The texts for several of the courses I teach provide test banks and I see them as both good and bad. I often find errors, not only in the answer keys, but in the grammar and spelling as well. Frequently I find typographical mistakes too. I usually rewrite some of the choices on the multiple choice test banks because there are too many "all of the above"s or "both A & B" type answers. On the other hand, the test banks save me time and also give me ideas for questions to ask the students during lecture. I have also adapted some of the multiple choice test bank questions into completion tests or short answer tests.

I've been taught that, as a teacher, I should switch activities about every 20 minutes. My subject (anatomy & physiology) requires learning new, and sometimes words, some complicated processes and a rather large amount of plain old memorization. I use powerpoints for lecture, but need some suggestions on some different activities. Also, if anyone has any ideas on how to limit the time loss that occurs with activity changes, I would appreciate that too.

I do not give standardize quizzes due to the fact that I find many of them are flawed. I had a student this week upset because he answered a question incorrectly on a quiz I wrote. He answered the question incorrectly because he had taken the pratical, standardize test on the online student guide and the test gave the wrong answer.

There appears to be an epidemic of students with little to none soft skills. I spend five to ten minutes in each class period going over the soft skills involved in each lesson. The hardest soft skill to get students to use is proper grammar when speaking or writing. How do you break the habit of slang and colloquialism?

Does the Socratic method work better for all levels of course work? It is difficult to use the Socratic method in an intro level science class when the students have no knowledge foundation.

I teach a science course that requires a student to memorize. I have found that by cutting up my daily lesson plan into various games, students from all learning styles do better on quizzes.

Monitoring students is a critical part of basic instruction. You must be making constant "spot checks" to make sure everyone is comprehending the information as you go along. Also a very critical point,is being able to make sure your faster learners are not becoming bored.

There are generally two types of learning groups that instructors use. These are known as informal and formal groups: This is a key point that I will employ,hopefully with very successful results for the benefit of my students

Before going into the topic for the day I like to start of with something interesting that happened in my career that pertains to the topic. This gets the students interested and keeps them wondering how the situation was resolved. When I complete the story I like to move back to the topic on the white board and elaborate on how understanding this material that we are discussing today is relivant and extremely important to understand.

I use my whole class room space all four walls have training aids hanging for display an examples.For direction on what to expect out in lab where myself an students are to perform the physical task as a class.

Instructional Style as described in this reading materials are excellent. I teach in the medical field, my questions is, how do I present my course materials effectively to those student's with absolutely no medical background and for those with some medical background. I know its a challenge would like to get some advice on this area.

The most significant outcomes are peer learning, which aids students in retaining and developing learned material, and enhancement of learning through a social process, which helps students develop much needed teamwork skills.

How many instructors use or have access to "learning Style Assessments"? Our business college has instituted a course in which learning styles are assessed along with teaching the new students good study habits and techniques. I think it's extremely helpful!!

We are currently bringing in a new skills assessment software for our office application classes. I am anticipating that will give us a good overview of the students hands on capabilities with a specific software. For many years we would test only on the comprehension of the terminology of the software and not the hands on. I believe it is important to measure both areas.

I work and have worked in other places where some or all of the tests are created by the parent company. It is difficult to supply input and have it evaluated and implemented in a timely manner. I have been using some informal, ungraded assessments to help students understand the information prior to "Corporate" tests.

I also believe that learning styles adapt depending on the material that you are trying to learn. I learned math better by working a lot of problems, I learned German better through a lot of auditory work (immersion in the language), I learned how to fix lawn mowers by hands on work.

When I'm explaining a concept, I give example applications in my students' fields. When I add a story about a real person (often me) making mistakes, recovering, and/or succeeding, their ears prick up. Bringing theory to the practical aspects of their lives is certainly part of the magic, but part of the effectiveness is due to the change of pace in voice and body language

Facilitators are in the business of �changing lives� in a positive way. Many of the students are fragile and have forgone or previously dropped out of other curriculums. The tools of assessment should be utilized in constructive ways to guide the students to achieve their goals. The facilitators must communicate and develop a sense of trust and personalization that allows the student to excel.

As I attempt to learn more about my students academic abilities, I will often ask them to read a statement aloud to me in a secluded area so I can be sure they have adequate reading ability. Although I am a slow reader myself and often have to re-read passages to get it right, my comprehension and retention are excellent in the end. Is there any link between poor reading ability and hesitance to read aloud or are they separate issues?

I encourage *all* students to ask if they don't understand a word. I also share with the students that English isn't my first language (actually my 3rd). We've had students come from all over and sometimes I am able to explain a word or concept in their language (this works great for students where Spanish is their primary language as well as many of the students from Africa where Italian or French is part of their language). I also draw on my experience from the time I was the one learning English. We frequently have discussions about nursing and health care practices in other countries and this allows those students to teach the rest of the class as well as teach me something new!