Isaac DiIanni, economics, holds the attention of up to 600 students in lectures by way of a “teaching as storytelling” technique, an approach that imparts a coherent structure to unfamiliar material and draws students willingly into the learning process. In his upper-level topics class on American economic history, DiIanni guides students through advanced material with more personal attention. Several students have decided to pursue graduate studies in economics after taking this class. (Illinois News Bureau)