Technological advances have made research-based learning possible now in ways that were unimaginable in previous generations. Such learning can and, the authors argue, should be at the center of the undergraduate experience. In this article, the authors describe an approach that combines research-based learning with student development theory to…

Explains the Association of American Colleges and Universities' initiative to define the aims of twenty-first century undergraduate education, called "Greater Expectations: The Commitment to Quality as a Nation Goes to College." Then introduces articles that describe successful change and innovation at three colleges. (EV)

Describes the seven steps over a course of several years, which enabled Worcester Polytechnic Institute to implement and sustain a reconstruction of undergraduate education to involve no set curriculum, but rather three qualifying projects. (EV)

Introduces the articles in the theme issue, exploring their contribution to the understanding of college students' stages of intellectual development and how college instruction should respond. (EV)

Introduces William Perry's work on the stages of intellectual and ethical development and asserts the importance of professors linking students' intellectual development with their pedagogy. (EV)

Asserts the importance of developing in students an intrinsic valuing of intellectual activities as the firmest basis for sustaining intellectual motivation. Discusses how to develop in students an understanding of what it means to learn and to know, including a movement up the levels of epistemological understanding from realist to evaluativist.…

Explores the tension between passive and active learning among master's degree students working on their teaching certificate in science. Emphasizes the developmental nature of learning and that constructionist pedagogies need to be clearly integrated in university courses, especially those focused on teaching. (EV)

Asserts that liberal education has the promotion of intellectual development as a primary goal, and that to encourage intellectual progress, a context of intellectual freedom is necessary. Offers a set of principles of academic freedom that it suggests are foundational to the promotion of intellectual development. (EV)

Describes how an ethnic studies course on French Louisiana was conceptualized outside of the discipline, how an interdisciplinary teaching workshop was crucial to its development, and how the professor's connecting of self to professional development was the most important step. (EV)

If college faculty and institutional commitments to academic integrity were to achieve a status similar to that of academic freedom, there could be a transformation of the intellectual community. Faculty must see academic integrity as a complement, not a challenge, to academic freedom; a closer affinity of the two may further energize both. (MSE)

Two college teaching styles are compared: that of the advocate, who teaches what he believes in passionately, and that of the devil's advocate, who tries to teach either against what he believes or against what he suspects his students will likely believe. Both are seen as important to the liveliness and rigor of a college curriculum. (MSE)

The Association of American Colleges and Universities' statement calling for a national dialog about effective higher education is presented. It examines the considerable task institutions face in educating a generation of students in an era of near-universal postsecondary education, fundamental choices to be made, mixed signals in public policy,…

Colleges can create conditions to maximize the learning that occurs in an environment with a diverse student population. Studies indicate that students who interact with diverse peers demonstrate more complex thinking linked to both cognitive and to social development. Research literature provides strong support for institutional commitment to…

In an interview, two college students discuss aspects of the college experience, including the transition from high school to college, the most helpful general education and other courses, choice of major, classroom communication, curriculum relevance, effective teaching methods, and particularly important experiences and skills learned. (MSE)

Describes the development and design of the "master learners" program at Fort Lewis College (Colorado), in which faculty members from varied teaching backgrounds are given release time to participate as students in a year-long Human Heritage course to show freshmen how a master learns. The program has evolved into an exemplary faculty development…