Jay Hollowell

There have been a few blogs lately in The Lounge that focus on the joys and challenges of working with students who may have special needs and/or learning disabilities. Our instructors, as with ourselves, are not necessarily experts in diagnosing and working with such circumstances in adult learners. Often, a learning disability may have even gone undiagnosed, yet there are visible challenges in the way a student approaches, processes and comprehends information. 

As we work with our faculty in this area, perhaps one of the most significant ideas is to encourage instructors to vary the way that they deliver concepts and applications in the classroom… >>>

In a recent blog, one of our CEE participants, Dave Rossbach, said this about continuing education and training, "Often at times we as instructors need tune ups. As instructors I feel we often need this to keep ourselves at the top of our game so we can deliver the best service to our students."

This got me thinking - What foundations and/or characteristics need to be in place for an instructor to be at the top of his or her game? The list must be a massive one, but a few precepts come to mind (just to name a few):

From time to time, seasoned instructors, in regards to continuing education, might feel as if they have "been there, done that" while engaged in faculty development training and activities. True, there is certainly content and applications from continuing education courses that faculty may already practice and utilize, but even as an "ole codger" in career education, I can usually walk away from a course or activity with a new idea or a different way of looking at something. One participant who completed the CEE course ED101 phrased it nicely in his blog,  

I really enjoyed this module as it was a good refresher… >>>

Change is inevitable and our career education work environment is no exception. As you face change, whether it is structural, organizational, technical or operational, and lead others in the change process, here are a few tips to consider:

• The change should be for solving a problem or addressing an issue, not change for the sake of change.  Make sure that you know the specific problem or issue the change is attempting to solve and that you can communicate it.
• Be clear as to what will change and what will not.  Surround yourself with facts and information to minimize insecurities and fear.
• Assess
… >>>

As Faculty Coaches in the CEE Faculty Development Program, we know that the program coursework is based on a multitude of competencies in teaching methodologies, instructional techniques, active learning and presentation, classroom management, student retention and adult learning styles (to name a few). Speaking of competencies, I ran across the following bullet points from a PPT presentation that highlighted some suggestions for teaching across learning styles and thought you might wish to share them with instructors:

• Provide opportunities for listening, reading, observing and doing 
• Vary presentation, application and text assignments utilizing current technologies
• Supplement lecture with visuals
• Use student learning groups
• Utilize examples
… >>>

Chances are that many of today’s private sector colleges and universities began as entrepreneurial ventures and still hold to the precepts of entrepreneurship. From a training perspective, current trends in entrepreneurship teachings see the successful entrepreneur as one who not only has vision and strategic planning ability, but one who must also apply skills in performance management and teaming.  To move any entrepreneurial organization or institution forward it is crucial, when engaging in the strategic planning process, for leadership to not only understand and communicate goals, but to continuously link employee and organizational performance to those goals as the ongoing… >>>