Barry Westling

Hi Mario: For me, evaluation is about measuring the degree of learning that has occured over a period of time. There are various ways to do this, but in all, we want to be fair, consistent, and above all, determine the degree of student learning. Regards, Barry

Hi Jayme: Yes, this focus is on the purpose we';re all here for, the Student! We may need to adjust our curriculim or modify what we usually do somewhat to accommodate a student to improve their learning opportunity. Student-centered is about learning, traditional models follow a process. Processes may look good on paper but are worthless if the student misses out on learning. Regards, Barry

Hi Jayme: Boy, I really agree with all you've stated. Stories are almost magical in their abilty to capture attention, convey an idea, create an opportunity for a student to share something personal or related to the course content, or just to enlarge the scope of the topic, subject or career area the students are studying for. Probably because they can relate to many aspects of the story or situation, a good story will always keep a discussion active or a class focused. Regards, Barry

Hi Jayme: For many, timing course delivery can be a huge challenge, and I'm sure by trial and error, teachers find what works and what doesn't. The longer a teacher has taught a class, the more likely they will have added material to it. Sometimes that can be just too much. We need to have well written course objectives, then stick to them. Otherwise, we may overwhelm some students. Regards, Barry

Hi Jayme: You're right, sometimes teachers make entry mistakes. I think it's important to meet with students as frequently as possible, to give advice, suggestions for improvement, and also to show our human side of caring, offering encouragement and support. Students appreciate knowing their status, and also knowing their teacher care about their success. Regards, Barry

Hi Linda: Organized teachers will do all the need preparation in order to conduct a thorough class. With preparation, all the lecture, lessons, teaching aids, resources, and media are ready, the teacher is able to smoothly present the material, calmly and with authority. This creates an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere for learning. Regards, Barry

Hi Linda: Yes, and we need graduates who can think, who can act spontaneously and solve problems, and (very important), students who can demonstrate or be taught the soft skills of getting and keeping a job (appearence, speech, dress, hygiene, courtesy, customer service, etc). Together with knowledge and skills, here's a receipe for success. Regards, Barry

Hi Linda: Yes, pretesting, especially if done at the beginning of a class, then compared to the final class, can be revealing, both as to what improvement the student achieved, but also how effective the teachers instruction was. If students know they won't be graded, they'll lilely enjoy doing a sort of self assessment. You can also do pretesting for credit, as applicable. Regards, Barry

Hi Linda: I can't disagree that there may some cases where extra credit is useful. In general, it's used to alter grades, award points, or compensate for poor performance. Anything we do should be associated with learning, not earning....points. Regards, Barry

Hi Sharon: Yes, thinking about how a class is conducted and the delivery of course content from the point of view of a students is an important component in choosing media. Again, variety in choosing which media will be used depends on factors that boil down to how best the students can learn, given the resources available. I consider my time and the students time in weighing what might work, and, as you point out, my comfort level. We'll want to measure the performance along the way, so choosing that which facilitates instruction, considering all factors is best. Regards, Barry