IF YOU WANT TO:
Giving frequent (weekly or biweekly) assignments.
Most excellent teachers give students frequent assignments which allow them to apply course concepts and improve communication and problem-solving skills. Even in very large classes, these instructors make a point of reading and commenting on at least a sample of the papers or problem sets.
"If you assign papers," one humanities teacher says, "it's critical that you as well as the TAs or Readers read them. Otherwise, you don't get any feedback." A faculty member in a professional school says that he always assigns three papers in undergraduate courses and four in graduate courses. "I want them to learn to write," he says, "and because the papers are always tied to the reading assignments, they allow me to see how well students really understand the material."
One faculty member requires students to write very short (one- or two- paragraph) abstracts or summaries of each reading assignment and to turn them in each week. "Although some students consider this very `high school,' most find it useful for keeping up with the reading. The students also find these summaries useful for review and they help me know how well the students understand the material."
Limitations on Use of Suggestion
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