriculum at the University of Hong Kong. Some of the choices of wording carried what were apparently unintended consequences for knowledge claims and relations with readers. Class and tutorial feedback sessions on students' essays looked into ways in which a writer's factual or evaluative claims might be advanced, qualified, or assumed in linguistic choices from word to sentence level and beyond. The suggestion is made that, in a “general” academic-purpose context, focused explorations of wording can begin to relate writers' textual choices to questions that matter in academic communication.

The Problematic Promotion of Abstinence: An Overview of Sex Respect

A content evaluation of the abstinence-based sexuality education curriculum Sex Respect was conducted, focusing on the curriculum's message and presentation. The four primary goals for a human sexuality education curriculum according to the SIECUS guidelines, as well as a methodology for designing, using and evaluating health education materials developed by the Pan American Health Organization provided the framework for the evaluation. Results indicate Sex Respect omits basic content and includes misinformation, especially in the areas of reproductive health and human sexual response. Authors conclude that Sex Respect fails to meet professional standards for a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum, and needs further evaluation and revision. Specific topics for future assessments are discussed.

Personal and Professional Enrichment: Humanities in the Engineering Curriculum

AbstractThe Drexel E4 approach to engineering education has evolved from emphases on teamwork and course integration to include an emphasis on faculty development through the Personal and Professional Enrichment component. One of the four components of the curriculum which are described elsewhere, the Personal and Professional Enrichment Program, encompasses a short orientation course and the year long Humanities sequence. The orientation course, taught by all the team members, provides a forum for faculty as well as students to discuss personal and educational goals. It also provides faculty with a social arena which has become important in developing and maintaining the strong sense of community the team shares. The faculty have profited from talking about themselves as individuals, as much as the students who have discovered professionals as role models—concerned citizens and parents, and lifelong learners. Students are introduced to engineering as a profession that requires not only technological skills but also an awareness of ethics, of the need for lifelong learning, and of the importance of Humanities. It is important to note that the technical faculty teach the introductory course and thus themselves attest to the value of humanistic concerns throughout the entire program. Continuing the integration of goals as well as subjects, the Humanities curriculum includes the traditional sequence in reading, writing, and research skills with an emphasis on technical writing, visuals and oral presentation skills. Meritorious texts are chosen to highlight humanistic concerns about the impact of technology so that students recognize the engineers' obligation to the world we all share. By enhancing communication skills, developing an awareness of audience and expanding their imagination, students gain confidence in expressing creative and responsible attempts at solving engineering problems.

Behavioural Intervention Strategies in Education: Implications for Training Educational Professionals

Effective applied behavioural intervention in teaching and learning settings requires a knowledge and skill base in human development, school curriculum, and cultural issues, as well as competence in the principles of applied behaviour analysis. Simple applications of operant principles to increasing on-task behaviour and work output have been very effective. However, behavioural practitioners in education now require a broader perspective on the interactive social contexts in which teaching and learning take place. This paper reviews a range of intervention strategies in the area of literacy learning which have been devised within this perspective, namely (a) antecedent discussion of context, (b) explicit modelling of competent performance, (c) responsive written feedback, (d) incidental teaching, (e) errors as contexts for learning, (f) Pause, Prompt, Praise, (g) reciprocal learning and peer tutoring. In conclusion, some of the implications for the training of educational professionals are examined.

The Art of French Business Letter Writing: Our Modern Form of “Préciosité”

ABSTRACT French business letter writing is characterized by its convoluted and somewhat antiquated figures of speech. The practice of that exercise can be enhanced through the help of cultural references that can be found especially in 17th century literature and civilization. In its linguistic patterns, for instance, one recognizes a search for balance and harmony combined with baroque and almost “precieux” elements. As a vibrant part of the humanistic curriculum, French for Business offers students the opportunity to discover in its discourse reflections of a rich cultural tradition.

Personal and Professional Enrichment: Humanities in the Engineering Curriculum

AbstractThe Drexel E4 approach to engineering education has evolved from emphases on teamwork and course integration to include an emphasis on faculty development through the Personal and Professional Enrichment component. One of the four components of the curriculum which are described elsewhere, the Personal and Professional Enrichment Program, encompasses a short orientation course and the year long Humanities sequence. The orientation course, taught by all the team members, provides a forum for faculty as well as students to discuss personal and educational goals. It also provides faculty with a social arena which has become important in developing and maintaining the strong sense of community the team shares. The faculty have profited from talking about themselves as individuals, as much as the students who have discovered professionals as role models—concerned citizens and parents, and lifelong learners. Students are introduced to engineering as a profession that requires not only technological skills but also an awareness of ethics, of the need for lifelong learning, and of the importance of Humanities. It is important to note that the technical faculty teach the introductory course and thus themselves attest to the value of humanistic concerns throughout the entire program. Continuing the integration of goals as well as subjects, the Humanities curriculum includes the traditional sequence in reading, writing, and research skills with an emphasis on technical writing, visuals and oral presentation skills. Meritorious texts are chosen to highlight humanistic concerns about the impact of technology so that students recognize the engineers' obligation to the world we all share. By enhancing communication skills, developing an awareness of audience and expanding their imagination, students gain confidence in expressing creative and responsible attempts at solving engineering problems.

