Open channels of communication. Elicit student responses to the tasks and make flexibility in future tasks clear. If a response to a task makes it obvious the material was not understood, the instructor must be willing to respond in kind, and try again. Students want their despots to be enlightened. Make the effort to write good questions.
Students can smell a lazy question a mile away and respond with diminished effort.
Make tasks challenging but fair. Questions should clearly be designed to prepare the student for exams, employment situations, or life. Explain to your uncle the differences and similarities which exist in the storage structures of his crocus, daffodil, and lily plants. State your reason for asking each question. The handout version of this text is available from the Center.