small groups lead to big results. i keep groups to no more than 3 to a group. This maintains intimacy and reduces the opportunities for conflict to overcome the group.

mixing subject matter words into discussion and giving a simple definition of those words help to draw students into the subject itself, making those words a part of them.

When there are unexpected snow days, or times that student dont even show to class, planned lectures are often moved back. How should the instructor approach the situation?

My first time teaching, I was instructed to teach out of the book. If I notice an error I would take it the head department and discuss it with them, but what do you do when a student insist the text book is wrong when really it isn't? They believe because they found it on a website that its reliable, and the test question should be changed.

Since the field of teaching is new to me, I can see how lessions plans are an important tool. Are there any online resources available with examples?

What role does exams play in detrmining success?

Emphasize standards of your field, requiring students to communicate effectively and professionally.

Education should be a dialogue, an exchange between instructor and student.Give students a chance to ask questions. Encourage questions. Questions will tell you what students understand/don't understand about what you are teaching.

Are some students discriminated against by your teaching style? Is your teaching style biased to some learning styles?

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for effective diagnostic development. Normally I use diagnostic to test students vocabulary and ability to recall facts.

Loved this topic. Have developed and implemented diagnostics into my classes and it has helped me to assess student's retention of information and also shows students where they need to study to be successful in class.

Are there other methods out there to get more students to ask questions?

This is a good lesson. I was wondering if anyone had any tips for getting students who are hands on learners to memorize large amounts of information in a short time. Also, is there a way to get students who have test anxiety to remember information for a standardize test?

My students are adults and enjoy active learning in the classroom. I work to involve as much student participation as possible as long as it does not detract from the lesson objectives. One activity I like to use is small groups to solve a problem. With members from a variety of National Agencies, students must collaborate to develop a possible solution to the situation they've been given. I guide them through a number of discussions to help narrow down possible solution sets. At the end of the course, the small groups present their solution to the other three groups. This not only provides the groups the opportunity to apply what they've learned, but also to assess the other possible solutions developed by the other groups. They learn from each other as well as the formal instruction.

Personality can influence in a positive or negative way the student’s future professional performance. We can teach the ethics but learning good manners is a lifetime process. In the medical field we have many laws and ethical rules. The students can learn how to apply the ethics and laws correctly but they do not learn how to behave when they communicate with clients and coworkers. The ending result is a communication with the right words or legal procedures but the wrong attitude, body language, or oral expression. This behavior can create serious consequences for their career. Companies invest a lot of time in the management of these types of problems since they can be significantly negative for the economy of their business, teamwork, and clients. Do you have a simple or basic way to assess these types of situations in class?

Testing students is not as easy as it may seem. Teachers must come up with authentic methods for assessing students.Using formal assessment to measure student knowledge can come at several different points during unit plan. Assessments preformed before a unit, while we are teaching the unit and after we are finished teaching the unit are all valid and helpful to a teacher, yet each serve different purposes. Understanding each assessment type is important to helping teachers fine tune their teaching skills.

I like the idea of videotaping myself during class; I'm sure I'd see annoying tics that would be distracting to my students. I've had several instructors who repeated certain words or phrases (I hope they were inaware of it) that I found distracting. I remember one time, out of sheer boredom, I started counting how many times a particular instructor repeated the word "again" during a lecture. I quit after about a minute and a half because I was already up to EIGHTY!! Another instructor never "said" anything, he always "indicated," and in my most recent administrator's opinion, everything she likes is "amazing." Makes me think of Valley-Girl speak - the mouth is flapping but the brain is not connected. As instructors, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard of speaking and writing so our students may hear and see how an educated person communicates, and we might provide a model for them to emulate.

I just made a student mistake. I was reading quickly Quiz #2, and kept missing one question. The green would highlight the correct answer, but in my rush, I did not realize that the answer wanted you to check all that applied. I was getting more and more frustrated because the overachiever in me would not accept less than a 100 percent on the quiz. Finally, I figured out the mistake I was making. This reminds me of how frustrated students must feel! This was probably the most inmportant thing I learned in the second module of ED101. Frustrated students will spin out of control if they or someone else cannot reign them in and calm them down. Each of us need to have empathy for students who become frustrated! Sometimes the frustration is not a case of what they don't know but is rather a happenstance or oversight. Jackie

To start a lesson I have students fill in the names of each of the components in a diagram. During this time I also tend to cover the functionality of the components. I quiz students on their ability to remember the component names by giving them a picture with a number next to each component along with a column filled with blank numbered spaces. Students need to write in the names of the component corresponding to each number in the diagram in the correct space of the column. I will add another quiz on the students' ability to retain component functionality information by providing a list of functions to go along with the numbered diagram and a space to provide the number of the component that best matches the description.

How will you use the memory research to increase the students' learning retention in a class you are currently teaching? What will you do differently?