What are the thoughts of the educational community on the practice of building extra credit questions into a quiz/test? I have done it in the past, in the hopes of allowing students who would otherwise "bomb" the test to bump up their grade a bit. My experience has been, however, that it actually further polarizes the result. Those students who would have gotten A's anyhow now get monstrously high scores...and the poor performers, lacking a solid knowledge-base for the regular credit questions as they do, lack the knowledge base to get the extra credit as well. Any thoughts or other ways to go about this?

Students with disabilities do not need charity. They need someone who understands what it takes for the student to absorb the information. If the instructor is patient, and truly interested in teaching, they will figure out how to reach the student no matter what their disability is.

I believe it is important to treat each student individually. This helps me to find out what I have to do to reach them. Without that an instructor may loose a good amount of their classes interest because the students may not feel a direct connection to their instructor. It is important for the student to feel as if their instructor really cares about their success.

Student groups can be a great tool in a classroom. It forces studetns to ineract with eachother and step outside of there comfort zone. If the instructor is observent enough they will notice who is driving the group and who is dragging the group. This creates the opportunity to adjust the grop dynamic and prevent one or two people from carrying the group. Watching to see who does produce and who does not is important to studetns when working in groups. No one likes to work alone when they have been assigned a group.

I believe classroom movement is important to maintain control of the room and also to keep the students more ingaged. If I move around the class I can see students from differetn angles and will notice if one of them is being distracted with there personal electronics. It also gives the class a bit more action as floating around the room causes the students to move around in order to watch the lecture.

When I think back to my education, one class sticks out. In high school I had a teacher who by default made me realize all about the different learning styles that we have. When he would teach it was in such a unique way that all other students teased him but there was a method behind the madness. During each class period we had a video, a lecture, readings, and some other method thrown in for good measure. Though the kids made fun of him, I know that they all learned something from him too. Throughout my teaching, I have remembered this one class. I make it a point to teach in as many styles as I can to reach all students one way or other. I am very glad to read the "teaching to learning styles" because it is a great reminder to all of us on how we teach and those students we may lose along the way with no fault to their own. In my classes I try to not only touch on those styles but bring it full circle to address why it is important and bring that personal experience in so that the students can also relate. The students make me a better teacher!

This is a common refrain heard from students whose "summative evaluations" have gone less than optimally...students who've, quite frankly, bombed a test: "I just don't test well." And it drives me nuts. It's difficult to tell when it's the truth and when it's an excuse; and, as most of us are not diagnosticians, it's beyond the scope of our job descriptions and skill sets. We simply can't make that leap and determine whether or not the student has, for instance, a learning disability (although we can encourage them to seek out our institutions' diagnosticians or outside resources). But, all that aside, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy: students who say this, whether they've arrived at this conclusion honestly, come to believe it. And that belief shapes their future performance. Any thoughts on how to put an end to this virulent strain of thinking?

One fact I have learned over the years I have been teaching is that tests should not be the only way to judge whether a student has learned the course material. I teach mathematics at the developmental level. The vast majority of my students have "math anxiety". They feel and/or have been told they can not do the work. Given a test, it becomes self-fulfilling. They have been told they can't do it so they show they can't do it. Instructors need to look beyond tests. We need to have students show their competency in any method that is usable for that student. Have others found this true in other subject areas?

One possible technique is to, at the end of a class session, to ask the students to prepare questions for the next class session. It will force the student to assess their own depth of knowledge of the subject matter (and hopefully motivate them to deepen it in the process). The kinds of questions they ask will also give the instructor valuable insight into the student's learning style and level of learning.

As I think back to my college days, one part that always made me nervous for a new class was "where do I sit?" I was always nervous about not knowing anyone and what if they all knew each other. After reading this section I thought they made a great point of arranging people in a seating chart. This can not only help me, the instructor to learn names, but it can also help put the students at ease. They can all be in same boat together by maybe not knowing their neighbor. A seating chart also forces the students to learn about more students in the class and engage in a discussion with their neighbor.

I am a great movie fan, and I believe that there is much to be learned in terms of instructional style. I cannot help but think of the Vito Corleone theory of management in the movie entitled: The Godfather. What movies do you feel are important? Donald L. Bruesh

What is the best way to keep an ADHD student focused and on task during a project based lesson? The student(aldult learner)is disruptive to the entire class. I try to keep the student focused but in doing so I do not want to give the impression that I'm on the students "case". Any pointers would be appreciated.

Some subjects, such as the visual arts, make teaching in certain modalities seems almost natural (and, of course, I acknowledge that my own learning-style-based bias is showing in that statement); to teach the history of visual arts in a kinesthetic mode seems, I don't know...forced. Or pehaps I'm not clear on how teaching the subject matter in a kinesthetic mode would work. The course material mentioned taking the classroom to a new location, throuwing a ball while studying, chewing gum during lecture...in each of these cases it occurs to me that the lecture, reading and lecture (again, respectively, are still the primary teaching method, and that the "kinesthetic" activity is secondary at best, and doesn't actually changer the presentation of the subject matter at all. Nothing against kinesthetic learning per se, I'm just not clear on how one presents art history, for instance, to students beyond showing them work, talking about said work, and presenting texts on these works. You can't eactly let students go and touch the Mona Lisa.

How do you best address students whom bring food, drinks, bad attitudes and texting during class?

Be organized and manage your time.

Make learning fun, exciting, and meaningful.

Use the instructor resources to provide a guide.

I find it more egaging for the student to "step out of your comfort zone". getting out from behind the desk or podium will help you reach all students and in turn keep them focused during lecture.

I have found the need to change student groups on occassionally. I agree with the module and try not to, but sometimes it is best for everyone. I find simply exchanging a few students here or there can make them stand out as a troublemaker and does not work well. I completetly redefine all groups with all students. This puts everyone on an even playing field and seems to work well.

What is the best practice as far as learning style??