Barry Westling

Hi Megan: Many teachers agree with the "no EC policy", I among them. Extra activity is OK, but receiving credit for it is not fair, tend's not to measure everyone equally, rewards slackers, is viewed by some students as unfair, and contributes to grade inflation. Also, in some professions, missing critical information can be harmful to patients or customers. So for all these reasons, I don't advocate for EC. Regards, Barry

Hi Megan: Breaking into a lab session can be a great back-up plan. Also, discussion about previous or current topics is a is low tech, low key, but extrememly benefificial activity that can done with little preparation. Regards, Barry

Hi Megan: Great exercise. I think this can work with most of our senses. One key is to be able to "tune in to" our senses, then use them for our benefit. It's like savoring every bit of a great meal, we want to taste, and smell, and feel (chew), andexperience all the "meal" has in store for us. So studying can be the same way, we want to get the most out of it by using all our senses by tuning in. Regards, Barry

Hi Jaclyn: Knowledge seems like it always reduces stress and worry; information rules! I think freuent sharing of performance is better, and taking a bit of extra time to encourage with support and advice on how to improve can help the teacher/student relationship too. Regards, Barry

Hi Jaclyn: Many more teachers would use pretesting if they felt a you do, and I agree, it is an extremely helpful tool that's not widely used by ll teachers. Even if it is only used to compare beginning vs final learning, that's a great bit of information to have, both for the student and the teacher! Regards, Barry

Hi Mo: For me, the key is to match the kind of learning to the type of assessment (such as your Q&A for testing verbal expression). Balancing these differnt component is also a big factor. Too much weight in one area that has little to do with the actual career or is disproportionate to the rest of the learning is really not fair, and the teacher and student are denied a trure measure of their performance. Regards Barry

Hi Mo: Yes! Variety is helpful not only as back up but also can be more interestring and make the whole learning experince a littlemore enjoyable. Regards, Barry

Hi Mo: Good comment. I like to put it this way. The student learning outcomes (SLO's) are the "WHAT" students need to know, as compared to course objectives that define the "HOW" the slo's will be met. Just a simpler way to say it and thnk about it. Regards, Barry

Hi Kimberly: Yes - and new concepts often involve whole skills, tasks, procedures, and information that can only be learned in a special course designed to teach these career-oriented worker traits. So, that is also part of the definition as well. Regards, Barry

Hi Larry: Yes, this important to frequently share status and give advice and suggestions for improvement while thee's still time to make changes. Being supportive also shows the student their teacher cares about thir success. Regards, Barry