Presents a classroom exercise that can help students focus on the difficulties in defining normal sexual behavior. Provides a 30-item questionnaire on which students indicate whether or not a variety of behaviors are normal. States that students then meet in groups and construct a definition of "normal" sexual behavior. (DB)

To manage classroom conflict effectively, college faculty need to be able to identify and analyze the problem and find solutions. Problem identification addresses who is involved; nature of the conflict; when it happened; where it happened; resolution attempts; and consequences. Solution identification includes developing a positive attitude;…

An approach to teaching foreign business practices combines two common approaches already used. It introduces the student to cultural patterns responsible for the way business is conducted abroad, and makes recommendations concerning appropriate behavior for specific situations. However, it also treats general culture and specific behavior as…

Describes a class assignment for a college-level sociology course in which students read from religious texts to identify norms and sanctions. Reports that students expressed positive comments about the activity. Includes suggestions for preparing materials, instructions for implementing the activity, and a coding sheet to be used by students.…

Institutional approaches to alternative dispute resolution can offer students and faculty a safe, non-judgmental environment for addressing disputes and promoting campus civility. Issues discussed include ways to promote an institutional atmosphere of civility; creation of structures for conflict resolution and alternative dispute resolution; use…

Reexamines traditional social work values related to client autonomy, confidentiality, paternalism, and antidiscrimination considering the current cultural diversity of social work students. Discusses the social work educator's role in modeling professional values and the impact of culturally different beliefs about family and interpersonal…

College faculty and students play important roles in maintaining a tension-free, democratic, and effective learning environment for a diverse student body. Although many instructors feel unprepared to manage disruptive or harmful behaviors, they must receive training to learn to negotiate difficult dialogs, especially as the student population…

A student's belief in the value of literacy is essential to effective teaching and successful learning, but can result only from a local culture whose aim is to produce literacy. The social identity and cultural norms of the young are registered in their use of language, and if literacy, as defined by others, calls the norms and identity into…

A problem-solving strategy for dealing with disruptive student behavior in the college classroom is outlined. It uses a series of questions designed to provide perspective on the problem and aid in generating responses. Steps include clarifying the problem, identifying critical elements, describing context, analyzing emotional and behavioral…

By helping faculty collaborate to enrich their teaching abilities and by supporting them when faculty/student relationships occasionally fail, the department chair models leadership skills that faculty themselves can use. The skills of leadership correspond very closely to good teaching skills, and can be combined with the skills of principled…

A college teacher can anticipate discomfort when topics such as human sexuality are in the course syllabus and can take creative steps to promote open and civil discourse. One teacher's experiences have resulted in incorporation of a sensitive-issues statement in the course syllabus, advance preparation for special events and visitors, and…

By adopting interactive methods and being sensitive to students' concerns, teachers can minimize uncivil behavior, even in large classes. Solutions found helpful by a number of faculty members focus on several issues, including setting clear expectations, addressing majority needs and rights, taking a proactive approach, and personalizing large…

A discussion of communication between native English-speaking (NS) tutors and their non-native-speaker (NNS) students draws on a study conducted in the Indiana University writing center and focuses on conflicts between effectiveness in communication and effectiveness in instruction technique. Examples of tutor-student (NS-NNS) interaction are…

This module is part of a training program for foster parents and foster care workers offered at Colorado State University. The module's learning objectives address: (1) child development in the contexts of family and social development; (2) the physical, social, mental, and psychological tasks of adolescence; (3) the range of normal adolescent…

Graduate students in an English-as-a-Second-Language education program at the University of Maryland were surveyed concerning suggested methods for incorporating languages other than English into the curriculum in a multicultural classroom. Respondents were master's and doctoral students from a variety of language backgrounds. The article details…