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All teachers can understand and meet the educational needs of individual students in the context of their developmental stages through preparation in such teacher education programs as the one at La Salle University (Pennsylvania) where developmental theory is the unifying theme combining training programs for elementary and special education teachers. (Author/CB)

Despite years of research on effective teaching suggesting that learners must engage actively in the process and that teachers should vary their instructional strategies, direct instruction using lecture continues to dominate in America's college classrooms. The author reviews selected studies focusing on effective instructional practices and illustrates how current pedagogical research based upon cognitive science can be used to broaden these instructional strategies and lead to higher student satisfaction with classroom learning. A specific course is used as a practical example to illustrate the manner in which contemporary research guided both the course's development and implementation. Student outcomes and evaluations are shared to judge the efficacy of reducing lecture and increasing student intellectual engagement through active learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]