While researching the lives of well-known artists for a new unit in an art survey course, the instructor developed the idea of dressing in costume and presenting their lives in the first person. The primary goal of each lecture is to provide memorable information about the artist; a secondary goal is to integrate the social and political climate…

The best learning results from experiential learning, the interplay between theory and experience. In experiential learning, the student is in direct touch with the realities being studied. It involves not merely undergoing the experience, but also doing something with the phenomenon. Theories of experiential learning include: (1) learning how to…

"Innovation Abstracts" consists of brief, two-page write-ups issued approximately 40 times a year on topics that contribute to staff development. This compilation represents a selection from the 1984 volume of 22 numbers of special interest to community college faculty, administrators, and staff. The numbers selected are; (1) fragments…

This document is a series of short papers (47) on topics of interest to community college instructors and practitioners. The topics covered in the papers include: study and writing tips for students, teaching strategies and tips, descriptions of innovative programs, using technology in teaching and learning, interacting with students, and…

Improvisational gaming is a technique involving the use of theater and drama in the teaching of other subjects. The student uses intuition, sense-memory, and imagination in a holistic approach to learning which teaches social skills while it teaches subject matter. Everyone can act and improvise; getting everyone involved is seldom a problem as…

This volume of 30 one- to two-page abstracts from 1993 highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the abstracts include: (1) role-playing to encourage critical thinking; (2) team learning techniques to cultivate business skills; (3) librarian-instructor partnerships to create…

Conclusions drawn from learning and memory retention research which are applicable to adult learning are provided in this brief review. Findings indicate that: (1) teaching methods which stimulate the widest variety of senses will generally be the most effective; (2) the greater the degree to which a student participates orally, the greater the…

This series of one- and two-page abstracts highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the articles include the use of Hollywood films as a tool for teaching history; displaced homemaker programs; the relationship between teaching and scholarship; helping students write for the…

When a college conducts an accreditation self-study, it is best to begin by addressing basic philosophical questions about the college's mission and goals. American River College in Sacramento, California, began its process by responding to the following questions: (1) Can we be all things to all people? (2) Does open door mean open curriculum?…

Learning strategies can be defined as behaviors and thoughts in which a learner engages and which are intended to influence the learner's encoding process. Thus, the goal of any particular learning strategy may be to affect the way in which the learner selects, acquires, organizes, or integrates new knowledge. Good teaching includes teaching…

This series of statements offers a synthesis of the body of currently available knowledge about adult learning in the areas of motivation to learn, curriculum design, and the classroom environment. The section on motivation focuses on the role of life-event changes in encouraging adults to seek out learning experiences, adults' motivation to…

College teachers can act as intermediaries between a class and a body of knowledge by making three important contributions: structure, evaluation, and support. The teacher's task is to keep the student's initial drive and enthusiasm intact while thwarting the desire to be content with easy answers. Teachers need to encourage a critical outlook and…

Inviting carefully selected guests into the classroom can help students recognize the blending of theory and practice and involve students more intimately in the learning process. For example, a first-person account by a mother of a handicapped child might have a greater impact on the listener than books, films, or lectures. Effective…

This series of one- to two-page abstracts highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the abstracts include: (1) academic partnerships pairing "high-risk" students with a concerned faculty member, counselor, or administrator; (2) teacher-to-teacher learning partnerships; (3)…

This series of one- and two-page abstracts highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the articles include: the use of "trigger films" in group learning situations; letter writing as a means of maintaining group cohesion in a nontraditional classroom; creative grading; the use…