Editor's Note

Welcome to the Journal of General Education, Volume 56, Issue 1! This issue presents four articles and a book review that focus on a variety of aspects of general education. The articles in this issue take as a focus the notion that we should look for coherence and connectivity in general education. They highlight historical trends related to this issue and point to current practice.

In "Coherence in General Education: A Historical Look," Kenneth Boning reviews the history of higher education, locating general education in the center of ideological changes that move between coherence and fragmentation. Boning notes that today we strive for coherence but that we have not always done so. Also, in "The Return of Practice to Higher Education: Resolution of a Paradox," Joseph A. Raelin takes a long view of the links between theory and practice in academia. As the adage suggests, in theory, theory and practice should be the same, but in practice, they are different. Raelin argues for the reintegration to these two recently divergent notions. Raelin's work moves us toward a consideration of the place of experiential and inquiry-based learning, which is a key component of our last two articles.

Nancy Lampert, in "Critical Thinking Dispositions as an Outcome of Undergraduate Education," considers one of the central outcomes we strive for in general education. She seeks difference between majors, finding relevance and validity in inquiry-based approaches to undergraduate education. Finally, in "Reinventing the Core: Community, Dialogue, and Change," Adele Pittendrigh looks at a specific case in which curricular reform moved toward more inquiry-based education.

The book reviewed in this issue is The Future of Higher Education: Rhetoric, Reality, and the Risks of the Market, written by Newman, Courtier, and Scurry and reviewed by Eck, Fletcher, and Merrill. This review also pushes us toward a refocus on student learning and the student acquisition of marketable skills with a connection to the public good.

I hope you will enjoy this issue and that in reading these important works, you will be inspired to make your own contributions to the Journal of General Education! For guidelines for submitting articles, see those contained in this volume or visit the following URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_general_education/information/guidelines.html.