Twenty years of research shows that using interactive techniques more often can make a class more effective. For example, a study of six thousand physics students compared classes using passive lecture to classes using interactive techniques that allowed for discussion among students and between the professor and students. The study showed that…

Whereas often emphasized in teaching children, the role of caring has been largely ignored in postsecondary education. This study shares college students' perspectives of instructor caring within a large biology lecture course. Within this context caring was perceived as both learning centered, which emphasizes content mastery and higher-order…

The present research examines whether an interpersonal environment may exist in classrooms that are notoriously impersonal: large lecture-based freshman-level general psychology classes. The artificial categorization of teaching and learning styles, and the limits of those categories, is also addressed. Students evaluated the style of teaching in…

This article profiles the teaching careers of history professor Giovanni Costigan of the University of Washington and English professor Tommy Howells of Whitman College in Walla Walla (Washington). It maintains that both men were accomplished lecturers who set the standard for their respective campuses and corners of Washington State. (MDM)

This article describes how a traditional biology lecture course was transformed into an interactive class. A review the activities used, changes made to grading policy, and practical tips for integration of active learning in the classroom are provided. Analysis of student responses to course assessments indicated that active learning experiences…