Barry Westling

Dr. Fu-Sen, I love field trips! I believe a well planned trip to an interesting segment of the work setting or locale that features a relevant component to what the students are studying can be a tremendously motivating experience. And when a student is internally inspired, they are more apt to become energized, enthused, and focused on their classroom studies following the field trip experience. Barry Westling

Johanna, Personality can be a powerful stimulus to learning, that's for sure. Among they many diverse variables portrayed by different individiuals, I have found certain traits that are common among the more successful instructors. These include being approachable, courteous and kind, patient, fair, knowledgeable, and confident. Add that magical dash of uniqueness each instructor possesses, and you have the makings of an effective instructional setting. Barry Westling

Jennifer, I agree and believe that our first and foremost duty to our students is to do all we can to assure their understanding of information that may be foreign to them. That usually requires some one-on-one, individual attention, and some special attention. There's an old saying (not really true) that make the point "the teacher hasn't taught if the student hasn't learned". Students like stories and this is one way to reach out to students to first get their attention, and then have the instruction tucked away in the story. Barry Westling

Eileen, Good examples. We all rely on audible, visual, and tactile senses, and finding new ways to amplify the instructional process is always a good idea. For instance, with touch, there is the sense of texture, pressure, pain, hot/cold, tight/loose, etc. in general, I think handling and demonstration is a great adjunct to support recall, memory, and understanding about objects or items used in the work setting. Barry Westling

Eileen, It's true, students sometimes feel more at ease with a guest speaker, asking probing questions about the work setting, wages, work conditions, advancement, and so on. I think because the speaker is an outsider students may feel more comfortable asking "insider" questions. And usually, the guest speaker is willing to share information without hesitation. A good guest speaker can reinforce the students choice to attend school, perhaps in part by answering these types of questions. Barry Westling

Maryl, What you describe is reasonable, an in my opinion consistent with what most instructors would do under similar circumstances. The question I always have regarding extra credit is that if it is valuable enough to give extra credit it should be a required assignment, and available for all students. However, that's more my perspective and not necessarily reflective of this module. Barry Westling

Maryl, Great! Positive reinforcement is both motivational and a method for feedback. Formal methods are necessary and students like and need to hear from their instructor about their status, where they're doing well and perhaps where improvements are appropriate. I think frequent and early on is the system that works best for me. Barry Westling

James, When we have some idea of the level of prior knowledge our student have (or are missing), that helps facilitate better classroom interaction and students end up benefiting from it. I think the instructors benefit as well, in part by deciding what topics may need more or less emphasis, or by previewing and reviewing topics. Barry Westling

James, Interesting, most of my faculty question why I keep a overhead projector around. For so many years, and way before PPT, we had slides and overheads. Overhead allows for quick preparation and is effective for certain types of discussion. And although PPT could probably substitute satisfactorily, the point is the variety and engagement is different, and that's a good thing. Barry Westling