Many professors of mass media and society courses have relied on a teaching model implying that students are sponges soaking up information. A more appropriate model invites concern with an active audience, transaction, the interpersonal mass media mix, a general systems approach, and process and change--in other words, utilization of current and developing communication theory. This model assumes that the outcome of communication is self-enhancement and that it is based on the individual's orientation, experience, and background. Rather than being an imposer of knowledge, the teacher tries to create an environment responsive to the knowledge the student already has and to help the student discover the inadequacy of that knowledge. It is necessary to discover the orientations of the students, including what they view as concerns and what they are not concerned about. The professor's task is to reorder and restructure, to meet and challenge the patterning that is discovered in the students. (TJ)