Barry Westling

Suzanne, Students will always respond better when they are in an atmosphere that's upbeat, energized and with an enthusiastic instructor. Barry Westling

Jorge, I agree students appreciate efforts their instructor provides to encourage, support, give advice, offer suggestions, and basically, just convey that they care about their student's success. Sometimes I call this "steering the ship" to imply the student is generally going the right direction but needs some on course correction to be sure they arrive at their destination satisfactorily. Barry Westling

Jorge, Having back up resources really helps at times such as just before a break (when there is just 5-10 minutes remaining), near the end of class when a few extra minutes are available, or whenever it's helpful to re- energize or reingage students. Variety and especially stories about the work setting are good short time fillers. Barry Westling

Bruce, Truely, quizzing is an effective method to determine to what degree students received delivered course content. In general, evaluation is a "measure against the standard", as expected by the instructor. Assessments (quizzes, tests) are one way to evaluate learning. Questioning, homework assignments, surveys, and practical demonstration of skill are other ways. I have used "students write the questions", pair-share, and student-led segments of the lecture as alternative ways to evaluate learning. Barry Westling

Bruce, Good. Steering the ship, so to speak, to reengage students back to topic is a good technique, as is taking a brief break. Students get off task for a lot of reasons. Sometimes mere redirection is all that is needed, such as asking a few questions of specific students. Other times, more is needed, even including a change of activity. Barry Westling

Bruce, Critical thinking practice is key to producing graduates who will be morew capable employees once they graduate. Having a base knowledge coupled with the ability to analyze situations will contribute to long, successful careers. Barry Westling

Nancy, Good point. Since, to our students, our courses probably seem to be infected with numerous grading events throughout a course, it only makes sense students would put emphasis on their performance on these graded measures of their performance. Sharing progress does contribute to better informed students, and that can help steer study efforts towards successful outcomes. Barry Westling

Nancy, Yes, and playing catch-up sets an example that students may feel they aren't getting the whole of their educational experience due to unpreparedness of their instructor. Whizzing through material is certanly not the best way for anyone to learn. Barry Westling

Bruce, I agree and also believe that thos e instructors who are willikng to subject themselves to student, peer and supervisory critique will be better instructors as the result of their openess to ongoing improvement. Barry Westling

Stephanie, Yes, we can create the atmosphere for focus, direction, and effective instruction. You're right that how we present ourselves sets the tone for how the class may perceive what expectations are for them, and we can easily determine how we want that perception to be by prepared and being ready for each class session. Barry Westling