The Internet environment is suitable for many types of learning activities and teaching and learning styles. Every World Wide Web-based course should provide: home page; introduction; course overview; course requirements, vital information; roles and responsibilities; assignments; schedule; resources; sample tests; teacher biography; course…

A teacher's style of communication tells students how to interpret the instructional content and affects students' feelings toward the teacher and the class. A variety of communication styles, style levels, and units of analysis of style are discernable. (Author/MSE)

To manage classroom conflict effectively, college faculty need to be able to identify and analyze the problem and find solutions. Problem identification addresses who is involved; nature of the conflict; when it happened; where it happened; resolution attempts; and consequences. Solution identification includes developing a positive attitude;…

Experiences with the evolution of a University of Maryland, College Park, faculty development program focusing on diversity and classroom climate provide insights into appropriate responses to student diversity. Attention must be given to program rationale, theoretical framework, program content, pedagogical approach, format, scheduling, and…

Many social and intellectual forces focus introductory courses not on the process of inquiry but on its products. Changes that can help refocus these courses include limiting class size, emphasizing writing skills, having all levels of faculty teach the courses, and promoting exchange of ideas in the classroom. (MSE)

Argues that college teachers will have an easier and more productive experience with student writing if they make and communicate the distinction between high-stakes and low-stakes assignments and between high- and low-stakes ways of responding to student writing. Specific suggestions are made for communicating assignments and commenting on them.…

Research reveals striking differences in college classroom participation patterns across gender, race, and ethnicity. Trained faculty can change these patterns. An American University experimental equity training program illustrated that trained faculty (n=23) were 38 percent more interactive than the control group, giving more precise feedback to…

Feminist teaching practices, by questioning traditional epistemology and distribution of power, offer special advantages in the culturally diverse classroom, where the valuing of different perspectives is essential. A study of two feminist teachers demonstrates how they attempt to create new kinds of classroom cultures through mastery, voice,…

Special problems in assessing how college students use technology and the products they create with it are discussed using the examples of listserv discussions (student participation, quality and coherence of discussion, selection of postings) and a computer-based data analysis in a graduate statistics course. Rubrics for evaluating each are…

Five communication strategies are essential to success in large courses: managing instructor anxiety, using presentation time efficiently, motivating students, communicating enthusiasm, and organizing content. (MLW)

The margins of college students' writing are the ideal site for teacher-student conversations about the writing, but most of these conversations misfire, largely for reasons that are avoidable. Suggestions are made for responding so students can understand, respond to, and learn from teachers' written comments. Examples from several…

Major functions of teaching assistants (TAs) and innovative methods are proposed. TAs help students learn through interaction, coach students in higher thinking skills, and provide a communication channel to integrate the course. A course planning guide based on performance objectives and classroom activities to stimulate student participation are…

The purpose of assigning writing that will not be formally graded is to assist students in learning subject matter and to create a classroom context that encourages active learning and interactive teaching. Offers three examples of college-level writing-to-learn assignments used in various disciplines, and some ways teachers can respond to such…

Electronic dialogues tend to be rapid, informal, and public. When college teachers use computer technology to respond to student writing, they have an opportunity to rethink and reinvent the ways in which they teach and by which students learn. Despite some new concerns and problems, this mode of communicating does not evoke the same response that…

One educator's experience suggests that having graduate teaching assistants use classroom assessment techniques (CATs) in structured assignments is a good way to develop teaching assistants' ability to look beyond their classroom survival concerns in that it provides a safe way for them to engage students in dialogs about learning. Examples of…