Professional Development at UCLA

Reformers have argued that field work should be central to the planning curriculum, but only a few schools have responded to this call. This article reports on an experiment under way at UCLA which applies and teaches the learning systems theory in a nine-month sequence' of courses. The courses usually taken in a student's first year include the introductory planning course and two quarters of field work combined with a seminar. The article includes both theoretical constructs and practical applications. It concludes with student responses and an analysis of the impact of the effort on the planning program.