I have found that the students rely on being spoon fed their materials. At the beginning of the semester I tell them to use my Power Point presentations as a study guide, and to put notes in the margins, since all class materials are not exclusive to the Power Points. I have asked to see their notebooks and only a few had copied notes. Those were the better students. I also give them additional reading from current events in the industry and put them as bonus questions on the Mid Term & Final Exams. 95% of the students get them wrong or don’t answer them at all. When I give it as regular question I get the same results. They need to get motivated for the career in which they have chosen.

I expect the students to become independent thinkers when they can think outside the box. For example, students in my real estate class are asked to prepare a budget of Income and Expenses for a small hotel they will present at the end of the semester. My homework questions are meant to be used for their final presentations. One of my questions was that if it costs $5 to prepare the free breakfast,  could it be used as a source of income. Some answered yes, and recorded the results as income and expense of $5. No thought was given as to how revenue could be derived.