I teach a medical transcription course and I discuss with the students my experiences as an MT. I answer all questions honestly so that they know what to expect once they are working. I also use Power Points during my lectures with pictures that help to explain what I am lecturing on that day. For example, if we are talking about the heart I have a picture that shows the path of the blood through the heart. Some other things I do are play games and have the students do a skit related to what we are discussing.
Hi Laurie,
I try from all directions to encourage my students and to instill in them that they can and will succeed. I have had students to tell me that I have more faith in them than they have in themselves. There are many mini projects that we do in my professional development class that allow students to increase their confidence level, such as developing a portfolio all about them, professional dress every thursday, comments from me about their professionalism, etc.
I too treat the classroom as the students' future work sites. Everything in my class is related to the professional world. I constantly tell my students the classroom is where you learn all about the workplace.
Students must fully understand why they are taking a particular class, and how the class is going to help them in their career.
Patricia
I am extremely open about not only the successes in my chosen career, but my mistakes - and the mistakes I've observed of others. The students are able to internalize information more effectively if it is more personal-based. They are able to see that by hard work, tenacity and a can-do attitude, there is little that can hold them back in our society - but they need the academic knowledge base to get a foot in the door!
To further involve and engage the student, I treat the classroom as the student's future work sites; would they be late, use profanity, show a lack of respect towards others, turn in late work, talk on their cell phone, send emails during a meeting, etc. at a job site?
If the student sees that learning the course content will give them "a leg up" on their competition in the employment market, it all makes sense and their involvement increases significantly.
Hi Lisa,
I am a firm believer that "Experience is the best teacher." Students enjoy hearing your stories/experiences relative to the course content.
Patricia
Hi Tammy,
It is a very smart tatic to relate the information to pratical applications. Students get excited when you tell them this is how this information is going to help you when you begin your career. They see the relevance of the information when the information is presented from the perspective of their work field.
Patricia
I like including experience examples of how the coarse material will be relevant
I try to relate the information that they will be covering to the end results they will apply to in the work field.
Hello Kristin,
Your question/discussion period is a good way to get students interested and involved in the course content. Using online tools are very effective in getting students excited. How do you go about using the online tools?
Patricia
In my chemistry class I ask questions that the answers are relavent to chemistry I allow them to try and discuss why they think its related to the class and then I give them the answers. I have also used online tools to show how you can go from large things like a dog or cat all the way down to how protons, neutrons and electrons are placed together.
Hello Marta,
What an exciting and creative way to get students involved and interested in their course content. Students have in mind by doing this project what employer they would like to work for, and they also become more knowledgable about the company. Your students can actually see the end product of what they are trying to accomplish by researching. I am sure it is so encouraging to the students to see how Anderson Cooper of CNN has incorporated the new forms into the Presidential debates!
Patricia
When teaching portfolio courses for visual communication majors I need to understand what students' visual sensibilities are and what they are striving for in relation to their own work and completed projects. Therefore as part of portfolio development, I incorporate in class on-line research [or existing library resource materials] of professionals in their respective fields they aspire to, are inspired by and with whom they would potentially seek employment.
Reviewing their research as well as their own work gives me a very comprehensive understanding of where they are coming from. I also have them search for student portfolios on-line that they find inspiring. Then I direct them to many sites to reference that represent professional standards in keeping with my professional expertise. So many exciting changes have taken place in this field of visual communication over the last ten years that I learn from students what they are responding to through these contemporary resources. We even see how Anderson Cooper of CNN has incorporated these new forms into the Presidential debates!
He Joseph,
Students love to know how the course is going to apply to their career. Students often wonder how am I going to personally benefit from taking this course? You must be able to make a student believe that a particular course has a purpose in the workplace based on their chosen field of study.
For every course that I teach, I always present a PowerPoint presentation on the first day of class based on the following:
*Purpose of the Course
*Skills gained from taking the course
*Topics Covered
*Possible career from having gained this skill
Patricia
you can also relate the course to every job and every day. every class has a benifit and each student should see how this can relate to them personal and in the profession field.
Hi Jennifer,
As to whether a student enjoys a class or not, you have to make them understand how the class is going to help them professionally and at times personally. It is important for a student to understand the purpose of the course. Incorporating fun into learning always makes a course more interesting. Whenever students bond with their classmates they are more likely to share information because they are comfortable. Your tatic to come up with a writing topic is very clever; it makes it seem as though that thinking of a topic really is not hard.
Patricia
This is a big challenge for me because I have been teaching Prep. English, and I don't think there's a student out there who actually enjoys taking a prep class. I try to keep it light and fun by having the students focus most of their writing around personal issues. I also encourage the students to talk to each other and really get to know their classmates so that they will be comfortable sharing their writing assignments with each other. We also talk a lot of nonsense and I use this as an opportunity to show them how easy is can be to come up with a topic to write about, even if it's just a journal entry.
Hello Karen,
It really puts students at ease whenever they can see a completed example of an assignment. It gives them the confidence that they need to complete the assigment. It makes them believe--oh, I can do that. I see it, therefore, I fully understand what is expected of me. There is nothing like visuals; visuals really spark interest from students. As an instructor, I have witnessed if you can show a completed example, you will get better grades from students. Let's keep visuals alive.
Patricia
In my Clothing construction class I have found that bringing in examples of the completed final garments and images from current fashion publications featuring similar items ,really peaks the interest of my diverse student body.It allows them to see how relatable the design is and how it has been marketed to different demographics
Hi Michael,
I teach a course, Professional Devlopment, and in this course student must create a portfoli. I also show examples of a completed portfolio. The students become so excited by seeing the visual, also I really blow up the importance of a dynamic portfolio during the job search process. Not only is the portfolio a great tool for interviewing, it is also a great confidence builder. The portfolio shows the student he or she has made some great accomplishments in life. I think it is a super idea for students to create a portfolio. The student has all his or her important information pertaining to the job process in one central location, and also the examples of work section shows the prospective employer what the student can do. The portfoli is no doubt an impressive tool.
Patricia
The current course, Portfolio Development, is very visual and project based. So, after going through the syllabus, I show the students examples of other students complete course work, trade magazine displaying similar professional portfolios,job listings showing the request for a portfolio and articles stating how important a strong and well put together portfolio is to succeeding in the career. I explain how, for their final, they will be presenting their portfolios to professionals, from advertising agencies, for evaluation and how this is also a networking opportunity. I explain that they have already started their career.
Hello James,
There really is nothing like real world examples. Once you have experienced situations on a particular topic, you can present about the topic from an entirely different perspective. Students enjoy hearing instructors' stories about a given experience. I always try to incoporate actual experiences in my lectures. It is always smart to inform student how they will be perceived by other professionals and their coworkers. In my Professional Development class we discuss how one is viewed by other professionals at length. Some students do not have a clue about how things are in the professional world, therefore, it is vitally important to have discussions about various topics in the professional arena.
Patricia
