Relevance Of The General Education Core Curriculum To Career Goals Of College Of Agriculture Students

This study determined the relevance of the general education core curriculum to student career goals, as perceived by upper level undergraduate students. The objectives were to determine: 1) the relevance of the general education requirements to student career goals; 2) if differences existed in students' perceptions of the requirement by curriculum grouping; 3) if a relationship existed between age and students' perceptions of the requirements; and, 4) if selected variables explained the variance in student perception of the requirements. The population included all upper level students in the College of Agriculture. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman rho correlation coefficients, analysis of variance, inferential t tests, and step-wise multiple regression. The students perceived the core curriculum was relevant to their career goals and they preferred a core curriculum that was broader in scope and allowed them greater flexibility. Students from various curriculum groupings differed in their perceptions of the relevance of the core curriculum and their career goals. No relationship existed between age and students' perceptions of the requirements. None of the variables studied explained a significant proportion of the variance in students' perceptions of the relevance of the requirements. Since the fall of 1987, the Louisiana Sate University (LSU) has required that entering students complete a general education or core curriculum component of 39 semester hours in six major areas. The implementation of a required core curriculum has caused much concern among students and faculty on this campus, and across the country, as the issue of the core curriculum is again receiving national attention. The issue is of special interest to agricultural teacher education because of changes such as the implementation of the Holmes Model for teacher education at many universities. Under the Holmes Model, students are entering master's level