Teaching and Learning

Many liberal arts colleges have long struggled to balance increasing emphases on professional preparation with a core curriculum. Business, in particular, has been blooming.But not without significant discussions at administrative and faculty levels about what that business education should look like -- and not without some aversion to calling the final products "business" programs.

The days of coming in to see the professor aren't over, but some courses at traditional colleges are experimenting with virtual office hours and help in real time.

College and university librarians got some unconventional advice Saturday: Play more video games.At a packed session for academic librarians attending the annual meeting of the American Library Association, in Washington, the topic was how to help students who have learned many of their information gathering and analysis skills from video games apply that knowledge in the library. Speakers said that gaming skills are in many ways representative of a broader cultural divide between today's college students and the librarians who hope to teach them.