Tremayne Simpson

Jeffrey, In a situtation where a student has not performed well (in relation to the rest of the group), how do you get them to find mastery with their deficiencies, in addition to keeping pace with their classmates? Tremayne Simpson

Teresa, I agree. Finding ways to implement activities, which enable the students to utilize their various forms of technology/media, will further engage them. A lecture using just a dry erase board and handouts, will no longer keep students engaged and focused on the presented content. Tremayne Simpson

Susan, Interestingly, class "fillers" can be very productive, especially in regards to topical reinforcement. Implementing a few discussion questions to fill than time, can spark excellent debates and can serve as an excellent form of student assessment. Tremayne Simpson

Carl, This is an excellent concept, that can work for all subjects. Instead of beginning a lecture by discuss the most difficult aspects of the concepts, it usually works best to work from a more simplistic concept, that can ultimately lead to the student understanding something that is more complex. Also, starting with what the student know about the subject can serve as an excellent assessment tool for the instructor. Tremayne Simpson

Penny, This is an excellent idea. It gives the students a platform to discuss any information that they may have found to be confusing and it serves as an assessment tool for the instructor. Tremayne Simpson

Cheryl, Is the student feedback that is provided formal or informal? Tremayne Simpson

Jeffrey, This is a common problem for most instructors. It is best for instructors to maintain their policies and hopefully, the student will learn from the consequences. Whenever instructors deveate from their policies and make exceptions, students will not face the consequences and may continue to exhibit the procrastination behavior. Tremayne Simpson

Teresa, I have used a similar approach with my classes. From my experience, students seem to really apply a high-level of focus, when they are given the opportunity to assume the role of "instructor". They tend to spend more time researching and finding examples, that they can use to engage their classmates. Tremayne Simpson

Deborah, This is a common issue...as instructors it is not realistic to expect that students will always be intrinsically motivated to complete assignments. However, I have found that "indirect" motivation can prove to be quite effective. For example, if a future exam question or answer is embedded within the self study assignments, you will quickly find that the students will complete them. Tremayne Simpson

Becky, I like the idea of students working individually on an activity, prior to joining a group. Collaborative activities are highly effective, however their is usually a group consensus, when it comes to providing an opinion on a case study. Working individually, allows the student to form their own opinion and bring it to the group, in order to provide an opportunity for comparing and contrasting their thoughts. Tremayne Simpson