One of the challenges facing faculty who teach large, information-rich classes is to stimulate enthusiasm for the subject material. I approach teaching with excitement and anticipation, and I have found that students respond in kind. My goal as a teacher is to make my courses challenging, useful, and enjoyable. I know that the impact I have on students now will influence their long-term goals and attitudes, and I take that challenge very seriously. In fact, I often go out on a limb to grab their attention and convince them that the material is engaging. I have experienced the joy of watching 25 college students fight over first place ribbons following a rousing game of “Soils Jeopardy,” and I highly recommend it.

In this round table discussion I will present some innovative teaching techniques that I have employed in my introductory soil science course at Oregon State University. I typically have 70-100 students per term from as many as 20 different majors. My focus is on enthusiasm in addition to performance because part of our mission as educators is to teach students to want to learn. I hope our discussion will be lively and generate a flow of ideas we can expand upon and share in the years to come.