Barry Westling

Barry Westling

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Roxsie, The biggest challenge I face is a fixed curriculum that has elements that must be covered. And like most users in this forum, there isn't a whole lot of extra time. Nonetheless, any time we can indivudualize our instruction, that personalization will yield graet results. I see it happen all the time, which encourages me to keep it up. Barry Westling

Carol, I try to relate as much of my class content and policies to the world of work. EC is not part of most peoples job. So I choose not to give EC assignments. I will allow student to work on additional assignments for "learning value", but these have no impact on grading whatsoever. It's usually the stronger students who engage in these activities anyway (the ones who don't need EC). I want to focus on learning rather than points and grades. Beccuase I've had too many problems in the past with questions of fairness (by students), conistency in grading,… >>>

Carol, I think graduate guest speakers bring two important factors to classes. One, they are nearly always very enthusiastic in their delivery. The other is they are familiar with the program. Sometimes more experienced guest speakers bring good information, but it's left to the student (or teacher afterwards) to put it into perspective relative to their course, whereas a graduate usually has that perspective and can integrate it into their comments. Barry Westling
Michael, My slant on this is a bit different as I'm in a medical specialty where grades and points are not as important as student learning, and demonstration of clinical proficiency and performance. It's a cliche, but who would want a "C" student working on them (partly due to EC on an assigignment)? I know it's kind of a stretch, and grades are important. For me, I just choose not to go there (with EC). Each teacher and institution has to decide what works best for them. Barry Westling
Michael, Good teaching (and teachers) come from our past education and training, but also a bit of trial and error, creative thinking, planning, effort, and concern for how best to convey needed information to students. Striving to improve is another trait that will help assure improvement over time! Barry Westling
Ruth, Great example! Wouldn't it be nice to be able to something as "fun and social" like this every day? Maybe if we put on our creative thinking caps, teachers could conjure up a laundry list of busy activities that stimulate the senses, and the students thinking, retention, and job readiness. Barry Westling
Ruth, Yes, and over time, continued notations can be tremendously helpful in making short term and long term istructional improvements. Barry Westling
Heather, Agreed. I think it's hard for students to have to wait to get feedback, whether its a quiz or a final exam. Pretty much students want feeback on anything graded or that can impact their grade. So I say early on, regualrly, and frequently should be the rulke in regards to giving feedback. Barry Westling
Eric, Knowing this valuable information does steer them in the direction they need. We may also use that time to encourage, give support and advice, and suggestions on succesfuly completing the course. Barry Westling
Eric, Super! That's one of the best uses of pretesting - planning. Student don't mind, and if they're not graded, may even feel challenged to to their best. Also, a post test can be compared to a pretest to help motivate and show clearly where improvement or advancement has occured. Barry Westling

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