Group items tagged

"efore the groups are formed and the task is set out, teachers should make clear why this particular assignment is being done in groups. Students are still regularly reporting in survey data that teachers use groups so they don't have to teach or have as much work to grade. Most of us are using groups because employers in many fields want employees who can work with others they don't know, may not like, who hold different views, and possess different skills and capabilities."

"When it comes to a learner-centered syllabus vs. a traditional syllabus, it's not really a difference so much in content as it is in tone," said Paff. "There's a shift in emphasis from 'What are we going to cover?' to 'How can the course promote learning and intellectual development in students?' So it's going to contain roughly the same information, but the language used to convey the policies, procedures, and content is different in order to foster a more engaging and shared learning environment."

Another valuable question is "What else do you want me to know about you?" Many times the answers will require that you take some kind of action. Some students might tell you that they have Attention Deficit Disorder or a different learning disability, that they need to see written notes to understand material, or that they need extra time during exams. You will have to determine how to respond to the answers they provide, but it often is far more useful to have the information at the start of class so that you can work with each student appropriately.