IF YOU WANT TO:
Posting students' name prominently in a lab or seminar.
A faculty member in the sciences has each student write his or her name on an index card and tape it above the assigned lab station. Using this technique, from the first day, he can begin calling students by name. "This one simple thing," he says, "may be the most important thing I do to establish a good learning environment where students feel free to approach me, ask questions, and to get help if they need it."
An engineering professor follows a similar routine in his seminar classes which tend to have 15-20 students. "I use 5x8 cards folded lengthwise," he says. "On each card I write the student's name as large as possible with a bold felt tip pen. I set these cards around the table so that the students can quickly learn each other's names in the same way that I do."
Place names or name tags are widely used by professional organizations and conferences, of course, and faculty members are increasingly learning their value in the classroom.
Limitations on Use of Suggestion
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