I find it extremely difficult to give students practical exams as a culinary instructor. For example, I have to test a student on his ability to make Hollandaise Sauce, and the test may be only the second or third time he has made it. If the sauce is a failure, I have to grade him accordingly - even though he may know the technique. I think this is unfair testing but I'm forced to do it. Any comments?

I've found that students are now so accustomed to multitasking, that it is sometimes difficult to find the right pace to keep them stimulated.

Ford doesn't allow us to modify any of the training modules. They have them set the way we're to teach it and that is that!

Are assesments are very easy. They can or they can't do the skill required for the certificate.

Ford provides us with many different questions to engage the different type of students me may have in class. Some are show me on the board, example from a group of training aids etc.

Most of the students we get here are hands on learners. They have been around cars and that is why they choose this course.

What should be done when only the same few students volunteer to answer questions? Would they feel slighted because you begin to shift to other students?

What I have found is that student retention has been very poor. Students can't remeber day to day, ley alone something they need to know as per working for a living.

I'm wondering how long it should take to make assessments if the learning block is short, i.e. three weeks. Is is better to use the blanket technique which is to say make the presentations from several learning styles just to cover all the bases?

It is very positive to pass around parts for the student to learn easier if they can look, see, and touch.

In my opinion any type of distraction, may keep the students from learning the correct way. Remember we are training these people who will be working on vehicles that can kill.

As time goes on, us as instructors have a definite need to learn more about the indivduals in class, We need to dumb down for the new student.

Most students do not like asking questions in front of the class. One thing I do is have everyone write there question on a peice of paper and for 30 seconds they throw paper at each other. When times is up they ask the question from the paper they are holding.

Music is the most important stimulant for the brain and is not used enough in the class room.

Prompting students with questions, I believe, gets them thinking—yes—but more important—makes. them active participants in the learning process. Any question is worthwhile, as long as it relates to the subject matter for that class’s agenda. Open-ended questions are best—but I find that even questions that prompt an obvious response are effective as well. Anything that will get an otherwise silent student to become actively involved—to break the ice so to speak—is a valuable technique in classroom management.

Any visual means of enhancing a class environment is extremely helpful to the learning process. I often find ways of using videos, for example, in my writing and literature courses. Supplementing a text with video helps students to see an alternate interpretation or point of view. Usually the video or film version of a text strays into areas not evident in the original, which demonstrates the film maker’s take on a narrative. What’s interesting are the ways in which the film version is sometimes better than the original. In effect, the film becomes another voice, as students have their own voices when interpreting what they read. No interpretation is right or wrong, only different.

What are the thoughts of the educational community on the practice of building extra credit questions into a quiz/test? I have done it in the past, in the hopes of allowing students who would otherwise "bomb" the test to bump up their grade a bit. My experience has been, however, that it actually further polarizes the result. Those students who would have gotten A's anyhow now get monstrously high scores...and the poor performers, lacking a solid knowledge-base for the regular credit questions as they do, lack the knowledge base to get the extra credit as well. Any thoughts or other ways to go about this?

Students with disabilities do not need charity. They need someone who understands what it takes for the student to absorb the information. If the instructor is patient, and truly interested in teaching, they will figure out how to reach the student no matter what their disability is.

I believe it is important to treat each student individually. This helps me to find out what I have to do to reach them. Without that an instructor may loose a good amount of their classes interest because the students may not feel a direct connection to their instructor. It is important for the student to feel as if their instructor really cares about their success.

Student groups can be a great tool in a classroom. It forces studetns to ineract with eachother and step outside of there comfort zone. If the instructor is observent enough they will notice who is driving the group and who is dragging the group. This creates the opportunity to adjust the grop dynamic and prevent one or two people from carrying the group. Watching to see who does produce and who does not is important to studetns when working in groups. No one likes to work alone when they have been assigned a group.