Barry Westling

Kellie, Electronic grading is good, but personal discussion is still valuable and allows the instructor to point out areas for improvement. Barry Westling

David, I think what's good about what you do is the one-on-one discussion you have with your students. This time allows you to learn about your students and get a sense about how you help individual students specifically. Barry Westling

Kellie, Give it a try. You may have to make several edits before you find a version you like, but when you do, the results will be worth the effort. Barry Westling

David, Good instructors will always try to make their presentations and delivery pertinent and valuable to their student learners. Knowing what the course outcomes are, along with something about individual students interests make for a more profitable learning experience. Barry Westling

Arthur, I think students find videos' fairly interesting, especially if they are shorter and very specific to topics the students are interested in and/or relate to the course of study. Students can zone out for a lot of reasons, and a longer video that requires mere passive watching is one way to potentially lose some travelers along the way. Barry Westling

Hayvelises, Frequent and regular discussion with students is the best way to convey progress and assist students by giving advice and suggestions for improvement, if needed. Barry Westling

Hayvelises, We want our students to understand and grasp the information provided in our classes, and we do that by presenting couse material we feel is appropriate. By pretesting, we can determine if more or less emphasis may be needed in certain topics or content areas. Barry Westling

Hayvelises, Yes, first and foremost, we want our graduates ready for the work setting. If we can do that and create better citizens in the process, we will have achieved something good Barry Westling

Nastassia, All students rely on visual learning to a great degree. I always state I reserve my right to reposition students or assign seating as the need arises. This can be to assist a student who can benefit from being closer in order to see, or it may be to break up distractions, such as talking with a classmate. I have told students, "if it distracts me, it distracts others". There's a time when informal chatting is permissible but not when when I'm lecturing. Barry Westling

Terry, Good preparation usually eliminates too many unexpected circumstances. You have a good point about "being ready sets the example for students to follow". Having alternate activities planned just in case is always a good idea should extra time be available at the end of class. One good thing is a review of the days topics. This helps an instructor check for understanding and determine if more time is needed to cover a topic in more depth. Barry Westling