When Linda Walsh's article arrived in the spring, I sent back a long message saying, "Your data don't show much positive result." I misjudged Ms. Walsh. Months passed and early this fall another letter with more results arrived. Walsh recounted how she'd been discouraged not to have more concrete evidence that her many efforts to connect with the hundreds of students in her psychology classes really worked. She'd wanted to personalize their experience even if there were hundreds of them.

She'd considered giving up, but decided not to. "I think that for every student that actually expresses appreciation there are many others that benefit from the contact, but would never think to tell me so," she wrote.

I suggested running her piece as a kind of "open letter" to Forum readers, an invitation to explore the problem together. She agreed. So, it's up to readers now to complete or join in the work Linda Walsh is doing. Her letter, together with the qualitative data (messages from students) are posted on the Forum's Web site.

The theme of ongoing problems pervades this edition of the Forum. From the feature on "problem-based learning" to the book review essays by Laura Rendón and Jan Smith, to Tom Creed's conversation with Ed Neal on reducing the glare of technology, to my ruminations on subliminal diagrams, puzzles and good questions run throughout. I welcome the book reviews since both become examinations of diversity and we've just added important diversity material to the Forum's on-line library.

Astute readers will see that problem-based learning also addresses diversity issues. As a pedagogy, it relies on social process and respects the common dignity of thought and learning. As Kurt Burch, one of the teachers interviewed for but not quoted in the article, told me: "My attraction to it was basically political. It increases participation by minorities, by women, by shy people. It makes a class very democratic." I met so many empassioned teachers researching this story, collected so much more information than a newsletter can carry, I've posted interview vignettes as further background. With PBL, as with any approach, it's the passion, not the method that matters most. Thus these interviews may form the best introduction one could have to PBL.