James Jackson

Ok, Donna, I am ready to sign up for one of your classes. Sounds like a classroom I want to be in myself or have one of my own children attend. I can actually feel your passion as I read your post and it is very obvious that you GET IT. Thanks so much for sharing and I am going to encourage you to consider writing your own book someday about your passion of being an educator. Looks to me you have a lot to share and I feel there is a large audience out there that will want to… >>>

Kirk, thanks for your response. You bring forward a critical distinction with respect to different forms of assessment and a difference between student skills and student knowledge. One one side of the argument there is the issue that states that a properly prepared student should perform well on any level of assessment because they know the material. There is another side of the argument that questions if all students perceive assessments in the same manner and relate understanding the materials into a high correlation of successfully completing an assessment. This situation is in relation to your comment about some students… >>>

Donald, thanks for sharing. I specifically connected with your intrinsic motivation of seeing your students take care of their patients appropriately. I can easily see this as a two sided motivation in that it is intrinsic because you truly care and want to see your students become successful as healthcare professionals. It can become extrinsic as someday one of your students may be a caregiver to yourself and others you may know so the skills you pass on to your students will become the same skills used in your own care. Very interesting topic with respect to different levels of… >>>

Great point Ward. I doubt that any instructor can make the claim they never made a mistake so why punish a student for something we have all done? There are any number of books on various professions that will talk about the importance of not being afraid to make a mistake and then learn from that mistake to get better. There is a difference between taking a risk which resulted in a mistake from which learning can take place and just being incompetent. A quality instructor will help their students understand the difference. Of course there are situations where mistakes… >>>

Thanks for sharing Salvatore. I really like how you have demonstrated a very effective use of an assessment tool. By using your form of assessment you are using a more affirmative form of learning with your students. Assessments can take many forms and satisfy many needs in education. Some assessments are essential to measure learning while others are used to enhance learning. The trick in my experience has been to discuss this process with students so they understand the role that assessments play and they are not be be feared but used to gain a better understanding of the materials… >>>

Winnifred, you are so correct in your discussion about student trust and the relationship between trust and students feeling comfortable about asking questions and otherwise engaging the curriculum. Students want to feel safe and know they are not threatened with respect to expressing their lack of knowledge about a subject matter. If they feel that by showing their lack of knowledge they would be the odd person in the classroom their likeliness to ask questions and engage in active learning is very low. Successful instructors or as you pointed out the Guides, are those that can build a sense of… >>>

Winnifred, you bring forward a very important point in your comment. The best way to diffuse a potentially disruptive situation in the classroom is to remove the disruptive person but to do so in a respectful way to them and to the rest of the class. Taking class time and to showcase the situation in front of peers is rarely an effective methodology. This is also a good reason to always have an assignment you can introduce that can be of value to your students and give you time to handle any situation that could arise. I always have an… >>>

Misty, thanks for sharing this story. Thinking outside the box and outside the curriculum is such an important topic and a skill that needs more focus. Ensuring the intended learning outcomes are accomplished is critical but the methods my which true educators accomplish this goal vary and are not always a standard issue within all institutions. The role of an effective and efficient instructor is to focus on the needs of the student, know the resources that are available and make use of the best tools to move the student forward in their learning and understanding of the course objectives.… >>>