In my profession, students receive specialized training to provide a personal service. Even though all students aspire to become members of the same profession, the different motivations, experiences, and expectations cause them to take different approaches to learning.
I believe that most see the relevance of the majority of the coursework. However, some have difficulty with the theory components or some of the more abstract, scientific elements. It is important to notice when and why students lose interest in a topic and stress the importance of that aspect in a relevant way.
Real world examples and experiences are very helpful. Sometimes describing best and worst case scenarios helps them to visualize the consequences of doing something correctly and incorrectly.
Success stories are strong motivating tools. Helping students to visualize their own successful career path is a good way to get them through the difficult tasks.
Cliff
Making the course relevent is easy for me since I am very aware of why the student is taking this course. Some of my students have low end jobs and would like to get ahead. I asked what does the person do in the job that they cannot, and we talk about the relevence of the subject matter we are teaching. ex. Student works in a warehouse, lifting and placing packages on shelves. His co-worker just "sits there all day and types in the computer". If we are teaching databases, we can use the products that get delivered and have that student work on a database that is relevant to his company.
Another student wants to work in the Medical Field. knowing Medical Terminology is extremely important in any area of Medical work. If they work in a Kitchen and put meals on trays it is very important to know what a "Diabetic Diet" means so that they do not put wrong items on patient's trays.
Just taking the time to listen to the student will enable the instructor to get across what they need to learn because they will know what is and what is not relevant.
Hi Paul,
Glad that the course helped you with your curriculum planning. Adults are interesting creatures and really need careful handling in order for them to succeed. They have been out of school for so many years that they have forgotten how to take notes, study for tests, and other such techniques that will help them to succeed. Small bits of information help them to move along the educational trail.
Gary
I find that breaking the content down into bits is the best strategy for keeping everyone involved. The comment about an adult's attention span really woke me up to the need to have "mini-lectures".
Hi Taxpulat,
Thank you for the input in you forum responses. You touched upon a number of very important components that are needed to be an effective career college instructor.
Though your comments you have illustrated that you care about your students and that you what them to succeed through your efforts.
Keep up the good work.
Gary
When a concept is too abstract to understand for
students, I always take one or more examples related to people's daily life and explain them in detail first. This not only makes the concept easy to understand, it also greatly motivates the students. For example, when I teach limit to students, I first explain to them why we study it, and then explain the tangent and velocity problems as examples to make the concept clear.
After each test, I usually ask students with low
scores to meet with me in order to identify the
reasons for their poor performance. I use these
meetings to discuss ways of improving their study
habits and to learn about my teaching from them.
Hi Tina,
Great ideas about how you cover technical terms for your students. You are attaching meaning to the terms as well as providing methods that assist your students in acquiring the terms needed for the course.
How do you use the movies in relation to learning the terms? Sounds very interesting.
Gary
We go over all of the Medical Terms and how you break them apart - I write all of the terms on the board. I also use worksheets with diagrams on them. I also have transparencies that have diagrams on them. I even show movies that go along with the subject matter that we are covering at the time, whether it be admitting patients or taking a patient's vital signs.
Hi Alfredo,
From your forum discussion it sounds like you are mixing both the personal touch of support to your students as well as giving them real life examples that will help them to be successful when they graduate. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Each time my class meets, I try to make the lecture relevant to the entire course material being taught. Again, I believe creating a helping relationship will help alot when dealing with so many different questions that may have about thier future in this field of work. I also believe in giving real life examples of what to expect when they graduate and try to seek employment in thier chosen field of work.
Hi James,
Good suggestions about how to introduce your own experiences into the course in such a manner as to be supportive. This approach gives the students an opportunity to see how their efforts can be rewarded through hard work and study.
Gary
Illustrating course content with examples from my own experiences in my field seems helpful; showing how course material can be directly applied to actual or hypothetical situations brought up by students helps relevancy. I try to limit examples to only material that has already been covered, hoping to solidify what the students should be familiar with rather than bring in concepts from where they haven't been yet.
Hi John,
In addition, to the good suggestions you listed you might want to look for ways you can develop rapport with the students. Through introductions you can learn about your students and then key off of that knowledge to establish a rapport base that will help you students to relate to both you and the course content.
Gary
The course material being taught is relevent to the learning needs of the students. As an instructor I need to explore ways of presenting the material that the students feel are relevant to their own learning styles. Taking a class survey during the first meeting that asks each student about their learning styles, then tailor presentations to meet as many of those styles as possible could be a great help.
Hi Mark,
Sounds like you a doing a good job with instructional balance. The key is to offer different ways of delivering instruction and you are certainly doing that based upon your comments in the forum. Keep up the good work.
Gary
My strategies for making course content relevant
to students learning needs are by using the four
learning styles outlined in this course.The
students read it, hear it, see it,and when they
have learned the content through all of these
learning styles,they do it.The hands on work
seems to best meet the learning needs of the students. My other strategies are the ongoing task of continuously updating course text, audio and visual aids,as well as my own knowledge on the course content,so the students learn faster
and get the most from my instruction,
Hi Patricia,
Good for you for using many different modes of delivery of content. By using this method you are not only keeping the course interesting you are appealing to the different learning styles of your students. There are 7 major intelligences as identified by Howard Gardner and all of us process information within three of these intelligences comfortably. By delivering content in different ways the learning style of the student is hit and the intelligence that is used for processing is hit as well. This is a double support combination that really facilitates learning.
Your point about looking for new and better ways of offering instruction is a good one. We need to keep our eyes open to different applications that we can use in instruction and these may occur in settings in our everyday lives. Point is by keeping an open mind we can find ways of doing our job better and we really wasn't looking for this strategy it just became available.
Gary
Actually, I use a variety of strategies to make the course content relevant to the learning needs of students. The strategies that I utilize depend on the course. I use application projects, field trips, graduates as guest speakers, guest speakers from the community, videos, and lots of real-life examples. I am always open to better and different ways to offer instruction.
Hi Karman,
Great write up on the list of interesting and engaging activities that you incorporate into your classes. You have taken a course that may be thought of as being “boring†and helped to make it inviting. Your use of situations and speakers really helps to make the subject matter come alive.
Your use of groups to discuss ethical decisions is a very good idea. You get them collectively involved in the “real†world that they will find themselves in, in the very near future. They really need preparation for this and problem solving can be of great help in getting this done.
Good job with all that you are doing.
Gary
One of the courses I teach is "Medical Law & Ethics" for Medical Assisting students. First, the students hear the name of the course and immediately say, "Boring!"
I have to keep it interesting while at the same time making it relevant to their needs as future MAs.
I do lecture through the chapters, but as I go, I incorporate videos, in-class projects, and guest speakers.
The vidoes are not just the typical "text supplement," but instead are real-life situations that could probably happen to them in the medical field. (I record many episodes of "Dateline.")
The in-class projects are ethical decisions that each group must decide the outcome (i.e. there's only enough funds for 4 surgeries that day and there are 10 patients waiting).
The guest speakers range from attorneys and physicians to patients that have had legal or ethical situations arise.
Making the Course relevant to their needs of why they are there and their future, makes a more satisfied student.
