Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

April, I agree and think the more early on and frequent we can make time to convey our expectations to students the better. Like you, I believe whether students are doing well or struggling, the importance of giving our advice and suggestions can't be emphasized too strongly. Like a journey, we need to inform students how close to the destination they are in order to make needed corrections along the way. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Goal of educating students

April, Great! I think our purpose is of course to provide the skills and knowledge needed for employment. Any additional helps we can give them will be appreciated by both student and employer. Professionalism, dress, speech, and business courtesies are among the soft skills that some students have a need for and their employability improved when we can share their benefits. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Being a student-centered instructor

April, Perfect sentiment that very nicely captures the principle! Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Awarding extra credit

Nicolette, I agree that a small amount of bonus points on exams is OK, and legitimate because it is assessing student knowledge, which is directly related to our purpose: - student learning. Too much EC can artifically raise grades, create disputes about the grading process, potentially arouse dissatisfaction among stronger students who feel slighted by the apparent "giving away" of points that they've worked hard to earn, and subjectivity in grading by the instructor. It's for these reasons I choose not to go down that road. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Awarding extra credit

Kimberly, I'm with you. There are probably exceptions that are valid, but I think giving too much EC contributes more to points and grades, and little to do with real learning. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Kimberly, I have experienced mixed results too. I think a lot depends on how the activity is presented, the intended goal, and grading requirements. I usually don't give a grade that's recorded and part of the students grade. I too like to show the test at the end of the class to demonstrate how far they've come. It's a motivator. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting instructional media

Eric, Gotcha. No worries. I'm sure your students are getting the full benefit of your talents and creativity. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Reasons for evaluating students

Laura, Great post! Your point and the meaning in the win-win result is very much on the mark! Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Laura, Pretests help the instructor plan how best meet the needs of their students. If there is a wide disparity among the class makeup, I've had the stronger students serve as peer tutors to the waeker students. Usually, every one benefits as the stronger students feel they're helping and of course, the weaker students receive the benefit of the assistance received. Another variation of this is when in small groups, I've matched one strong student with 2-3 weaker students. Usually the outcome is the same. On the other hand, based on pretest results, I've prepared higher level, more challenging assignments… >>>

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting instructional media

Eric, I'm out of my league as far as the content of your program goes, but in a general sense, ways to introduce media might include the history of different foods; unusual or nontraditional uses of food items; etc. Things like this (history, interesting facts) makes classes more interesting. Students like stories too. Examples of past bad mistakes, errors, and related "would you believe" kind of situations from the workplace often can be merged into the lesson and you'll have the class's attention and focus too. Barry Westling