Chapter III: Toward Percipience: A Humanities Curriculum for Arts Education

Chapter III: Toward Percipience: A Humanities Curriculum for Arts Education

Teaching Mishnah, Midrash, and Talmud at the University

During the past 25 years Jewish Studies and Hebrew language courses have become part of the curricula of many major colleges and universities in the United States. In a few instances where student demand, administrative support, and faculty expertise coincide, the offerings have included courses on rabbinic literature. While the ongoing study of Torah has been the central value of rabbinic Judaism for nearly two millennia and hence nothing new internal to the system, the presentation of the classic texts of rabbinism as part of the humanities curriculum of a secular university is novel and poses several problems. Courses in Mishnah, Midrash, and Talmud at the university address the classical texts either in the original Hebrew and Aramaic or in English translation. In analyzing the nature of such offerings we need to treat several issues independently. First, what are the goals and expectations of instruction of rabbinic texts in the original languages as part of the advanced Hebrew curriculum? How does the background of students affect the presentation? How does one select texts and textbooks? What are the secondary resources available? How does one achieve content-based language-skill acquisition? My experiences at the University of Minnesota since 1976 illustrate how I have met some of the concerns we face. Each year I have taught two to three upper-division undergraduate Hebrew courses mainly dealing with rabbinic texts of late antiquity through the middle ages. The size of the classes has varied each quarter from at most 15 to at least 2 students. Let me pause here to answer the inevitable (and mostly irrelevant) question: the majority (60 percent or more) of the students in these courses over the years has been Jewish. Some of those students had Talmud Torah backgrounds. Often students have been products of our own Hebrew program with no prior parochial Jewish training. It should be noted that non-Jewish students study these texts mainly to fulfill requirements for a Hebrew or Jewish Stud-

Cubism and the Medical School Curriculum

The rationales for including the medical humanities in the medical school curriculum are well accepted; in many schools the medical humanities are well established. Yet, pedagogical questions remain, and those who teach in such programs and others like them in health care settings find themselves ill-equipped to conceptualize curricular and instructional issues unique to humanistic inquiry in medical settings. This article identifies one such conceptual framework: using cubism as a metaphor to think about the medical humanities curriculum, in this case, imaginative literature portraying death and dying. The author uses Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych, and Olsen's Tell Me a Riddle to illustrate how literary inquiry might enable medical students and other health care providers to think about the lives of their dying patients from multiple perspectives.

A process for developing a curriculum in ethics and human values

This article describes the process and results of the deliberations of the group of authors at the 1989 spring meeting of the Northeast Group for Educational Affairs. The participants worked under the premise that someone had given an unlimited amount of money to fund a new medical school. They had to select and define what the educational goals would be and produce a plan to help students reach these goals. There had to be an evaluation process that documented progress toward the stated goals. This paper describes the ethics and human values curriculum, which should be of interest to cancer educators. The knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes are defined and the four-year process of implementing the teaching is described. This curriculum-planning process is applicable to any aspect of cancer education--first defining the outcome, then the evaluation process, and finally, how to get to that outcome.

Introducing Computer Literacy in Human Services Education

Summary A definition of computer literacy is provided which incorporates both functional literacy and a professional or mastery level of computer literacy in human services. Ramifications for human services curriculum development is explored along with a discussion of resource issues, including that of faculty development. An introduction to the sections of this volume and the individual manuscripts is also provided.

Humanities and Employment

The work on Humanities and Employment initiated by the UK's CNAA is discussed in terms of its providing a case study on the dissemination of innovation. The article argues that effective encouragement of changes within the humanities curricula and their dissemination throughout higher education can only be brought about by an informed understanding of how the higher education system works.

Preparing a presentation

You are developing a Human Factors curriculum and you have dictatorial control. What will you do? I myself might count on the CHI Curriculum Committee to produce something soon enough to help structure the course content, and focus my attention elsewhere. For example, I would require that each term, students use a different computer system and a different set of applications to write programs and papers, run experiments, analyze data, record notes, etc. At the end of each term they are to deliver a written account of their experiences with the system, free to gather observations (or data) from their classmates. One graduation requirement would be a paper synthesizing these experiences.