Hi Patricia
I try to include activities on the first day the basic information needed and it works out well. I then start talking about salaries for students with one year experience and the really get tuned in to whats going on.
Kimberly
Hi John,
It is amazing how students immediately become focused whenever real life examples are utilized.
Patricia
Hi Christina,
Absolutely! The learning that is obtained should be able to be applied in the work place. What a great way to get students to see the big picture.
Patricia
Hi Christina,
Before an instructor enters the classroom, the instructor should know how to explain the relevancy of the course content. Whenever students understand the relevance of a course, they tend to be more excited and interested in the course.
Patricia
Hello Dixie,
You are on point. These are excellent points to make known to your students.
Patricia
I show real life examples, and show the relationship between that I've will/have talked about to these real life examples.
Most of my classes (public speaking and writing, for example) are easy to connect to students' career realities. Literature, however, like philosophy, takes a bit more effort to make the connections. I've found two approaches helpful.
First is focusing on the underlying skills required and being developed. The same critical reading and analytic skills needed to interpret a poem, for example, are also applied to deciding whether or not to sign a contract for services. Second is noticing the human responses to situations and finding similar situations in various professional (and personal, too) settings. The carryovers are really there; we just have to find the specific touchpoints for our students.
Hi Patricia: I actually already responded to this question in the forum. For me it's a matter of using examples and applying concepts to real life situations. Anytime I can help a student use the concepts learned in the organizational environment, they discover a deeper meaning of the material.
Hi everyone: Sometimes this is easier said than done, especially if the class is something like philosophy. I can't begin to tell you how many times my students had a tough time understanding why they are required to take this type of class. The irony is that any topic can be explained as relevant if it is presented in a way that students can relate. For example, when I teach a class such as philosophy, I will move the concepts into to business ethics using ideas such as the "Golden Rule."
Hi Everyone:
My focus on student success is to bring the concepts into real world scenarios. I encourage my students to take their learning into the work environment. For example, we will discuss a topic and I will suggest they look at their own work environment and see if they can apply the ideas.
Hi Mike,
Any time you talk about money, students become really interested and excited.
Patricia
I love to do this. Examples that can make them more money are great and makes the info much more "real world". It makes it easier to teach also because you can bring in experience that you had in the field and tie a number of things together. The class material, the actual experience, and things to reduce time (more money) and things that can and did go wrong and how to avoid them.
Hi Bill,
Nicely stated! Students get excited/motivated when they hear about money.
Patricia
Hi Martin,
It is good to share both good and bad experiences so that students realize every day is not going to be peachy.
Patricia
The best way I found to give the course relevancy is by sharing real life experiences, both good and bad, out in the field. I show that the information they are getting from the course is beneficial to them and how this information can help them avoid costly mistakes out in the field.
As a vocational instructor I feel your students should be able to see the relevancy of your course or subject material. If you can show them how they might benefit or profit from this information you have leaped over a large hurdle in getting the students to be involved in what you have to present and share. Relate to them how your information could make them possibly more money or possibly to become better in there chosen field. If a student feels they can benefit from what you have to share they are more likely to be an active participant in the class.
