INTRODUCTION

Around 1200 a city that we call Mesa Verde was built on a cliff on the Colorado Plateau by the Anasazi. Mesa Verde is a remarkably beautiful city consisting of both single and multistoried pueblo dwellings. Even today, it is one of the most impressive sights in North America. Around 1295, after the Anasazi lived in it for almost a hundred years, the city was abruptly abandoned. In a three-to four-year period, the Anasazi walked away and never came back. Why? No one knows. Many classes are to students what Mesa Verde was to the Anasazi. Students enroll in a course, pay the tuition, and spend considerable time attending class sessions, completing assignments, and passing tests, but when the course is over, so is their interest. They walk away and intellectually, never to come back.

Wouldn't it be nice if students got so involved in the subject being taught that they sparkled with energy, were deeply involved in the topics being discussed, rushed to the library to get more information and resources, continued discussing the topics over lunch and at night, sought out experts in the field to consult, and impatiently waited for the next class session to begin. Wouldn't it be nice if students stayed fascinated by the subject the rest of their lives, gathering new information about the subject whenever they could. How do students get that interested in what is being taught? An essential and often overlooked part of the answer is, “Stir up intellectual conflict.”

INSTRUCTOR'S ROLE IN ACADEMIC CONTROVERSIES

Are wolves a national treasure that should be allowed to roam freely while being protected from hunting and trapping?