The author began working with preschool-aged children long before becoming a professor, and nearly every element of the author's approach to teaching in higher education is rooted in early childhood theory and practice. In addition to provocations, he seeks to activate the "whole student," promote peer supports, and incorporate…

"Teaching and Learning" is a photographic essay that the author began in 2005, as a photography instructor at Inver Hills Community College near Minneapolis-St. Paul. At that time, the author gave his students and himself an assignment: to document their lives and the lives of their peers outside the safe confines of their studio…

A problem that history teachers in the United States face is that they lack an appropriate reference point from which to address many of today's global issues. The source of this problem is an antiquated model of society, still taught in the universities, that largely reflects the society that existed a century ago. For the last decade, the author…

Provides a detailed description of the incorporation of constructivist, active, cooperative teaching strategies in a chemistry class. (EV)

Discusses personal teaching experiences to explore issues of the theory and practice of teaching. Explores the application of behaviorism, cognitive theory, and sociocultural theories such as those of Vygotsky to changing classroom environments, and stresses the need for teaching practice to be organized and illuminated by theories. (EV)

Explores the apparently disparate link between successfully hosting a talk show and successfully teaching a college class and describes methods this professor has used to foster class discussion and student interest. (EV)

Explores the ongoing, complex, and difficult task of trying to inspire students. Discusses some of a teacher's first steps toward learning how to inspire, including a good will toward students, a trust in the significance of the momentary encounter, and a confidence in the significance of the subject and passionate attachment to its truths. (EV)

Describes using the case method of teaching in a sociology class. The case method is a student-centered, highly interactive pedagogy that changes the classroom process into a collaborative search for an analysis and solution to a specific problem based on a case (a text that provides information about a situation without analyzing it). (EV)

Teaching portfolios, now largely used for evaluation of college teaching, can also be viewed as a form of action research, opening their use to other purposes, including examination of institutional, faculty, and student needs and demands; the dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality in structuring classroom interactions; and the relationship of…

Four faculty members from different disciplines at the University of Northern Iowa discuss whether and to what extent they were engaging in the critical pedagogy proposed by bell hooks [sic], a writer on feminism, racism, pedagogy, and black intellectual life. They also consider the ways in which hooks's work informs their understanding of…

Recent research on how college students learn and what constitutes an effective educational experience is reviewed, and implications for bringing about desired changes in the undergraduate experience are discussed. Topics examined include students' ability to reason with abstractions, development of moral values, extent to which the curriculum and…

A college teacher describes his approach to student subject-area writing, which includes assignment of several short papers to be written according to carefully prescribed guidelines (appended to the article), clear grading criteria, high expectations, availability for individual conferences, rewards for improvement, encouragement of writing for…

Reviews research concerning the effectiveness of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) in higher education, focusing on what it demonstrates about WAC's value in improving subject-area knowledge and writing skills. Concludes that the approach can be effective, but that collaborative, inclusive effort to implement it is needed, including teacher…

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires reasonable accommodations for the disabled in public and private colleges and universities. Faculty must understand the difference between equal opportunity and equal treatment. Specific suggestions are made for teaching learning-disabled, mobility- impaired, visually-impaired, and hearing-impaired…

It is argued that college writing courses can accomplish technical and critical goals and also address politically-charged issues responsibly. The rationale for this approach is discussed, and a University of Texas at Austin composition program designed to include examination of race and gender issues is outlined. Several other writing course…