Teaching

University of Arizona has added faculty lines and a journal, and is planning a major conference and a master's program.

Plymouth State plans to replace them with clusters. Restructuring and layoffs have professors scratching their heads.

AAUP sessions center on faculty members' role and responsibilities regarding classroom conversations about race.

Wayne State University drops what has been part of its general-education program for all students, raising the question of which fields are needed by all undergraduates.

At the University at Buffalo and the U of Virginia, professors fear that too many requirements and not enough thought about them may detract from students' learning. Both move toward more thematic approaches to general education.

Whether we can actually teach students critical-thinking skills is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood issues in higher education today, argues John Schlueter.

Faculty members at various institutions debate the pros and cons of shielding freshmen from themselves (or least their performance) in the form of "covered" or "shadow" grades on transcripts.

Literally walking side by side with students while teaching a class can bring unexpected benefits, writes Del Doughty.