The higher education service-learning literature is rich with case studies, guidelines for service-learning course and program development, and demonstrations of the impact of service-learning on students. Minimal discussion, however, focuses on the "strategic placement" of service-learning in disciplinary curricula, and how curricular…

Because higher education brings members of academic communities in direct contact with students, the reflective higher education student is in an excellent position for developing two important intellectual virtues: confidence and humility. However, academic communities differ as to whether their members reach consensus, and their teaching…

In this article, the author provides a self-portrait of his intellectual life. He states that overall his approach to teaching and researching is about "making sense" where inadequate or incongruous conceptions fall into place or are transformed so they are congruous and adequate. In his teaching the author applies the methods of…

A discipline-based paradigm asserts that disciplines have intrinsic value, focuses on knowledge delivery, assumes students are empty vessels, and views teachers and students as experts and novices. A development-based paradigm values the learning process, assumes students have tacit knowledge, considers teachers and students as continuous…

Research has long suggested that higher education leads to liberalisation in students' sociopolitical orientations (e.g., Feldman & Newcomb, 1969; Newcomb, 1943/1957; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). Differences in level of liberalisation depending on academic discipline have also been found (e.g., Baer & Lambert, 1982; 1990; Guimond & Palmer, 1990;…

Based on interviews with graduate students in English, biochemistry, and psychology the author discusses common characteristics of graduate students (lifelong observers with faith in authority and strong emotional attachment to a minute field of inquiry) and notes implications for their teaching and their contributions to society. (JT)

The term "rhetoric" is the object of a tug-of-war mostly between the study of certain forms of classical discourse and current teachers of (mostly college) writing who want to find a prehistory for their and "our" discipline. Efforts to invent and preserve disciplines have caused scholars to overlook more general considerations…

A participant in a conference on interdisciplinary general education at the college level highlights some of the issues addressed there: institutional limitations and opportunities; interdisciplinarity versus the power of deep disciplinary inquiry; cross-disciplinary linkages versus interdisciplinary inquiry; and the role of student development…

Argues that attempts to provide university students in the United Kingdom with generic skills (such as study and information technology skills) are hampered by the differing needs and expectations of various disciplines and courses and of diverse student population groups. Describes and critically analyzes a case study of one such course,…

This paper briefly reviews the learning outcome aspects of seven recent follow-up studies completed for seven different transfer discipline areas at William Rainey Harper College (Illinois). It notes an increasing interest by the field of institutional research in evaluating how students learn. Faculty in the fields of psychology, English,…

This study examined intellectual development goals as related to other goals expressed by college faculty teaching various introductory courses. Intellectual development was defined as the ability to make relationships and connections. The study analyzed data from previous studies of introductory college courses; these included interviews in…

In the 1970s, the relatively new discipline of Women's Studies was taught by educators whose primary fields were literature, psychology, sociology, or history. One problem that faces many instructors is the double-bind situation that Women's Studies courses are popular, so the dynamic teacher may find herself/himself teaching more…

The University of Maryland's College Park campus conducted a student survey of 935 entering Hispanic freshmen for 1989-1990 to determine their attitudes towards the university, academic life, extra-curricular activities, and counseling, and their career orientation. Hispanic students felt that their weakest academic areas were their study habits…

This study examined the specific words that college faculty in different disciplines use to convey goals for students using data from 1986-87 interviews with 62 faculty members teaching introductory colleges and a 1988-89 survey of 2105 faculty which established a listing of over 6000 goal statements. Goal statements were examined in order to…

The formal development of critical thinking is discussed, and guidance is provided to help faculty insure that critical thinking becomes an integral part of learning. Theory, research, teaching practice, and college programs pertinent to the development and role of critical thinking are presented in order to show how educators have shaped…