ABSTRACT
College and university classrooms comprise diverse learners with diverse needs. One of the hallmarks of Western higher education is competition, stemming from European academic traditions and supported by the Protestant ethic. Considering these points, students from these diverse racial and cultural backgrounds may excel in more collaborative learning environments and on assignments that emphasize group interaction. Diverse learners have particular difficulty when they are not given opportunities to "demonstrate strengths such as leadership, creativity, and hands-on problem solving". Students from diverse backgrounds—including, but certainly not limited to, race, gender, class and ability—enter the classroom with different needs and learning styles that faculty may unwittingly neglect. Effective teaching strategies that accommodate diverse learners. In the words of Adam Howard, "the majority of faculty members have not had the necessary training to create teaching and learning environments that respond to different levels of academic skill and knowledge, and to students as individuals".
