This summary chapter organizes recommendations from the first eight chapters of this journal issue into a framework that helps faculty understand and incorporate students' meaning-making into the learning process. Longitudinal data on young adults' learning and development are used to integrate multiple dimensions of development. (Author/DB)

Noting that gay, lesbian, and bisexual students often first acknowledge their sexual orientation in college, this article suggests ways that faculty can foster student learning by taking an active role in creating a welcoming and inclusive learning environment for these students. (Author/DB)

Teaching assistantships can be a help or hindrance to a student's completion of a graduate degree and preparation as a teacher-scholar. The way in which graduate students are introduced to pedagogical scholarship and enabled to use that knowledge is critical. Different models are in use to train and mentor graduate students. (Author/MSE)

College students' developmental stages affect their capacities to comprehend and absorb difficult texts and moral problems embedded in them, and faculty should teach accordingly. Interpersonal subjective transactions between teacher and student, the latter of whose identity is in flux, can result in transformations for both. (Author/MSE)

The connections between college student self-evaluation and student development are examined, and it is proposed that such self-evaluation may actively encourage specific aspects of cognitive, psychological, and social development and help the student integrate the experience. (MSE)

Identifies the problems and challenges of large lecture-class-format college classes and offers empirical and theoretical rationales for moving to approaches that emphasize small-group learning. Cites research showing small groups promote cognitive elaboration, enhance critical thinking, provide feedback, promote social and emotional development,…

Discusses the development of cultural identity in college students and links it to development of critical thinking and intercultural competence. Suggests effective strategies for dealing with difference in the college classroom based on the dynamics of cultural identity development. (DB)

Discusses how service learning can promote the development of a "caring self" in college students by drawing on the ideas of John Dewey, George Herbert Mead, and contemporary critical theorists. Links this caring self to democratic citizenship and uses students' narratives to illustrate how it develops through service learning contexts.…

Discusses the difficulties that high-ability black college students face in blending their academic interest and racial affiliation into their sense of self. Student narratives show how a strong peer community and positive student-faculty interactions can overcome these obstacles and promote healthy identity development. (Author/DB)

College student self-evaluations can assist in institutional outcomes assessment by helping educators understand the content, context, and process of learning at both individual and institutional levels, and from the perspective of either research or assessment. Currently, self-assessment is used primarily in evaluating broad learning outcomes,…

Major functions of teaching assistants (TAs) and innovative methods are proposed. TAs help students learn through interaction, coach students in higher thinking skills, and provide a communication channel to integrate the course. A course planning guide based on performance objectives and classroom activities to stimulate student participation are…

Self-evaluation is a learning strategy that can help college students, particularly nontraditional students, build coherence through their educational experiences. Faculty need to approach students' reflective, self-evaluative writing as learners, listening to what students say and using it as a guide to aid student development. (MSE)

Eight principles defining the professional responsibility of the college teacher are posited and discussed briefly: content competence; pedagogical competence; appropriate dealing with sensitive topics; contribution to student development; avoidance of dual-role relationships with students; maintenance of confidentiality; respect for colleagues;…