Bringing in "real life" to lectures
When presenting materials during letures, I try to bring in "real life" experiences to share. The students seem to relate to this and I think it helps them see the relevance of the material being presented.I can see their attention heightened when storytelling begins.
I strongly agre. In my classroom I rely very heavily on The Wall Street Journal to illustrate concepts in my economics classes. I think it hits home for the students in two ways: (1) they are events which they might not know about which will have an impact on them (2) they see a sometimes dry/boring concept come to life and learn how to apply that concept in everyday life.
The WSJ is a great tool and is much easier to digest than academic journals/articles which I'm sure would bore my class half asleep.
Justin,
this is a great point & these outside speakers are also a great way to help the students maintain excitement about the ultimate goal of their careers.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Bringing in outside sources into the classroom such as industry professionals, former students working in their field or even other instructors always helps to reinforce what you are teaching. I know it's hard to do for every lecture but even once or twice will really resonate with the student.
Wardell,
it is amazing how inserting those real-life experiences really liven up the class discussion & help our students reengage.
Dr. Ryan Meers
My experiences have been the same. Regular lecture material has a sort of made up quality to it and as a result lacks certain parameters. If I insert a real life example into the middle of my lecture, I can see the students shift their concentration completely onto me. It's almost spooky, it's like they "wake up."
Kristina ,
stories are a powerful way to illustrate the concepts & theories being taught in the class. Never underestimate their ability to solidify those ideas in people's heads.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I completely agree. At first I wasn't sure if I should bring some 'stories' up, but they do really seem to relate them to the topic. From there the roundtables just start with questions and answers time. It has also brought a lot of laughter to the room, making it a calming effect, before we get back on track.
David,
You are right that most of our students want to know the "nitty gritty" of the real world. This really does help them engage more with the theories & techniques as it helps them see how these things play out in real life.
Dr. Ryan Meers
As a culinary instructor, the "real life" experiences are what my students want to hear. Sure they want to learn the techniques, but hearing about how those techniques have been used in my career, delivered with gestures and movements like I'm back on the line, with some sense memories, seems to really engage my students. It helps get them through some of the more tedious sections. It can be a shock to new cooks that kitchen work is so dang hard, but I think it helps when they can look forward to the fun and rewarding parts of it as well.
craig,
I think that is true in all of our fields & I think the concept is to make sure we are bringing in stories or real life examples into our teaching. Also, our stories should always help to illustrate or clarify content, not just telling war stories to tell them.
Dr. Ryan Meers
While I agree with telling staries. In the world of criminail Justice to many WAR STORIES can detract from presentation.
Chad,
Our students will make plenty of mistakes on their own from which they can learn, let's try to help them learn from a few of ours!
Dr. Ryan Meers
Agreed. Telling them stories brings real world expieriences to light. It helps bring home the lessons that you are giving and gives examples of what they may come across in the field. In my line of work I can't tell you how many times I've come across something and said "Oh yeah, so and so said they had a problem with this before." It really helps.
William,
Yes those real life experiences can be a great way to stimulate discussions & it's amazing where they can lead, often to points we wanted to make anyway.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I totally agree. Using real world examples engages students and causes them to open up. Often they share experiences related to the material. I have seen class discussions stimulated from stories.
I agree Cynthia! I enjoy bringing in guest speakers and/or finding relevant videos to show illustrating the course information.
Story telling is a great way to capture attention. The challenge I have found though is making sure students keep the life experiences in context and not "over share". For the most part though bringing in guest speakers and doing those things that allow the student to see their program at work in real life settings is a great teaching and learning tool.
