The Changing Role of the Workshop Course in Educating Planning Professionals

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a survey sent to all accredited schools of planning in the United States in 1984. The analysis describes the ev olution in the use of workshop courses over time. There has been a transition from a three-workshop se ries at the heart of the core curricu lum in the mid-1950s to several dis tinct patterns of workshop use today. Among other characteristics, the larger the number of degrees offered by a planning school (including the Ph.D.), and the larger the student/ faculty ratio, the fewer the number of workshops required. Nevertheless, the workshop is still central to the curriculum at many schools: 72% re quire at least one workshop for all students and nearly 65% require two or more.

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References

Adams, F.J. 1954. Urban Planning Education in the United States. Cincinnati, Ohio: Bettman Foundation.

Heumann, L.F. and Wetmore, L.B. 1984. A partial history of planning workshops: The experience of ten schools from 1955 to 1984. Journal of Planning Education and Research 4(2):120-130.