students cling to stories of life experiences used in class , they become very attentive and want to ask lots of questions.
I think it is important for adult learners to use their life experiences in the classroom because it helps the instructor build a bridge from what the learners know to the new material they are learning.
It helps the students relate to their topic by engaging them in real life experiences
Using personal experiences in the classroom is very helpful when trying to make a point or get a student to remember certain things. The students enjoy hearing about the "real world" scenarios and it helps them to better understand certain concepts that you are trying to teach.
Based on previous experience the adult learners is able to apply the knowledge from a previous experience to a new and different experience. They often use the tools in their "knowledge" toolbox in various situations and knowing how and when to apply them is the result of experience and situational learning where they apply those concepts to see if their decision making will work.
Using real lfe experiences does several things for the student. First it gives them an insight and a way to equate what they may be studing with something they can visualize. It also may give them hope if they hear their instructor tell how he made a mistake and fixed it thay may feel that they can succeed in spite of the mistakes they make.
I agree with Jodie sometimes using students own life experiences can add to the learning experience of the rest of the class and yes sometimes it can help us as instructors for them to share with us.
because alot of the time students will face some of the same situations especially if they are going into the same field as yours or working with certain cultures or communities, its impotrant especially for those students that have english as their second language it may help them relate.
Using real world examples lets the students know that you are human and that you have been in their shoes. It can and probably will happen and if you use an example they will feel better if it does.
I like to use examples of some of my failures in experiance. This gives my students a perspective of how to avoid mistakes, and also supports the fact that even teachers are human.
I think with adult learners getting to use life experiences not only aides in helping learn, but also gets the student involved in class. When students are able to share they feel apart of the class and sometimes even helps create great discussions. Sharing also helps people feel connected with experiences they may have had similar situations.
I am never short of adult learners who are ready to share their life experiences with others and all age groups benefit. The adult learners feel 'accepted', part of the 'team' and that helps their confidence, while the younger students retain real life experience information more easily and also feel more 'bonded' with the group which enables all of them to work together rather than in their little 'cliques.'
It helps the student relate information they already know or have experienced to what they are learning.
Alvin,
sharing life experiences is a great way to help students solidify the concepts.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Allowing adult learners to use their life experiences in the classroom allows the students to connect what they are currently learning to something they already know through their life experiences. The student may be intimidated in a classroom setting and allowing them to share their eperiences may lower their apprehension and quicken their learning.
using life experiances in the classroom is very important. it helps the student to retain the information with an example of a real life aplacation.i like to use my on experiances and then get the class involed with there experiances it is a good interactive way of learning
Chandra,
yes any opportunity we have for students to share their real life experiences is a great one to seize!
Dr. Ryan Meers
I find this to be true too. I also find that students feel a part of and involved when they can share as well as "not so different" since many of them can relate to each other and see that the instructor is a real person that they can relate to.
Rebecca,
yes the power of sharing the life experiences really is amazing.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Some of our students have valuable experiance that they can share with others in the classroom. Not only do they feel the importance of relating these experiances with others, the other students will listen better when a peer can backup or validate what the instructor is teaching.
