Many U.S. colleges and universities have emphasized the value of student-driven undergraduate research as one way to augment the traditional classroom experience. For undergraduate students, human subjects-based research, which typically requires review by an institutional review board (IRB), can have a particularly profound impact on their…

Frequent student processing of lecture content (1) clears working memory, (2) increases long-term memory storage, (3) produces retrograde memory enhancement, (4) creates episodic memories, (5) increases alertness, and (6) activates many brain structures. These outcomes increase comprehension of and memory for content. Many professors now…

Classroom questions represent a potentially powerful tool for interacting with students and stimulating critical thinking. However, the efficacy of the question-and-answer approach to teaching is influenced by many factors, such as the type and cognitive level of questions asked as well as students' response time. To examine these factors and…

The authors describe principles of good teaching drawn from meta-analyses of research on teaching effectiveness. Recent developments in neurobiology are presented and aligned to provide biological support for these principles. To make it easier for college faculty to try out sample instructional strategies, the authors map principles of good…

Ways in which violating traditional expectations about teaching helps change, shape, and focus student ability to extract meaning from works of art are discussed. Alternative teaching modes include use of inquiry methods rather than lectures, in-class reading of the artwork as text instead of assigned readings about the artwork, and group…