Environment is important so what would be the best lighting for students to stay awake and be attentive in class?

having training aids to show students really helps get the objective. I also use a jeporday game to review.

I think asking questions to the students during lecture keeps them alert and awake. It makes them stop and think and trouble shoot.

As part of my first day, first class meeting, I lay out my expectations for student work and class participation. I will go through what I sincerely believe to be the habits of an A student, a B student, etc. I will then ask each student to take a moment and reflect on what kind of a student he or she wants to be this term. I will then explain to my students what I believe about Cs in courses outside their core focus area. I ask them to think about the importance of an A in 20th Century Literature vs. an A in International Cuisine. Helping students to see the goals that I have set for them in my course next to their professional ambitions has reduced the number of complaints about the general education courses that I teach and the grades they earn. I also tell my students about the Cs and C-s that I received in college in fields of study outside of my major focus. This knowledge about me seems to help put perspective on their own experience. The reason that I’m interested in this subject is my experience with student who do not see a C as a C but rather as an F. Bellow is an article from the New York times on the subject. Enjoy! EDUCATION Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes By MAX ROOSEVELT Published: February 18, 2009 College professors have observed that their students feel entitled to receive A’s and B’s for simply completing basic coursework. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/education/18college.html

I teach on quarters and one of the quarters is 10 weeks, where the others are 12. So to fit all the material into 10 weeks is very challenging. I feel as though it is hard to keep the students engaged because I have to present so much more material in a class period and am not giving them the appropriate breaks. Do you have any suggestions on how to get that extra material in.

I'm interested in how others keep retention at a high level without compromising expectations of student performance.

i find when students work in groups and listen to soft music at there tables on there lab projectcs it keeps them engaged.

Has anyone addressed how they might address the impact of flu on the classroom. In particular, the need to provide additional time with people who are absent from class because of illness.

Wow, the first day of class can be extremely challenging in several respects. I believe that an instructor is best received in the long term if they set the tone of the environment immediately. T. King

Setting goals helps to establish the learning indicators that lead to success with each student. Without goals, students would be displaced by the lack of inspiration. T. King

I believe that is essential for an instructor to be the model of the profession that he/she is promoting through the educational process. T. King

Is it unfair to ask the same question more than one time on an exam?

What are some ways to handle upset students with their mid-term evaluations?

I often will ask my students questions that at this point in the class they should know the answers to, however, the question can sometimes just hang in the air while the student tries to come up with an answer. Other times when this happens, there can be another student busting to answer the question, but then I worry that they student who was asked the question will not learn the answer if someone else answers for him/her...

In the field that I teach, a combination of learning tactics are widely used. Much of what I teach is by physical demonstartion, but in order for the students to really understand what I have just demoed, they need to get the tactile component in.

Being a new instructor I am still working out my lecture methods. Engaing the students, envolving them in the lecture, asking them questions, testing their knowledge, seems to make the most sence to me.

Before I started to teach I was always upset when the teacher had the students get up and do introductions. Being a bit shy it was always a little difficult. Now being an instructor I see the importants of introductions. The teacher gets an idea of the student and some of their background and the students get to know who each other some, without introductions they may not have made the effort.

I am a new instructor learning my teaching style. Regarding a syllabus, remembering back to the classes I have taken, the syllabus is the number one thing that I would look for to give me an idea of content and difficulty of the course.

I like varying the styles to catch every student's interest. I am currently teaching Cost Control and I split up the class time between lectures with power point presentation, seat work, work experience sharing and board work. This way, I am able to gauge the student's grasp of the subject matter and am able to identify who I need to do one-on-one work with.

I think it is important to use a combination of learning styles this hopefully will help everyone.