Wow, that is a difficult problem indeed. I think this might be the fear of every instructor and I'm not sure if there is a single answer to address this. If the student presents this openly in the classroom as opposed to a one-on-one confrontation, then the problem is significantly compounded. My personal experience with this came when I took over an algebra class from a former instructor who had problems. On my first day of class when I was challenged by one of my students, he presented a question regarding factoring equations which was way beyond the capability of… >>>

I couldn't agree more. I too feel that this was a great course covering the learning styles and exam types.

Isn't it great walking into the classroom and seeing people who are actually glad to see you. The discussions are better because people are not afraid to make a mistake. Way to go!

These are very good points. Some students use their cell phones to text each other during a test. As you walk their way, they hide their phones or say they need them for doing calculations. We had to band the use of cell phones which helped put a stop to the cheating.

This is a concept I have used in the past and it worked very well. For some reason I got away from it but I too will be trying to incorporate it in the future.

I see the connection between the attention span and this sound bite era. Could it be that the advertisers picked up on this human ability and are making the most of it? But, by providing the students new information in 15 minute packets of time, I think allows time to absorb and process the new information. I like trying to give a summary, ask questions and have a discussion after about 15 minute of lecture.

I agree with your views. Class room management is critical to student success. Part of
this includes keeping the students interested in the material. This in turn
helps in student retention.