I loved the Crisis game mentioned in this section. What are some key ways of motivating career students? What are some ways of reinforcing general education course material such as English Composition?

Having taught secondary school, I found creating a specialized bulletin board that highlighted student achievement to be effective. Can this be just as effective with career students? Or, is it too childish?

Q: What is the best way to address learning disability issues of students whose language is primarily Spanish? Any suggestions?

I am an administrator and an instructor so I understand the challenges of dealing with some students, but what the students need is for the instructors/adminstrative staff to understand how important their demeanor -- their body language and tone of voice are in managing a positive, productive class. It is not enough to do a great job teaching. The students have to want to attend a class and some teachers can be so intimidating that the confidence of the student is eroded. The student then does not wish to attend a class like that and then finally, the student may decide to withdraw. These issues have been discussed as a result of student evaluations of staff members. There has been some improvement, but not enough.

When we deal with mature students, their level of confidence in retaining information usually starts off low. When they get comfortable in the environment, realize that the instructor and staff are truly on their side, the improvement is quick. We celebrate "ah-ha" moments, as they truly do motivate the student to continue. From donuts to a free coffee from the vending machine to just a high five, pat on the back or thumbs up, we let that student know we are proud. How do you celebrate the "ah-ha" moments for a student?

For quite a few of our students, the external support sytems they have interfere greatly with their learning. Daycare, lack of understanding, weak management skills, car breakdowns, illness, etc are frustrating. We try to resolve most of these issues in the first couple of weeks they start. We know that "life" comes up and whaps them ever so often, but we are preparing them for the workforce. This is the time to get everything straightened out before they start work. But where should our line be in the internal support? How far do we go to ensure their success?

Building Rapport is such a good thing, but I have found that it only goes as far as the student will allow.

I have found that empathy and understanding can go a LONG way as long as you set boundaries and recognize those students that abuse it.

Is there ever a time where you can be too "fair and caring?" What does one do with those students that come up with every excuse in the book when turning in late work?

I have a student that gets set off on every small thing(including anything less than 100% on her coursework) and of course everything and anything is the instructor's fault. Any tips on this issue?

Participation is the key to a vibrant class. Each class has it's own characteristics but they all become board if we do not refocus ourselves, our delivery and the students participation methods. One day for terminology we might play hangman and another day Scrabble using only industry terms. The focus and refocus must be on satisfying the student needs in the most efficient effective and participative manner possible.

In college psychology, many years ago, it was said a person cannot motivate another: one can only introduce a stimulus into the environment for the subject to be motivated by his/her own value system. Motivation therefore is an internal process. I have found this to be true. While we all may have shared motivational triggers as others we respond to ours and ours alone. If I have little use or care little for external recognition then introducing it into the learning or work environment will have little or no affect on my efforts. However if I crave recognition by others offering the opportunity to achieve it will affect my efforts greatly. So to "motivate" a student is then to know what the student craves, desires or considers important to him/herself. Then introduce it into the learning environment. Since we all have differing motivational factors multiple stimuli must be presented to a class.

Some of my students bring inappropriate personal anecdotes to the classroom. This can create awkward moments for the other students, as well as for me, the instructor. It can be difficult to set boundaries, but is sometimes necessary.

I found this to be a confusing term. The word looks like a noun, but the purported definition doesn't seem to agree.

I found this section interesting. I initially posted the name of the top student after each module, but I received many complaints from students who were discouraged that their name hadn't been listed. I had to discontinue the practice.

I have a deaf student who gets very frustrated because she feels that the other students don't take the time to understand her thoughts and opinions regarding the subject matter. Any tips?

The students really come to rely on the Instructor for advice, coaching, mentoring guidance, and so on. I think this is great! My only question is how does an Instructor balance the strict class objectives, and expectations with the human / compassion side? In other words, is it ethical to make acceptations for one student because of the awareness of an issue that is weighing on them, but not for another student? I personally try to weigh this in each instance, but never want to make acceptations “For the sake of retention alone”

After reading some of the posts I see a common theme of student peer groups coming together to help one another. I wonder if a student council could contribute in some way to retention. Maybe through organized mentoring, peer support, outings etc. Seems like there is some opportunity here, any thoughts? Jim Wagnon

It is evident that we can apply all topics discussed in this module for the retention of any type of students that we are serving. An interesting question that comes to my mind at this moment would be if there are specific keys to enhance retention with multicultural background students? What will it take from the instructor to meet international students needs in term of retention? From my professional point of view, professors and other related professionals must get some kind of special training regardin mulicultural awareness to deal with this specific population. In the other side "human factor" will be kept the same no matter the student cultural background.