I am fortunate to be teaching in an environment (the kitchen classroom) that is able to combine most learning-style delivery methods as long as I pay attention to their needs. For example, the tactile learners are cooking; frequent chef demonstrations help satisfy the visual learners; a flip chart with assignments and recipe conversions helps those who need to see it in writting; as well as constant verbal coaching and time checks. The trick is to keep all fronts working, which takes a bit of juggling.

If I have a small class; once the students are comfortable, I will let a student teach a portion of the lesson and I will act as a student and ask questions. The students really enjoy this and want me to make it part of the regular class. They find it a lot of fun and easier to learn when they get the chance to lecture. In the beginning there are some students who have a fear of doing this but sooner or later they want to try. They have commented that they anticipate what questions I or other students may ask and prepare themselves.

Using as much variety in delivering one's instruction will maximize student learning and retention.

Would it be a good asumption to say that the way to be the most thurow and to get across to everyone would be to incorperate all these learning styles ( audio, visual,written and hands on) into your class or would it be better to mix and match trough the class? What are your thoughts?

Reading this section I could relate to many of the guidelines based on negative experiences from tests I have taken. I think that almost every guideline the text provided I have seen broken, and it contributes to many of the myths that students carry with them into any testing session. I have heard students bemoan the “trick” question, or look for a pattern in true/false answers. We as educators should never try to throw our students curve balls in tests or worse reinforce these concepts. We should be fair and consistent in testing, something the guides provided are a key to.

Because much of what I teach is ostensibly technique based; it is important to help students develop soft skills and help them determine how to self assess themselves. Since my courses deal with art and design , it is important to remind students that I am looking at how they explain, or defend their concepts as well as how well they perform the techniques they must master. In most cases the ability to constructively discuss other work helps them to develop a methodology to criticize their own work. Often if I am unfamiliar with a cohort of students I use existing (professional) work to develop a critical discussion, skills we then develop fully in classroom critique sessions. During final project presentations, students are required to present foundations for their ideas and offer constructive and relevant criticism based on grading rubrics locking soft and technical skills together.

Questioning /discussion is one of the most interesting ways to teach and when used well allows an instructor to personalize class meetings to the group on a session-by-session basis. I have two methods that I use frequently to draw students into questions: observation and acknowledging experience. Watching and listening to your students before class, on breaks, and during discussions offers a great means to prepare questions that key into the interests of the students. I observe my students and try to establish what they talk about with each other as a means of focusing questions that will spark their interest in the subject. Keying on anything that they are abuzz about can offer an opening to get students involved, it insures that the student’s interests are validated, and the students are more likely to answer because they are inside of their comfort zone. This is even better facilitated when I start the discussion process by asking one or two questions that the majority of the class can relate to such as” how many of you have seen/experienced/ met/etc…”; if you can get them to raise their hands they have started the participation process. Once students have taken that first step, the questions can pull them deeper into the subject and expand their interest.

It is important to know where a student's understanding is in regards to each task. This enables me to move them on to the next graduated task and to know if they can correct mistakes if they make them.

I work in a school where one of my primary job functions (and that of 3 others in my position) is to answer questions and assist students with every lab project in our curriculum. I've noticed that some students seem hesitant to approach us with questions and some have even said they don't want to bother us while we're grading. I try to tell students that we're here to help, but some still see us as unapproachable. How can we help our students feel more comfortable with asking questions?

When devolping exams, faculty should consider using a mix of different style questions to better serve the various learning styles of the student. For example, I recommend that faculty use essays, T/F, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and matching.

Reviewing the syllabus is a crucial step in teaching. It is vital that the instructor go over every aspect of the syllabus with the students. The faculty member nees to make sure by the end of the first class that all students fully understand all criteria as outlined in their syllabus. Any concerns the students may have can only create more anxiety for the students, which can effective the way the student may learn the material.

One technique that I found effective in encouraging students to ask questions in class was to have students write up a question at the start of class on a sheet of paper with thier name on it. I would read the question aloud in class without disclosing their name and get other students to respond or comment on the question. This encouraged participation from the entire class, showed that there was no such thing as a 'stupid question' and moreover as the weeks progressed, students who were shy in the first week of class gradually started to raise their hands and ask questions rather than penning them down on paper.

The first day of class is the most critical time for faculty. It is important that the instructor makes sure that all courses objectives are discussed and the syllabus is reviewed thoroughly and professionally. By the end of the first day of class, the students should have all their anxieties removed and have a true understanding of what will they will learn and what will be required of them.

As a librarian/instructor, it always makes me feel the most valued when a student departs with skills that they can use in their daily life after leaving college. What techniques are all of you using to instill a life-long learning momentum or enthusiasm? Fran

As a Instructor in a Technical School I believe Performance (hands-on) testing is a very important part of the testing procedures, this gives the students a balanced out course, they have so many written test, the opportunity to perform a hands-on test gives them the extra knowledge they know the course material.

I work with people who are around horses. Amazing enough I find that most of my students are very passoniate about their animals. So teaching them how to care for their dental needs has been less of a stuggle for me. Most of my students have been raised with horses so it is second nature to them. Teaching in this enviroment has its advantages when it comes to students retaining the lessons taught. Shawnie

I am a instructor for Equine dentistry. I try and keep my student attention in class by using a horse skull and diagrams to make our day a little more exciting and a little less dual. Passing the skull around and placing the name of the area. The student earns points towards a prize at the end of the week. This seems to be quite rewarding. Shawnie

I'm finding it difficult to keep student interest and engagement at a high level with longer classes. I break up the class into mini lectures, demonstration, class participation in small groups, and short quizzes. During the last hour it seems like I'm losing some of them. Is this just human nature where some students turn off toward the end? Any thoughts on this?

As an instructor who primarily delivers course content through lecture, I find it necessary to almost put on a show to make students pay attention. But if the show goes well, all are happy.

I have found that on day one, the tone for the entire course can be set by following a well planned and organized introduction including all of the examples in the module.