Free Range Learning

Tomorrow's Professor Blog has a great article listing the worst mistakes teachers can make in the classroom. It's an insightful (and research-driven) article. We talk often at Luther about some of the big-picture mistakes, like not having learning-objectives in mind in course design. Yet (from both a former student and a learning design point-of-view) I found some of the "smaller" listings here helpful as well, especially on a day-to-day teaching level.

"Mistake #10. When you ask a question in class, immediately call for volunteers. You know what happens when you do that. Most of the students avoid eye contact, and either you get a response from one of the two or three who always volunteer or you answer your own question. Few students even bother to think about the question, since they know that eventually someone else will provide the answer."