College students have spoken and lecture-based learning is prehistoric. An emerging trend on which colleges are reporting solid success rates is lecture-free classes. This approach to learning is being designed to promote deeper student learning, collaborative learning, skilled communication, self-managed learning, and cross-disciplinary and technology-enhanced coursework. Lecture-free classes are a response to growing criticism of the traditional, often passive lecture-based college classes which some educators say are a turn-off to students, leading to aggravation and poor grades.

A punch to the gut. A smack to the head.

Here is a collection of thoughts and stories from those who've crossed paths (personally or professionally) with former Higley district athletic director Art Wagner, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on May 15.

With the onslaught of Oscar contenders that debuted last November, there’s a good chance that a little-seen indie gem, “Starlet,” managed to fall off your radar during its short, theatrical run. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 SXSW film festival, “Starlet” explores the unlikely friendship between a cheerful, aspiring actress (played by the winsome Dree Hemingway) and a cantankerous, elderly widow (the late Besedka Johnson).

Do you have ideas that can help the Mesa City Council make decisions on major projects? Are you an engineer or planner interested in transportation? Are you interested in the cultural attractions in your community? If so, apply to be a member of one of our advisory boards and committees. Expertise from the community is needed for a host of positions opening up on boards such as transportation, museum and cultural and historic preservation, to name a few.

As “Opponents of Brewer’s Medicaid plan speak out” it rapidly becomes obvious that they are obsessed with forcing their personal, misguided value systems on we citizens.

Editor's note: Claire Hoogenboom is a broadcast major studying journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University.

Valedictorians:

Tempe High School will give diplomas to 323 students this week. Tempe High's valedictorian is Hannah Wood.

In the Tempe, future inclusive leadership begins early due to a nationally recognized program ran by the city’s Diversity Office.

It ended soon after it began, this revolution. Not with a bang, or even a whimper. The soldiers, unsure of their cause, simply left the battlefield. As the sun set on the retreating army, the sun also set on the vision of a shining city on a hill, which remains darkened to this day.

On the second floor of a back building on the campus of Chandler High School, wires, metal and ingenious student planning come together to make an inanimate object come to life.

About 15 years ago I had what I believed to be the solution to our incredibly poor record of electing government officials of — how do the appliance makers refer to it? — quality and reliability:

One-pot chicken that is a blast of savory goodness

This one-pot chicken dinner by Kentucky chef Edward Lee blends a staple of Southern cooking — fried chicken — with two deliciously savory Asian ingredients, salty miso and a half pound of shiitake mushrooms. Together they produce a chicken that is tender and wildly flavorful with a thick sauce that is good enough to eat by the spoonful.

This letter is in response to Kimberly Miller’s letter published April 12.

Runners in the East Valley are a tight community. If any two enthusiasts don’t know each other, there’s a good chance they know someone who knows someone who they’ve crossed a finish line with.

NEW YORK — Recent high-profile attacks on tourists in India, Brazil, Turkey and Mexico — including rapes — have raised questions about personal safety for overseas travel, especially for women. But frequent travelers and those who work in the industry say a few common-sense precautions can go a long way to ensuring personal safety.

When Kris Johnson bought her home 12 years ago, she fell in love with the high ceilings and open floor plan. It’s a unique home in Arizona because the neighborhood is patterned after a New England village, complete with shake roofs and a community lake.

Former State Senator David Schapira has been appointed assistant superintendent at Mesa’s East Valley Institute of Technology.

What are the ethical standards of hunting? For hunters to be so actively ignorant is understandable; they have been able to bamboozle the public for generations. Morons, bullies, and brutes are trapping and baiting millions of innocent animals for sports, trophies, heritage. None of their lamebrain excuses should ever be taken seriously by anyone.

In our wi-fi world of planes, trains and automobiles, travel is taken for granted; in days gone by, it was considered a prerequisite for a well-rounded education. It not only broadened the mind, but also deepened one’s experience and knowledge of the world. That vintage wisdom holds true today, making events like the Gilbert Global Village Festival on Saturday a red-letter day.

Mary Rose is raising money for bird conservation efforts, and she’s headed out on the open waters to do so. Rose will be rowing thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean next summer in the hope that she can be of help to the animal that she admires.

Arizona State point guard Jahii Carson is testing the NBA waters.