My classes average close to 20 students. We meet for four times for 3 hours, with a thirty minute break. How long would you suggest I spend on debriefing each student? Should it be done as a class discussion? Or on a more individual basis? What tips do you have for maximizing the value of the debriefing process (against time)? Thanks, Stephen

I am intrigued by the idea of using music in the classroom. The guidelines provided seem too general to implement efficiently. Can you please provide some specific examples of music that is known to be very effective for eliciting specific brain wave activity? Thanks, Stephen

Hello, I appreciate the essence of the "learning facilitator" approach (versus "teacher"), but I am frustrated by what appears to be a culture of "do it for me". When I draw a picture of myself as a learner, there's nothing in it that resembles a learning facilitator who is responsible for helping me learn. My experience as a student was one of being fully responsible for my own learning - if I failed to progress, blame was put on my not having done the work or not having studied well. In contrast, the large majority of the students in my classroom seem to believe that their failure to progress is always and entirely -my- fault. They regularly disregard assignments and suggestions - anything that asks them to work on their own is entirely dismissed. Do you have any experience with a similar challenge? Any suggestions about how to encourage students to take fair responsibility for their own progress? Thanks, Stephen

I foound this to be very true, especially with students who hae struggled in school beofer. I have a lot of students who did not succeed in HS, and they feel that no one has faith in them, which causes them to fail. When I get these students and remind them that they can do it, they usally meet and/or exceed my expectations. I think that a little encouragement really goes a long way.

I find that it is very important in enhancing the learning experience of the class to give feedback at the end of activities where the students are demonstrating learned competencies and skills. As an instructor, it is critical to give (as well as receive) effective feedback in these instances. I use the following format to process a learning activity: 1> I always ask how they think they did overall in terms of the assigned task. 2> Then I ask "If they had a chance to do it over, what would they do differently?". This takes the focus off of what they may have done wrong directly. 3> Lastly, to minimize learning roadblocks (defensiveness or behavioral justification) to the feedback that I give them (noting that this only takes place AFTER they are giving a chance to decompress and say their peace), I preface the process with two simple rules: 1) This is meant to be a learning experience...take from it what you will. There is no need to be defensive or take the feedback personally. This is simply what one person observed and I will always offer you suggestions for improvement. 2)In the spirit of #1, you are only able to respond with "Can you be more specific" or "Thank You". Class participants seem to have fun with this last rule and it disarms the defensiveness and removes the barriers to learning.

I have found that it helps to develop clinical skills when an instructor uses real life experiences to teach the do's and don'ts in caring for their patients. For instance, I recently had a physical therapy technician student dismissed from a clinical site. He turned his back to a patient in his care who was on a treadmill. The reason he did this was to use his cellphone. He had been taught patient safety guidelines in his course but the real life application had not translated into commonsense. Without using his name or clinical site, I used this experience in my next class and asked the students why this was an issue with the supervisor, what could have happened because he breached his duty,and what would have been the legal considerations.The students became very engrossed in the conversation which led me to again go over patient safety guidelines.We then demonstated appropriate care and modalities for patients undergoing physical therapy. It was a very effective strategy to emphasize patient care and safety. Do others have similar stories to share?

As prepared as a lecturer may be for the podium, he/she may receive a question (related to lesson content) in which they don't quite know the answer to. What's the best way to handle this type of situation?

Why are student expectations important to a course's learning objective outcome?

It sounds too much like common sense, but it's important that an instructor is very knowledgeable about the subject he/she is teaching and that they are able to clearly define any terms used that may be foreign to the student.

this area is very important to the adult learner the need for them to be comfortable in the classroom enviroment is very important

How do you avoid closed questions?

If adult attention spans are 15-18min, how often should one give breaks during a 2.5 hour long class? and how long should break be?

I find this topic interesting in so many ways. It brings to mind Jungian psychology and aspects of personality preferences, particularly the difference between sensory vs. intuitive types. The difference between sensory vs. intuitive is HUGE because it has everything to do with how we perceive our surrounding world and the impact our surroundings have on us. In school, I simply could not understand how my classmates found note cards beneficial. I felt like they were a huge waste of time, fragmented, & confusing, but for others they worked. Personally, I would cram as much information as possible on one sheet of paper in small print to study. It really was perplexing to me for quite some time. Later, I discovered the differences between personalities, learning style, and perceptions. Do you prefer to see parts of the whole to make sense of the big picture (sensory), or do you prefer to see the big picture before identifying its parts (intuitive)? You might ask, what does this have anything to do with learning? Well, knowing that your students have different preferences will help you extend necessary and varying resources to them. For instance, if giving a PowerPoint lecture make it available in two formats: 1. Slides & 2. Outline form. When giving suggestions for studying or reference materials, give options for either study resources available to the sensory types (i.e. note cards or flash cards) or intuitive type (i.e. outlines/summaries). Any additional thoughts or suggestions?

What other resources are best to use in courses without textbooks? I am concerned about copyright infringements and other issues in trying to gather common material for the students.

While lecturing does it hurt to move around the room, not a lot but kind of a casual stroll around different areas of the room?

Can you be too firm in your expectations on the first day of class?

What do you find to be a good way to redirect students to get them back on task in a lab environment?

I am a new teacher, and I was wondering about the effect of using the students last name to address them in class and what effect it has. I usually address people as mr jones or miss smith can I do that with students or will it cause a problem?

Use a roll of toilet paper, have each student take a few pieces, for each piece they take they have to tell something about them selves....

The most important part of teaching is that you are on time and you use your time to teach the course outline.