College instructors should focus their teaching not only on content but also on how to learn content in the context of particular courses. Students need practice with a variety of learning strategies before they can understand why particular ones are most effective or be helped to improve their efficiency in using them. (Author/MSE)

Every college teacher has a professional obligation to formulate and articulate a rationale for his or her instructional world. Faculty members' personal theories about teaching and learning are often implicit and likely to be inaccurate. When implicit theories become explicit, they can blend with formal theories to improve the practice of…

Promotion of an alliance between college teachers and students requires shifting from a perception of the teacher as an agent of student change to that of teacher as partner in the change process. Twenty-five guidelines cover mutual respect, shared responsibility and mutual commitment to goals, effective communication and feedback, cooperation,…

Practical suggestions and application of six principles from cognitive psychology can make learning more efficient now and produce learners who will be more self-sufficient in the future. This means redefining student and teacher roles, organizing the course and content in a way consistent with how learning occurs, and helping students learn how…

Students are motivated to the extent that they initiate and sustain meaningful involvement in learning. Theories of motivation suggest that appropriate attention to college students' needs and expectations for success will enhance their involvement and learning. (Author/MSE)

The prevailing notion of integration of college teaching and research is more myth than reality. To make the relationship more productive, educators must change the terms, redefine research, and reorient thinking about teaching, understanding that teaching and research are distinct and not automatically linked. Institutions must implement policies…

Three principles based on research in cognitive psychology explain the potential power of problem-based learning: (1) learning is a constructive, not a receptive process; (2) metacognition affects learning; and (3) social and contextual factors influence learning. These principles are more likely to be activated when specific teacher behaviors and…

Theories of motivation suggest three approaches to enhancing college student learning: (1) reshaping students' overall achievement orientation; (2) creating the expectation of success; and (3) increasing the value of academic outcomes by helping students develop personal goals and identify means of achieving them. (MSE)

This article examines the role of social context in teaching and learning at the college level and reviews principles of six research and conceptual approaches which address social context: the transactional perspective; student-centered instruction; cooperative learning; communication theory; group-process theory; and curricular/structural…