Motivating through personal professional experiences
How often have you answered a question by relating an experience you had in your career? And how often have you helped a student see a situation in another way or a more meaningful way by sharing your personal experiences in that same, or a similar, situation. I find that bringing in a personal experience, be it my own or a students, is more powerful than just discussing the situation from a strictly mental viewpoint. Usually, a class will grasp the answer faster, and will become engaged quicker, adding their own thoughts, or bringing up another concern or question, perhaps even deeper than the first. That's when the class becomes especially stimulating for everyone. And, I imagine it helps the students have a chance to envision themselves already involved in their new career. Do you use personal experiences on a similar way with students?
Hi Heather,
This is what being an instructor is all about. The rewards of having students realize that you are offering them not only technical skill development but the human aspects of being a model in the field as well.
Gary
I never noticed how closely the students watch us as role models, until about a year ago.
They know me as the person to come to with a computer question. They know I spend countless hours reading and working on computer-related material, while not having much of a life :)
To my surprise, students have e-mailed me on the weekends, saying, "Guess what I'm doing? I spent all weekend building my server. Who do I remind you of?" :):)
I think it's great when they see how I put my IT skills to use to help my workplace, and they start to follow in my footsteps. What an awesome compliment :) That behavior REALLY helps them on the job.
Experiences really have a way in getting into the minds of the students. They are able to retain those real life examples and apply them in a practical setting. It's one of the best tools to use.
Absolutely. Many of my students are in their 40's and older. They learn best by examples, stories, and relating to their own experiences. The information I remember the most from school had to do with stories my teacher told me about their own experiences and I imagined myself in those positions.
Hi Leo,
Well said concerning the sharing of life experiences with students. These stories of what you did in the field illustrate the skills and knowledge you have acquired and am sharing. This makes the course relevant to their lives and they can see application to what they are learning.
Gary
Being a vocational instructor with over 32 years in the trade that i'm teaching, makes it easy to relate life experiences. I find that my students can relate to the real life experiences, especially if they have a problem with a vehicle finish that they must correct. since I have been in the trade so long I let them know that I have made the same mistakes and this is how I solved the problem. It not only lets them know that you care, but it teaches them tricks of the trade that you just can't learn from a book.
Hi Debbie,
You are right about instructors sharing their professional experiences with their students. These are ways to get the students interested as well as help them see the connection between the classroom and the real world.
I also like your statement about helping us to appear more interesting. We can use all the help we can get in this area because the students think if we are instructors we have never done anything else with our lives.
Gary
I definately agree that anecdotes are very powerful resources that can be used to get student's interested in a topic. Also it gives students insight on a particular career field and makes the instructor appear more interesting.
Hi Michele,
This is an excellent example of being responsive to the individual needs of students while still maintaining the standards of the course. Your student was able to enhance his success at his workplace while acquiring the needed course competencies. Thanks for sharing this story with us.
Gary
I agree. I try to ask the students if any of them have a relevant experience, if not, then I try to share one.
In my last class, one of my students came up with his own final project that would benefit him at work. While it was different from the assignment I gave everyone else and would be more difficult for me to grade because I didn't have anything to compare it to, I felt it was relevant and agreed to let him do the project because he was able to take the concepts from class and see how to apply them into real world experiences.
Was he movtivated and excited about the project? He sure was because he thought of it himself and could see the application of what he was learning.
This same student told me that he was as frustrated as I was becasue we both had older versions of software that we had to use in various environments and the features that we had learned in class couldn't be applied when he used the older software. He was excited when I told him how to obtain newer software at a reasonable price so that he could continue to apply the concepts and features we learned in class. Way to go Bob!
Hi James,
Good examples of how to bring the real world into the class setting. Sharing your professional experiences help your students to see the value of what you are teaching.
I use relevant experiences all the time in my classes because it helps my students to "connect the dots" between school and their careers.
Gary
Excellent point, James. When I discuss professional experiences that are relevant to the course topic, I find that students listen more intently. Students also remember these experiences. If I can possibly relate a course topic to a first-hand experience, I try to do that.
