James Jackson

Location: chicago, il

About me

James is the Senior Associate at JAJ & Associates, Adjunct Faculty and eLearning Consultant at MaxKnowledge and member of the Board of Advisors of Dream Catchers Global. James was the Associate Provost of Faculty Development, President of the Online Division at Harrison College and the Director for the Center of Technology Resources for Indiana Business College. Because of his extensive background in technology and his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for assisting aspiring business owners, James has provided his leadership/project management skills in many start-up operations mentoring dozens of young leaders over his career. All providing great growth opportunities for his stakeholders.

James has developed more than 50 courses and dozens of programs in the areas of technology, business, progress management and general education. James has been an instructor for more than 15 years during which time he provided training to over 500 trainers and more than 5000 students. His academic background includes a Masters of Education in Occupational Training and Development and is currently working on his doctoral dissertation in Higher Education Administration emphasis on Strategic Enrollment Management. James enjoys working with students and assisting them through complex concepts which he is able to turn into easy to understand and usable skills.

A full profile of my professional career is available on LinkedIn:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesajacksonjr

Connect with me on LinkedIn and here in the Lounge.

Interests

my family, golf, tennis, swimming, and participating in youth sports.

Skills

faculty development, elearning, program and curriculum development, project management, business analysis and technology integration

Activity

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Fear Factor with Tests

Terry, what types of feedback do you receive from students with regard to how many assessments you provide? Do students know about this methodology during your day 1 introduction or orientation of the class? Thanks for anything you can share. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Fear Factor with Tests

John, what types of lessons do you create around testing time that helps students prepare for exams? Can students drop one test grade during a term? What types of reviews do you run so students can learn from their mistakes? All of these have shown in other environments to be effective tools in reducing test anxiety. Thanks for anything you can share. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Fear Factor with Tests

Michael, using any form of assessment as a means to modify behavior is more a show of a lack of skills on by the instructor than anything positive that will come out of the student learning side. There are simply too many quality instructors that are able to get good results from their students without the use of this form of behavior modification. For those that feel using tests is an effective use of assessment tools I highly recommend you take some time to review the literature on this subject. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Fear Factor with Tests

Rekha, great use of "real-world" by incorporating the use of resource materials in your form of assessment. Not all situations call for these types of tools to measure student learning progress but for those that do allow such resources they are awesome at helping students know how to use resource materials efficiently and can be a better method of identifying their strengths and weakness areas of any subject area. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Fear Factor with Tests

Greg, we may be confusing two different focal points here. Students will have some level of anxiety going into a test due to the fear of the unknown. This is common and to be expected. Students should never however feel that an assessment is being used as a form of behavior modification. The result of any assessment should be to measure progress and provide direction for both student and instructor. Remember that assessment tools measure our success or failure as an instructor just as much as they measure student progress. I hope this helps. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Fear Factor with Tests

James, great topic. While assessments do have a place within the learning process they should never be used as an attempt to mold behavior. Assessments can be used to also evaluate the effectiveness of an instructor just as much as they can be used to evaluate a student's knowledge of the lesson plan. ALL instructors should be using their various assessment tools to measure there own effectiveness as an instructor! James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Improving Classroom Management

Timothy, preparation is key in most successful endeavours. Higher education is no exception. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Classroom Discipline

Cynthia, first I would correct the student and inform them that adulthood is a matter of maturity and has very little to do with age. As an instructor I can just as easily have a 45 year old adolescent as well as a 25 year old adult in the classroom. Adults learn to grow while children require constant guidance. Second I would talk with the student to learn more about the root cause of their dysfunction. By understanding the root cause you can then focus on possible resolution. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Self-Doubt

MaryAnn, the use of socratic methodology and reinforced feedback cab be powerful tools for any instructor or tooic. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Self-Doubt

Latasha , few resources are as powerful as relating your own experiences to your students and to your curriculum. Keep up the great work. James Jackson

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