Heather LeBlanc

Guiding the students through problem solving steps will help them to develop this valuable skill and will lead to them carrying on this ability in their future career situations.

Often forgotten about is the power of reflection. Taking the time to think (and to think outside of the box), be creative, ask the right questions, all help to grow problem solving skills.

What I have learned: Questions students ask when listening to a lecture; how discipline and judgment come into play with critical thinking; asking the right questions to generate critical thinking; using case studies to increase problem solving; add critical thinking questions to assessments; practice critical thinking and problem solving in the classroom before moving to an assessment.

I liked that comparisons were made to child development and some good advertisements were used as examples. Critical thinking skills are under developed in our current students. Development of critical thinking has been a focus for our faculty in the last 5 years. Nice to read the information about the value of critical thinking and the characteristics of critical thinkers. Developing the students' critical thinking in the classroom will help them to better perform their responsibilities in the workforce.

In this course, I learned about the importance of a well organized lesson plan and what should be included in a good effective lesson plan. This course reinforced "changing it up" when needed and the importance of post-class notes, especially if trying something new. Guiding new instructors to add notes to their lectures and not to read from those notes or the screen. Reminding new instructors of their work experience and the knowledge they bring to the table.

Relationship between industry standards and objective of the course. Use of stakeholder meetings help the instructor to uncover industry standards. This is valuable if that program of study does not have published standards (as in traditional and business programs). Healthcare standards are well defined and coordinators need to keep in mind that all of the courses being prepared are based on those regulatory standards of practice.

Keeping a organized folder of lesson plans, either electronically or physically. Important for me for succession planning: give guidance to the new instructor. 

It gave me ideas on how to expand my content of our LMS to include 2D and 3D Models illustrating various body systems for my anatomy class. Also, this section reinforced the importance of a good lesson plan, good time management and connecting to students.

Reinforces the need to conduct a learning style inventory with the students at the beginning of the first term. I want to concentrate on using more techniques and activities, etc, to involve the physical or kinesthetic learners learners in my classes.

This section reminds me to keep in mind my own experiences of learning French as my second language. Competency (literacy) may not be shown for all forms of language (writing, speaking, understanding). Again, stressing that every student is different.