I think instructor enthusasiam is key - if you don't express enthusiasim for teaching the course, how can you expect your students to be enthusiastic about taking the course?
And, as other have mentioned, ensuring that students see the relevance and practical application of the coruse material to their lives and future careers.
Finally, being creative about the course meetings, activities, assignments, projects, etc can motivate students - if they get "something new" from the class, while learning valuable information, they are more likely to feel motivated.
I am a living example of what an education and good training can produce. I usually start a new group with a little about my background and achievements.
encouragement when it is sincere is a great way to motivate students.
Hi Jeff,
Being excited about the course and motivating students to be excited are very important items for teaching success. What have you found to be the most effective ways of getting students excited about your field?
Gary
By being enthusiastic about the subject matter, I can get the students excited about exploring the content.
Motivation requires an interest or excitement on the part of the instructor. By believing that the best reward is in helping others, it becomes easy to utilize examples including community heros, their own peers, and historic events. These can easily be found in the local news or in each individual students' testimony.
A piece of cake theory is another tool, wherein just a small portion of a project is completed in a dedicated timeframe, with the goal to finish the entire cake by a given date.
Hi Mark,
Good tie in between course content and relevant events of the day. This way the students will be helped to see the connection between their studies and their future careers.
Gary
Motivating students can occur through timely feedback on their progress, connecting the material to the student' personal experiences, and creating assignments that are relevant. Also, I think it is critical to maintain the "student first" approach in developing my lessons and assessments.
The instructor needs to make the material relevant to the students' lives. I would suggest having the students bring in a piece of media each week to report to the class. From the media, very nice roundtable discussions can be generated. Thus, the material builds an association, that is shown in application.
Hi Kari,
Good luck with your adults. Your forum comments show that you have a good grasp of how you are going to approach your classroom.
Gary
This is my first time teaching adults. I think that I will separate some of their home study into separate days of work so that the assignment does not seem overwhelming. I am also going to focus on how much they will benefit from the work that they do for the class.
relay personal experiences and explaine the relation to why we do it the way we do.
