Have experienced instructors found it beneficial or detrimental to facilitate debates amongst learners in a business course setting?

How do you incourage a student that is limiting themself both in skill and the ability to learn a better way of doing things?

Sometimes I find it somewhat of a challange to "slow down" or "speed up" the class. According to how student are keeping up. Every so offten I get classes that are all over the spectrum. How would I "slow-down" and "speed up" at the sametime?

I always try to lead by example. Meaning, I am always professional, curtious hard working. This sets the tone for students to follow.

I realize that we all have an inherrent and/or preferred method of processing information, but I feel we are doing student a disservice if we allow them to rely only on their strenghts. If we allow teaching modality to be goverened by the students preferences alone, we may underutilize the instructors strengths and personality. Instructors should stretch their own ability and dabble in modes of communicating ideas in diverse and exciting ways. As well we should expect students to increase their proficencies and stretch their own comfort zones by expecting them to grow in areas they are not as strong in. I feel we are right to try to adapt to the students preferences, we should not however allow them to neglect the other modes lest they become unemployable. Listening skill in particular are an especially lacking skill with a majority of today's younger audience. --(Now finally my question!) How can we effectivly grow and stress students weaker learning repertoire while still getting the message across in the most effective and lasting a manner?

When in the lab, I enjoy calling students over for spot demos or short quick demos. This accomplishes two things... you are showing an actual exercise or method as it is occurring and it is brief enough that students can apply it immediately to their current situation in class. Many students are not able to perform this task as it might have not been applied to their work load that day (different recipe, etc.) The second part is that by showing the class certain techniques during spot demos it also removes them from their current work and are able to see something from another perspective. This might eliminate some misunderstanding or confusion especially if they were about to make that mistake. ~Louis

Many have different theories on either having a detailed syllabus i.e. explaining your daily learning outcomes or keeping the syllabus static to give room for changes or being flexible. I myself try to keep a "daily learning outcome" as to keep me on point and keep my students abreast as to what is being covered that day. If something is not covered in class, then I assign an assignment pertaining to the subject matter and it is discussed the following day. Keeping a detailed syllabus has been a tremendous help to me and my students. We both know what is expected and this leaves zero room for missed assignments or papers. ~Louis

In our educational institution we use formative to make sure they are grasping the information and summative to make sure they are retaining the information.

I teach nursing students who usually work at night as LVN's then attend the class the next day. Any suggestion in keeping them awake in the class for 270 minutes?

you should always have prepared questions to ask your students. sometimes you may not use all of them but you should have them ready.

student have many different ways in which they learn. as an instructor you must use as many methods of instructing as you can so you cover all the needs of you students.

Students follow your movements around the room, they ask good questions moving forward with each, and they don't watch the clock.

When assessing the needs of each class I find out which elective program the majority of the class has enrolled in. I then tailor the lecture to include additional information geared toward that particular elective.

On the first day of class I go through the Syllabus from cover to cover. I also go through each weeks assignments both group and individual, as well as policies and procedures, and the grading criteria.

The learning environment should be a comfortable and supportive learning site that will enable students to focus better on the content of the course. Some adaptations that may be undertaken is furniture rearrangement if allowable or the size of class will permit . An example may be a semicircle instead of chairs in rows. It seems to set the stage for more interaction between and among students with students as well as instructor with students. An idea that I have also tried is placing relevant educational materials i.e posters, research papers, etc around the classroom so that the students can review while in the classroom setting.

I loved college and one of the main reasons was because of my professors. I think that one way to be a good instructor is to think of my favorite teachers and why I liked them; what style they used to keep me focused and interested in the class subject; and what I took with me when the course was completed. I also need to understand what my college will be expecting of me as a teacher and what their mission is as a career college. I need to know my students and what they are expecting from the course. Since it is a career college and I am teaching a general education course (psychology), I need to keep in mind that their major is NOT psychology, but at the same time be able to teach them how they can use the knowledge they gain from my course in their field of study. I should do my best to get acquainted with my colleagues and ask questions or seek their advice when I need their expertise. Finally, I have to be myself. My favorite professors had a passion for teaching and I could feel it. I have a passion for learning and want that passion to come out in my teaching and help my students to gain my passion for learning.

The class I am teaching already has a fully developed curriculum - power points, handouts, lesson plans, the works. I have noticed that some of the material is dated so my quandary is how do I teach the current processes used in the field without overstepping the curriculum boundaries put in place by the director? For example, I have been collecting articles from various trade publications about current developments in our field. I can present the topics (not the articles, just the information) in addition to the regular lesson, but I have no way of determining if the students are retaining the now-relevant material.

What methods or techniques do you use to make sure that your students understand what you expect of them?

Why is a positive first impression important when starting a new class?

Why is a positive first impression important when starting a new class?