Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Informing students of status in course

Mark, Wonderful. This frequency should keep all your students informed and up to speed. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting instructional media

Darlene, Over the years I've adopted this loose personal standard: for each PPT slide I plan to use there will be a commensurate degree of oral discussion. For me this helps provide a balance that promotes thinking, retention of information, and overall, better learning outcomes. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Developing instructional backup plans

William, This sounds good. Sometimes the need for a back up plan is dictated by circumstances beyond our control. Low tech, easy to access, and material that's related to the general content generally work best for me. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Reasons for evaluating students

William, There are many reasons students do poorly on exams, effectiveness of instruction is among them. I do lots of quizzes, oral questioning, exam review, pretesting, and provide study guides. Still, I'd agree that if most students bomb an exam, it may be a sign that either the test questions are unclear or perhaps more time was needed prior to the graded assessment. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Jason, Yes, and I have found most students don't mind taking this kind of assessment...one that isn't graded! Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting instructional media

Reanna, Yeah, I think that's why some refer to our work as "the art and science of...". Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Making field trips and guest speakers a part of instruction

Reanna, This has been my experience as well. I think it's cool when students are interested in asking questions on their own without prompting by an instructor. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Reasons for evaluating students

Sue, Yes, this is where skills testing can be beneficial, as applicable to the course work being measured. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Informing students of status in course

Earl, Right. And respect is so valuable we should do all we can to sustain it. Barry Westling

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Using pretests as planning tools

Earl, Good point. This is an example where sorting out where prior knowledge exists (or doesn't). Barry Westling