Tim Barnes

Discussion

I just finished ED 101. This course was not part of my baseline, but the school at which I teach prompted the other instructors to get started. It was very basic for a seasoned instructor. However, I did see value for the new teacher.

Tim Barnes

Blog Comment

ED117

Interesting observation Nichelle. I'm not sure why, except the students coming up are used to getting positive feedback regardless of the quality of the work. They've learned that quality doesn't matter, so they turn in sub-par performance. An audult student that wrote and formatted a rough draft for a term paper into 7 separate documents expected me to put it together for her. When I told her that I will show her how to put it together, but I won't do it for her she commented, "well aren't you proud of me that I wrote a paper?"

Tim Barnes

Discussion Comment

Active Learning

I'm wanting to add more creative learning strageties to my instruction. Students often comment that the course (Psychology) is interesting, but I'm always looking for ways to create an interactive learning environment.

Tim Barnes

Discussion Comment

Student as teacher

One of the most effective teaching methods is when students are given an assignment to teach to the class. I've given small groups the task of teaching sections of a chapter in their text. What often happens is students learn from other students, because the student teacher identifies with their fellow students pain.

Tim Barnes

Discussion Comment

Regions of the brain

I'm going to incorporate the shower cap idea into my teaching module on the brain. In fact I can adapt it for group work in class.

Tim Barnes

Discussion Comment

Facial Feedback Exercise

I appointed a student to take pictures of students acting mad, happy, sad, etc. At the time of the discussion regarding the facial feedback theory I showed the students expression and asked the class to identify the facial feature. It kept the students attention and help them personalize the lesson.

Tim Barnes

Discussion Comment

Pretest

Yes, for my courses students learn new concepts and vocabulary. It is a must that they read the text and attend lecture. The pretest is a way for them to search for pertinent information in the text and when they come to class I facilitate a discussion from the answers they find. I give them an exam every two weeks over the information they cover in the pretest. Same questions, but only 30 out of the 100 they are given.

Tim Barnes

Blog Comment

effective teaching skills

The format is a healthy mixture of experience and beginners enthusiasm. I enjoy the practical nature of the courses and the interaction with other instructors.

Tim Barnes

Discussion Comment

The Extra Credit Fiasco

I've used extra credit to motivate students to study at home. I give them study questions to help them find specific information that I will emphasize at the next class period. One quarter I decided to give students extra credit for completing the study questions. I quickly discovered that the students who would complete the homework without being coaxed were those that got the extra credit points and those I wanted to motivate did not comeplete the homework regardless of the extra points.I never offered extra credit for homework again.

Tim Barnes

Discussion Comment

Pretest

Research that I've read on testing shows that students do better with more tests. I offer students a pretest for every class session. The pretest/study guide is similar to the graded test and it helps students identify important information from the text before they attend class, know what kind of information the instructor uses for testing, and helps relieve pressure form students with test anxiety.