All good things come to an end and so will your class. As a host graciously ushers their guests out of their home, so too must the instructor. Good hosts let everyone know that the end is coming and allow time and opportunity for guests to say goodbye to each other. Similarly, students need to know how and when to take their leave. Instructors can mandate what the class should do to complete the learning part of class such as asking for their final thoughts on the subject. At the same time, firmly let the students know that any further discussions will need to be done outside of class. Even the best guest occasionally finds that they do not want to leave the party and need to be encouraged to do so.
Conclusion:
The guests have finally left. The host slowly walks through the house and remembers the events of the day. Some things went well and other things did not. The host will have received many comments from guests during the party, but a more accurate picture can be found once they have left. Maybe guests claimed they loved the buffet, yet some of the food looks untouched. The decorations the host spent hours putting up have been torn down or written on. As instructors look back on their course, there are questions they can ask themselves in their search for what worked and what didn’t work.
1. Was there interaction between students? Did the interaction become more free-flowing as time went by? How much prompting did you need to do in the middle and end of the course?
2. Could you see critical thinking skills being used in the discussions, papers, and essays?
3. Did the students show their learning by performing well on quizzes and tests?
4. Did their research papers show that students had internalized the information?
5. Did students discussion responses appear to be spontaneous and motivated by interests?
6. Did students interact outside of the classroom and after the course is done?
7. Did you give the students a way to provide feedback both during and at the end of the course? Were there areas that students felt were left out or that made them uncomfortable?
Here is an overview of online learning:
“Challenging our assumptions about online learning: a vision for the next generation of online higher education” - 52 slides
I hope you have enjoyed my lesson and feel it has information you can use. I would appreciate any comments you have. They may be emailed to me at lvillwock@yahoo.com.
I hope you have enjoyed my lesson and feel it has information you can use. I would appreciate any comments you have. They may be emailed to me at lvillwock@yahoo.com.
