Barry Westling

Jennifer, Our preparation determines much to the outcomes for students. Barry Westling

Peter, I agree with this sentiment. Rewarding slacker students by giving them extra points conveys the wrong message about what our structured learning is all about. Also, it is difficult to fairly determine define those that deserve and those that do not deserve EC. For me, grade adjustments are minimal, and are applied the same way for all students. Barry Westling

ROBERT, Right, and I'm sure you find your students are appreciative of both the information you provide, and recognition of the time and effort their instructor has given to assist students. Better testing outcomes, and respect for their instructor are likely. Barry Westling

Peter, I believe students will generally live up to the level of expectations I give them, so if I need to do some gentle reminding, or calling attention to unwanted behavior, students soon learn learn what the threshold of acceptable level of tolerence is. A key part of this strategy is consistency. When students see that the same level of "guidence" is given to all students, all the time, that also reinforces my expectations. Barry Westling

Peter, Great! Engaging students is nearly always a better way to gather material than the instructor simply feeding it to their students. And students will acquire more of a sense of ownership and contribution when they discover class material on their own. Barry Westling

Peter, Yes, and I find the abilty to ask questions of the guest is one of better contributions this activity provides. Students just seem more willing to be bold with their questions, much more so than with their regular instructor. It's great too when the speaker ends up reinforcing facts or related information I have shared in my classes. Barry Westling

Jennifer, The break in routine, whether heard (speaker) or observed (field trip) is nearly always a welcomed experience for students. Like all activities, these can add to the students motivation to focus on their studies and for some, be inspired to excell from mediocre to outstanding. Barry Westling

Donald, These are are all great reasons to justify the use of recent and longer time graduates as guest speakers. What is also good is the abundant resource and availabilty of guest speakers when graduates are asked to speak. I like to give graduates (and all speakers) a broad and very general outline of the topic area, but leave it up to the speaker to decide where they want the emphasis to be. Barry Westling

Paul, Yes, having students hear or see a different "voice" breaks the routine and often provides a bit of inspired or motivating information. And nearly everyone working who guides a tour or is a guest speaker has a slightly different spin on things. Barry Westling

Kayla, Personalized advice and suggestions that come directly from an instructor are more likely to be accepted and followed. Also, trust and respect are strengthened when chatting with students, and this gives an opportunity to convey encouragement and that we care about individual student successes. Barry Westling