Hi Julie,
I apply everything that I teach to the real world, and I also like to make mention of when the learned concepts can help them personally as well.
Patricia
Hi Patricia and all,
An adult learner will learn more through the interaction with others - the course content must be of value -- value is measure by how the lessons learned from the class can be applied in the workplace. An effective instructor will provide lecture materials and discussion questions that will encourage students to share their work experiences and support their ideas by citing sources - scholarly articles or even policies from their work place - the course content must have real world value to our adult learner. How do you show relevancy of your course content?
Hi Bill,
Graduates make marvelous guest speakers. Students enjoy hearing those testamonies from graduate guest speakers. Graduate guest speakers are a plus to have come back to your institution and talk to students.
Patricia
Hi DJ,
I've witnessed students to become real excited by seeing work of past students. It is an excellent motivator whenever examples can be shown.
Patricia
I try to bring in as many real world examples as possible. It is essential that students understand the "real world" implications of what they are learning. I've implemented Service Learning in most of my courses so that students feel that the material they are working on can b a resume builder, as well as a tool for them to learn from.
Bobbi Bricker
When showing the revelvance of curriculum, it takes a little bit of doing on my part. What a group of administrators thinks is applicable for a student to learn rarely has anything to do with applied knowledge. I offer a case in point about and experiment with flour and water. The experiment is supposed to show that depending on the length of time a dough is kneaded the more gluten is created. But the procedure only allows one view of the process. When I did the experiment, I made five breads... each kneaded 5 minutes more than the last... When I cut them the students understood the effects of combining the two proteins and could see that a chemical experiment took place even in a simple loaf of bread. It took no more effort or time, but it made the information relevent and more usable.
Identifing the skill and how it relates to the real world, I show them past students work and then compare it to work for the real world. Direct corrilation by comparision.
Sharing practical examples of applications for the techniques they are learning. By examining the prior knowledge that the current learning is based upon. By having guest speakers in who might have benefited from the same type of educational experience
I use stories from my career that relate directly to course content.
Hi Alphia,
I like how you put that responsibility on the student, and it makes sense. They then realize why they are taking the particular course. I am sure you get a lot of good ideas.
Patricia
On a new topic in class i encourage the students to generate as many ideas they can, on how to utalize it in the real world, It can become quite interesting, i remind them to write the ideas down and by the end of class we summarize the responses and evaluate what will or wont work in the field.This allows them to see the relevancy of the topic and it also gives me an insite of their understanding.
Hi Laurie,
Some students are really filled with questions! The more they ask, and we respond favorably they really do become excited.
Patricia
Hi, Patricia,
In my court reporting class I routinely get questions about how their knowledge will be relevant to their chosen field, whether in court, depositions, live captioning, hearings, etc. It's fun to see how excited and eager they are to learn more.
Laurie
Hi Katina,
How smart of you! What a super way to grab your students attention and to demonstrate course relevancy. "HIRING" alone is motivating, and it is even more motivating when it is being done in one's chosen field of study.
Patricia
Hi John,
I like the various strategies you utilize to show course relevancy. Variety is good. I am sure your keep your students interest.
Patricia
The most recent way I demonstrated course relevancy with my students was to share the job description of a large industry employer who was hiring. I compared the candidate qualifications to their course objectives as they are outlined on the syllabus. It was helpful that the job description included soft skill expectations of the employer which are sometimes difficult skills for many students to grasp. I often give real-world examples of the lecture topic, too. I compliment student characteristics that mirror someone in their training industry (i.e., when the student is demonstrating timeliness or detail orientation; then, I tell them, "You will be a great [job] when you complete your training."
My classroom is an operating restaurant. Because of this it is easy to show students the relevancy of their actions; the student gets immediate feed back from the guest.
In my Restaurant Guest Service class, I try and show my students that the service industry is a great starting off point for future positions such as assistant manager, manager and so on. I use tools such as organizational charts,relevant articles from various trade publications and personal stories. I also let them prctice several differnt roles in the restaurant of the class term.
I will share real-world stories with them and give them specific examples of how this information can be used to their benefit.
On the first day of class, I explain why the content of the course is relevant to their future career. I give concrete examples of how they will use this information, and why it is important to attend class, participate fully, and absorb the content. As the days tick by, I use an industry example each day during my lecture, reinforcing what I said the first day. I ask students currently in the field to contribute examples from their work days.
