I try to get students involved by giving their personal experiences that fix our discussion. I have online sources that they on go to and talk about. I ask questions to students that are not participating. I stress it is important to be involved in the discussion...because that is what employers expect from them.
Stress how how important verbal communication is in the "real" world.
Hi Frankie,
Competition is a good thing in education. Competition inspires students to get higher grades.
Patricia Scales
I encourage them to think about their professional goals and in every production day I challenge them asking who will make the best production. Eventually, we will have a competition ambience.
I always try to bring in as many real experiences that I have had in the field when we are talking about different subjects. The students I feel sometimes look at me like, she can't possible have this many experiences, but graduates that have come back with similar stories always say "you were right" and tell the current students to listen!
I agree that an instructor's passion for the material that is presented makes all the difference on the student's buy in. What do you suggests for instructors that are assigned subjects to teach that they personally feel no passion at all?
Hi John,
I like letting my students know how the course is going to benefit them in their career. This generally brings about buy in from the students.
Patricia Scales
I think that the awareness that although students have accepted the subject of the course by enrolling is informative. It encourges the instructor to make students aware of the unique character of the subject and convey it in creative uncommon examples and terminology.
Hi Samara,
This question really gives students something to think about, and it will cause them to want to buy into the course.
Patricia Scales
Hi Anna,
Students love hearing about stories that are applicable to the lesson. Students really want to know how it is in the real world.
Patricia Scales
Hi Paul,
Students need to understand the relevancy of the course. When students understand how the course will apply to their career they automatically buy into the course.
Patricia Scales
I start each class asking students why are they attending college. Then I link their answer to my course goals.
I agree that giving real-life examples from the profession allows the students to apply what they are learning. I am a veterinarian so I like to ask them how they would handle real-life cases I've seen.
I believe a big part of getting buy in from the students is showing them “what’s in it for meâ€. Give the students how the course applies outside the classroom. Use personal experiences to show how the content applies in situations or use testimony from successful people from the work force.
Hi Jennifer,
It is great when students know that they have a trusting environment. This reflects deeply upon you. You create an environment that encourages students to share personal stories with ease and confidence.
Patricia Scales
Hi EDWARD,
Yes. Students want to and need to know how the course is going to benefit them in their career.
Patricia Scales
I try and make immediate application to there career and that gets them focused.
I teach general psychology and human growth and development at a career college. Fortunately, many people have at least a moderate interest in psychology, so they are somewhat eager to take the courses that I teach. Many of the concepts are easy to understand and easily applicable to real-life situations, so I utilize a lot of practical examples of ways to apply whatever we are talking about to situations in the workplace or even in students' interpersonal relationships. I also inform the students that much of what they will learn in the course will contribute greatly to their own personal, academic, and professional development if they learn the material and apply it to their daily lives.
Some of the most interesting discussions that we have had in class were related to applying psychological principles to personal situations. I was surprised that the students felt comfortable sharing personal experiences as early as the first night of class. Creating a safe sharing environment encouraged other students to share and allowed us to explore the theories that we were discussing in the context of their own experiences. Having a forum for sharing life experiences seemed to lead to a better overall understanding of the topics that we covered as indicated by their performance on the assignments for that week--especially the writing assignments.
I apply real world scenarios in everything. I tell them how things will apply in the real-world. Tonight we are doing case studies on scenarios of patients in the clinic and they are going to work in groups to find the answers.
Hi Soneka,
Bench marks are inspiring. Students love knowing that they are making progress.
Patricia Scales
What I have always done, is on the first day, give students a history of my own growth in the industry. I speak with them individually about what their aspirations are and what they hope to get from the course. Have them write it down and as we progress refer to these as benchmarks through he course as their knowledge base increases. I really build on what they will know when we're done with the course and just how big that is.
