David Cooper

Every hear poeple talk from both sides of their mouth?  I know of a group of people who say on the one hand that the classroom needs to be an active, fun experience, and then say on the other hand that instructor teaching loads should increase because, after all, what's a few more classes when all the instructor does is provide a platform for students to recieve information.  Why do I bring this up?  Becasue if I had a wish list, it would contain allocation of time and resources that empower instructors by providing hands on lab time with reflection… >>>

Without the "fringe" benefit of being able to learn from students teaching would be a very intensive, cumberson, boring way for me to earn a living.

What is life without the ability to learn from others?  For example, a student holds two jobs, has three kids, and is caring for her sick parent.

How does she manage?  I'd like to know.

Also, a topic envoks strong emotion.  Why?

Finally, a problem presented for class dicussion results in students sharing their unique points of view.

How fortunate am I to be in involved?!!

And then too there is the obvious in… >>>

I'm all for multiple delivery methods when it comes to engaging students and helping them along.

However, every time I pick up the phone and actually talk to a student I get a much better sense of the issue at hand and am able to further solidify a positive relationship with that person.  My experience is also true when it comes to communication at work.  Lately, the trend at my college is to discuss complex issues via email.  A person will announce that they are soliciting feedback on a given question or issue and then we are supposed to "weigh… >>>