Barry Westling

Jeff , Content has to based in part on course objectives and learning outcomes. Course resources and materials can then be selected to support the curriculum. With this foundation, the instructor can serve as a subject matter expert, based on their past education, training and work experience. Barry Westling

Jeff , I think students like video's but they need to be relevant and shorter, as most attention spans are short. Unless the material is interesting, students tune out. Barry Westling

Jeff , And without regular progress reports, students really have no certain way to determine where improvement may be needed. Barry Westling

Shawn, This is great, although I bet takes extra time. But students will always appreciate the effort their instructor puts in to provide immediate feedback. Barry Westling

Larissa, You will likely find benefit to learning something about your students prior knowledge. Barry Westling

Larissa, Students learn to expect routines, organization, and scheduled events. Both instructor and students benefit by knowing what is planned, what's next, and what to look for during the class day. This helps keep everyone on track, and minimizes misunderstandings and facilitates improved communications. Barry Westling

Susanne, Good plan. Especially in traditionally more difficult courses (i.e., sciences), I believe students learn better when instruction is delivered in smaller segments, and with a variety of methods in order to keep student interested. As suggested in another post, the benefit of an application is essential to help solidify a concept. Barry Westling

Susanne, On one level, awarding EC is a decision that should be left up to the instructor and institution policy. In law, there is a "clean hands" doctrine, which implies a plaintiff cannot expect favorable treatment if they are complicit to illegal activity. Applied to the classroom, and in my opinion, a student ought not receive favorable treatment (EC) if they have been negligent in submission of required assignments, homework, or projects. But there are circumstances where EC can be beneficial, most importantly when it demonstrates learning and enhanced understanding in addition to the required assignments. Barry Westling

Susanne, All true sentiments. As instructors, our responsibility to our students is to adequately and accurately convey and transfer knowledge we possess and students need to learn. Our preparation has to be at least at the level commensurate with our expectations for student preparation and participation. Barry Westling

Shawn, You've described one of the main benefits students receive when an instructor performs pretesting -- that is preview of testing formats. Even the best students can experience test anxiety, and part of the root of test anxiety is the fear of the unknown. Therefore, methods (like pretesting) that can give students an idea of how testing is likely to be conducted could only help. Barry Westling