Abstract: Students often struggle with how to translate textbook concepts into real-world applications that allow them to personally experience the importance of these concepts. This is an ongoing challenge within all disciplines in higher education. To address this, faculty design their courses using methods beyond traditional classroom lectures to facilitate and reinforce student learning. The authors believe that students who are given hands-on problem-solving opportunities are more likely to retain such knowledge and apply it outside the classroom, in the workplace, volunteer activities, and other personal pursuits. In an attempt to engage students and provide them with meaningful opportunities to apply course concepts, the authors have initiated a number of experiential learning methods in the classroom. Since fall of 2008, elements of problem-based learning were integrated in the authors’ business courses. Specifically, real-world consulting projects were introduced into their classrooms. This paper focuses on the authors’ experiences implementing problem-based learning processes and practical project assignments that actively engage students in the learning process. The experiences and the feedback gathered from students and executives who participated in the “realworld” project are reported in this paper. Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) is based on the work of Dewey, Lewin, and Piaget (Kolb, 1984). This approach is an established, integrative, holistic learning process that combines experience, perception, cognition, and behavioral learning approaches that optimize student learning and retention. Kolb and Kolb (2005) define experiential learning as a process that relies primarily on creating an environment in which students have direct experiences using concepts and theories presented in class. The goals of adopting experiential learning in the classroom include engaging students at a higher level of cognitive complexity, involving students in an active learning environment, demonstrating the application of theories in real-world situations, and developing students’ ability to make business decisions that are based on analytical approaches. Experiential learning has become a significant educational pedagogy that has influenced the teaching and learning process for faculty and instructors at many educational institutions and in and across disciplines (Daly, 2001). Common forms of experiential learning include case studies, computer simulations, service learning projects, travel study courses, internships, and real-life consulting projects. Instructors who wish to pursue experiential learning pedagogies can avail themselves of a wide range of teaching methods and approaches. Each method has distinct advantages and disadvantages. These approaches can be ranked on a continuum representing increasing levels of cognitive complexity and linkages to real-world outcomes and processes. Table 1 below summarizes various experiential

Abstract: In this reflective piece, an adjunct instructor narrates her experience with institutional efforts to encourage faculty to become better instructors through exposure to and engagement in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Institutions of higher education can find it difficult to draw faculty out of their instructional status quo. Of particular concern are part-time instructors who, typically less connected to the institution than full-time professors, may struggle to find the resources to improve instruction, even if such resources are desired. As a case in point, this piece demonstrates that early, consistent, persistent, quality exposure to SoTL, combined with individual commitment, does yield concrete improvement in teaching and learning.

Abstract: 43 So, the task for those who support TA’s is not to deemphasize research or other aspects of scholarship but rather to ensure that teaching and teacher training are appropriately appreciated as essential for TA’s to develop the selfefficacy, socialization, and competencies requisite for success in the classroom. Transforming the Transcript to Reflect the Whole Scholar: Legitimizing Pedagogical Training for Graduate Student Instructors

Abstract: Volume 6 2011 Case studies are steeped in the ethnographic tradition, in which the researcher observes an event, or is an active participant in the event. Case study research does not restrict the researcher to the role of an observer and interviewer. Hence, case studies can be autobiographical in nature and filled with rich description and dialogue. Learning with Stories: A Personal Case Study Approach in Communication

Abstract: This article analyzes the findings of a pilot project conducted in 2008–2009 as a partnership between University Studies, Portland State University’s interdisciplinary general education program, and the University’s Russian Flagship Language Partner Program. The project proposes a new approach of integrating non-English speakers’ language skills, culture, and life experiences into classroom activities of general education courses. By engaging the students as facilitators in the exploration of their own cultures and languages, the project offers a model of enriching collaborative student teaching and learning that could be applied to various interdisciplinary courses.