I try to establish the content of the course in a syllabus to have the students see if they know what kind of content will be a part of the class so they can find interest.
Hi Raina,
Super way to gain buy in from your students. I also like to tell stories about potential income every opportunity that presents itself.
Patricia Scales
What I do to help my instructors since I am a lab assistant, I help them to calm their nerves and conquer their fears because I was once in their shoes since I graduated back in October of last year. I just tell them to relax and take a few deep breaths and go and do their test outs that they have to do. I watch them and when I see them doing something wrong I ask them what they did wrong if they forgot something and then they remember what it was and I say its okay as long as you know what you did and realized it. I also will be a patient for them so they can pass out of their test outs that shows them that I have confidence in their abilities and that they will make great medical assistants someday.
Explain exactly how the lesson applies to what they will be doing in their choosen profession. I like to tell stories about how what we are learning directly affected me while working in the medical field.
Hi Maureen,
Great ways to encourage buy in from your students. I like to let my students know how the course is relevant to their career to generate buy in from the students.
Patricia Scales
I use many strategies.
I treat them with respect and acknowledge that their opinions and understanding of subject matter is valid. By treating them respectively, they mirror that to other classmates and to me. This also encourages them to continue attending the course; therby "buying in".
I will often ask the students what their experiences have been and have them share this with the class. This allows them to be active participants in the course/classroom creating a bond.
Group activities also help to reinforce the material. The students will create lists of items(like drugs we will be discussing) and ellaborate on their use and effects. They may also draw pictures of the topic like the cell. These reinforce the knowledge they have.
Hi James,
Absolutely! This is a sure way to gain buy in from students.
Patricia Scales
Hi Michael,
When students understand how the course applies to their profession you gain buy in from them.
Patricia Scales
I always like to give an example on how the course would tranlate into the actual career.
To get students to buy into the course, I like to show them some of my professional work. Showing them an actual submitted design lets them see that I am not giving them "random assignments", but that I really use the materials!
Hi Kirsten,
Students love hearing stories as they apply to the lesson and the real world.
Patricia Scales
When starting a new topic in class, I like to use my own past experiences as a way for the students to get interested and realize that certian situations can (and do) happen. Then we can discuss hypothetical situations (or share more stories), and how they would handle them in a professional manner while using the new skills that they just learned.
Hi David,
Awesome, you are bottom line. Students want to and need to know how the course is going to benefit them in their career.
Patricia Scales
One of the most effective tools I use is the first day of class discussion. I describe course objectives and tasks required and then take time to relate these to the work environment the student desires to enter. Part of the discussion focuses on real-life experiences that show the students how the information applies in the "real world".
Hi Jesse,
I let my students know on Day 1 what the purpose of the course is and how the course will help them in their career to gain buy in from my students.
Patricia Scales
as a new instructor i am taking plenty of notes on the ideas for getting the students involved.
To find out what brought them to take the course, and what are some goals they have.
Hi Kathy,
Absolutely, let the powers of be know of the useles information in the curriculum so that it can be replaced with useful information or spend more time on the useful information already in the curriculum.
Patricia Scales
Asking them their opinion or advice on something you know they have experience in or a passion for will get them involved and interested in the course. Agreeing with what they are bringing to the class will make them feel important and encourage them to be more involved in other class discussions because of the good feelings it brings them.
This question stumps me!Do you have any ideas you can give me?
