Barry Westling

Karen, Great. The best use of a pretest is to assist the instructor in their planning for a given class. It's our tool for making the class specific to our needs (course objectives), and the students needs (where they're at collectively with prior knowledge). Pretesting before a test, or used as a exam review is another good barometer of learning. I want to avoid any feelings of "gotcha" questions. No surprises. Barry Westling

Paul, Great! For me, only very topic specific video's/DVD's are ever used because I feel it's too tempting for students to be passive and/or tune out. When I do. I'll stop the DVD and make comments or ask a question, or have them reference something in their textbook. I want them active and engaged for all the time they're in the class, which is a difficult task at the least. Barry Westling

Andrew, Great ideas that seem to work for you. Reflection on the past makes for better presentation and delivery the next go around. Barry Westling

Diane, Yes! I think the field trip opens eyes on some things that might not be seen in the classroom setting. Sometimes, the student's knowledge is vague about some things, and it's not until an activity like the field trip occurs that there is an "aha" moment, or the student becomes very inspired and thus, motivated in class. Barry Westling

Vanessa, In settings such as these, instructors need to be creative with the criteria they do have control over. For instance, the quizing component may be fixed by the institution, but there's no limit on the amount of verbal "quizzing" that could occur that never gets recorded but contributes to stronger student outcomes. Test or exam reviews are another area, as is discussion during a lecture. All of these (and many more) are examples where the instructor is constantly checking for understanding in a non-graded fashion, while still complying with their institutional requirements. Barry Westling

Vanessa, Of course, we have no idea to what degree the student mastered course material unless we provide some sort of assessment. Assessment measures learning, while evaluations compare expected versus actual student persformance. Very similar but slightly different purposes. Barry Westling

Deanna, Right! Meeting course objectives is like a journey. Status updates inform students where they are in meeting those milestones along the way. Barry Westling

Deanna, All instructors should exhibit certain traits that contribute to student success. Ther are many, but include being approachable, patient, flexible, sense of humor, and be willing to listen. If instructors convey they care, all kinds of different personality types may be present but students will respond appropriately. Barry Westling

Deanna, Yes, and of course, this is our job - what we are paid for. Barry Westling