Resources

Academia is one of the professions in which socially constructed fictions have tremendous power. Years of graduate study and the power of academic mentors creates an environment which deeply socializes future academics. The image of the academic professional which is currently promulgated emerged during the expansionist (post-World War II) period of higher education. In this conception, the scholar is seen primarily as a researcher pursuing knowledge for its own sake. The teaching role has been given much less emphasis. During this same expansionist period, higher education began to serve a much broader and more diverse clientele with more varied academic needs. For these two transformations to now become compatible, a broader conception of scholarship is urgently needed. Such a conception would have at least four elements. While new knowledge acquired through reasoning and analytical theory-building is valuable, knowledge gained through experience must also be seen as legitimate. Second, specialized knowledge must be reintegrated. That is, scholars must look for new relationships between the parts and the whole. This synthesis can be achieved through an emphasis on interdisciplinarity. Third, scholarship must begin to address the pragmatic needs of the larger world. The pursuit of knowledge to solve societal problems must be valued as scholarship of the first order. Finally, the scholarship of teaching, in which research is conducted on effective and appropriate teaching methods, must be emphasized for all scholars. Teaching that is not grounded in the most recent research is not appropriate for a college or university setting. A 21-item bibliography is included. (PAA)

The premise of this article is that learning, like all other creative acts, will flourish in an atmosphere in which the learner is willing to take risks, and it is the task of the instructor to create such an atmosphere for learning. If we accept this view of learning as risk-taking, we can begin to confront the factors that discourage students from taking risks and build a class environment where learning becomes less of a risk, or where the risk-taking in learning becomes valued instead of dreaded. Both of these directions require that instructors develop a trusting relationship with students. When students trust an instructor, they will believe in the instructor's ability to turn any situation into a learning opportunity; they will expect the instructor to value their efforts; they will be willing to take the chances that lead to learning and to view failures as learning opportunities. What, then, might be the characteristics of an instructor who would support student risk-taking?

There have always been social dimensions to the learning process, but only in recent decades have specially designed collaborative learning experiences been regarded as an innovative alternative to the lecture-centered and teacher-as-single-authority approaches typical to most college classrooms. With increasing frequency, students are working with each other, and alongside their teachers, to grasp subject matter or deepen their understanding of it. In the process, they are developing their social skills as well as their intellectual ones. Students and their teachers are involved in a common enterprise, that of mutual seeking of understanding. Because many minds are grappling with the material at once while working toward a common goal, collaborative learning unleashes a unique intellectual and social synergy.

The following list is offered in the spirit of starting things off right. It is a catalog of suggestions for college teachers who are looking for fresh ways of creating the best possible environment for learning. The first three weeks of a course are especially important, studies say, in retaining capable students.

In the cooperative controversy technique, two opposing sides are clearly drawn over a single issue, and learners on both sides cooperate to understand both sides and arrive at a personal position. Students respond enthusiastically to the exercise, are helped in exploring emotional responses to issues, and learn how, not what, to think. (MSE)