It is important that adult learners use their life experiences in the classroom because they can have feeling of connection with the other students in the classroom as well as the instructor. They can learn new ways of dealing with the situation as they described it or apply the newly learned skills to the situation.
It's a great way for them to put practical application to the material being covered to help with their comprehension.
Brian,
and it shows that we care about their past experiences & these can help them with what they are learning now.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
The students' life experiences can add relevance and context to the classroom lessons they are learning to further their career.
There are many reasons why their life experiences are important is that they can help others with their knowledge. It can give others something to look forward to and prepare for.
Good point Tim, it helps a lot in nursing education, specially when dealing with students who choose to do nursing as a secondary back up career. As nursing application is quite different than any other field, relating past experiences to support learning is such a great move to keep students focused during a 2 hours lecture!!!!
What is the best way to talk about their experiences and respect their rights to privacy?
In addition to helping students feel like they are empowered to succeed, I think every student benefits from seeing the perspective of another student who can apply textbook theory to real-world life.
it allows them to learn easier. they can relate better.
The learner will bring positive and negative life experiences to the classoom. Some learners will come with positive aspirations because he/she may be well versed in the english language, while others will be insecure with the level of understanding, written and verbal, and will feel quite insecure. Some individuals develop strategies that enable them to compensate for deficiencies in their basic skills.
It is a wonderful sight to behold when a student has that aha moment. When you can take a concept and apply to everyday life it makes the idea better understood. If students can then take, for example, a new vocabulary word and apply it somehow to their own lives it helps that light bulb to go off. AS a dental Assisting instructor I use their own experiences at the dental office to explain some of the concepts. Or I tell them to observe when they do have their own appointments. Students often tell me that they could not grasp the meaning of something until they actually applied it to their own lives.
It's very importance to use life experiences in the class-room, so all students can see & feel they also relate to the stories. You as an instructor try to tell them. I always using life experiences stories to tell my students. We always have a lot of fun in our class, it helps students can learn & remember faster.
Students that share their life experiences with others often form a bond and open up communication within the class room, this makes learning more interesting. They see that success is possible and that everyone has struggles as they move forward in life. They seem to be able to assist each other on a more personal level that makes the class room more real but enjoyable.
ROBIN,
these really are great tools that can help students make sense of the various ideas & the material.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
When using life experiences in the classroom it can bring more meaning of the concept being taught to the student. This enables retention of the material being taught.
My first day of any class I share my life experiences and how I apply them to each and every task. I go through the experiential and reflective pools process and help demonstrate that life experience for them. Since my students appear in a variety of age, demographic, political, and religious groups the variable items are great. However, in this diversity we are able to identify and support student growth potential by sharing similar responses to situation.
Rita,
this is definitely a challenge & we need to help them work through the mistakes as you've mentioned as there is so much to learn there.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
If you allow yourself to learn from mistakes and how to fix it; you bring a lot to share with others. Today's students wants you to show them how to do it and then they want to demonstrate it back to you and make a 100.
In working with students that have a wide range of experiences, this gives the student an edge over the counterpart student who has not worked, or have an experience with the subject matter. it becomes of interest to other students that don't have that knowledge to engage the student to help them learn new materials
I like to ask student about life experiences they may have had, seems they students like to hear it from other students also. I also share my mistakes as well as my success, both are great in the classroom.
