New Basic instructor here... many questions...
What textbook do you use? AAOS 10th Edition. I think we're the only program in the area using the longer/more detailed book. As others have said, a bit simplistic at times, but we augment it significantly with slides, which students print and are responsible for the content on as much as the textbook. Not too long ago, we gave out the textbook but told students they didn't need it-- they could study just the slides, but as the level of the class has increased, that is no longer possible.
Do you teach from publisher slides? Whose? No, we design/write our own slides, with a distinct flow and supplemental material. Different lecturers in the program use them differently. One instructor has been known to teach the entire lecture off of the objective slides without notes, then flip through the rest to make sure he doesn't miss anything. I'm developing my own style on lectures and tend to use the slides as a framework, but often get ahead of myself, then just review the points I missed as I continue the lecture.
Do you use online resources? The university has an LMS (Learning Management System), Blackboard, which students subscribe to. Students have lecture slides, supplemental materials, quizzes, clinical and ride time info, etc available to them, and students generally use with fluency. I think we've done well balancing useful materials with distracting materials.
Which are your favorites? Can't comment, as we don't use JBLearning or FISDAP. As I said, I don't have experience with any other system, but we've been able to form Blackboard to our needs.
How many hours is your program? 152 hours, including testing.
Shift? Days? Nights? Two evenings a week (4h each), several weekend days (8h each).
Do you run short on time? Generally, no. We've added time to the schedule to allow for the extra material.
Send students home early? No, there is generally enough material, and if we run early, students can always benefit from more practice with vitals, assessments, skills. We also fall under the purview of the state OEMS who requires 100% attendance including start and stop times, so theoretically could be audited at any time. It's just not worth it for me to let students out early especially if they can get more practice or answer questions.
Do your students have to prove college-readiness before taking the class? (Accuplacer, SAT, ACT, TASP, THEA, etc) No, just HS graduate. The class is in a college/university environment, and while only ~75% of the students are affiliated with the university, it's an academic environment, and students are generally prepared for the material- knowing how to study for exams, etc.
What are your biggest frustrations and how have you overcome them?
And last but certainly not least...
Do your students study on their own? As stated earlier, generally, yes, because of the university environment. The exams are difficult, and students are expected to keep up or ask for help (which we are always very willing to provide). If/when students fail an exam, we require they complete the workbook pages for the chapters covered, and we allow a single restest. Requiring workbook pages is generally a good knowledge review for students and very few students fail a second time.
How do you make them do that? Motivation...? Forgive me for being all educational theory on you (what can I say, i'm a new Instructor)... but it's all about affective domain, which we can model but not teach.
For everything else there is some sort of entry requirement.
