Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Making field trips and guest speakers a part of instruction

Marylynn, Yes, and the ability to ask questions from someone other than their own instructor is a benefit many students take advantage of as well. Guest speakers or field trip presenters often stimulate questions that students would not normally think to ask about. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting evaluation methods

Dennis, Yeah, you know probably more than anyone how students will want to jump the gun and just start writing unless the instructor reinforces the proven process for effectively writing essays and term papers. So a good evaluation system would and should weigh the different components based on their relative importance in relation to meeting the course goals and objectives. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Awarding extra credit

Juliana, Everything you've mentioned is great and I like the sentiment. Anything that helps students learn is terrific, and fun activities can be meaningful ways to reinforce needed knowledge. It's the awarding of points that I have difficulty with. In my view, if an activity is fun and students enjoy it, they will not care whether there are points given for participating. As someone in healthcare too, I want students earning points and grades that accurately measure their learning, i.e., I don't want a "C" student earning a grade of "A" (as the result of extra points), then going out… >>>

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Understanding yourself as an instructor

Juliana, Great self reflection! It's true, good instruction never reaches it's full potential and is a lifelong pursuit. For me (also a perfectionist), my sanity was restored when I began to "seek excellence, not perfection". This has allowed me to do my job well while not going nuts trying to serve all my high self expectations. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Being a student-centered instructor

Kari, Yes, our passion, enthusiasm, and upbeat approach to meeting students and engaging with them requires effort and energized attitude. I think students prefer this perception of their instructor, more than one that may be effective but comes across dull and uninteresting. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Dennis, To many instructors, the simple act of conveying a simple idea in written form using correct grammar would seem to an assumed ability for college or professional trade school students. My guess would that that is more often not the case than is the case. In a writing class, you have the perfect nsetting for "pretesting", or perhaps preassessment. Whatever we call it, determining which students need more help early on provides the best opportunity for the instructor to work with these students to help assure they meet the minimal competencies in the course. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Informing students of status in course

Roberto, For me, I feel we have to inform students where they're at so they will know what progress has been made, what improvements may be needed, and how close to meeting the course objectives they are. Doing this frequently, in person, and early on gives the best chance to inform students of thier progress, so that there is enough time to get help or make improvemnets to have an impact on their grade and/or performance. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Roberto, Its true, the more we know about our students, the better able we are to reach each one based on their learning styles and abilities. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Developing instructional backup plans

Marco, I think a good back up plan is little different from the regular plan. When designed this way, as time allows or circumstances dictate, we can insert the alternate plan into the lesson, usually without the students even having a clue as to our change to the regular schedule of activities. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting instructional media

Marco, Good. Short "bursts" of information along with a variety of media choices makes classes interesting, more enjoyable, and students retain information better, in part because we've captured their interest and held on to their focus. Barry Westling