Course instructors don't have any control over students' medical conditions, diet or the intrigue found in students' fellow classmates.

But instructors can control the presentation of their course content so that it obtains and sustains the attention of their audience.

If instruction were an easy task, then it would be done well by all of the brilliant minds of the Penn State faculty and their assistants.

Jared Cohen's Oct. 7 opinion column, "Instructors should give us reasons not to fall asleep," reminds all of us, students and faculty members especially, that quality instruction is an acquired skill that must be developed over time by instructors with concern for their students' learning and their own teaching effectiveness.

Penn State instructors have innovative and energetic resources ready to help them, well, prevent students from falling asleep in their classes.

The Schreyer Institute for Innovation in Learning has teams of consultants to assist course instructors with the design and delivery of improved teaching and learning strategies.

The Instructional Systems Program is an entire graduate degree dedicated to designing instruction that students will find interesting and relevant to their lives, with eager students and faculty seeking design projects.

Mr. Cohen's column did well to put a light-hearted spin on a topic that has bothered all of us at some point.

However trite this may be, we can't forget that the most scholarly authors and adept researchers don't automatically become great instructors. Penn State students should feel comfortable with taking ownership in their education by positively encouraging their instructors to enhance their instructional strategies and methods.

This encouragement should go beyond the semester-end bubble sheet SRTE forms.