I teach dental assisting, and many of my students have never worked in a dental office before. If we are discussing a specific topic, I like to paint a picture for the students so that they can understand what it might look like in an actual dental office. I also like to give them several different scenarios because each individual office may do things differently.
Important for students to understand how what they are learning relates to their career path.
Hi Ivan,
I concur! Students must realize that actions, rules, policies, etc. are put in place to ensure their success.
Patricia Scales
The message of respect, fairness, and high expectations will be heard more clearly if it comes with the message that the instructor is structuring the course in ways that support students in their efforts to succeed. Otherwise, instructor messages of high expectations for learning can easily come across as "sink or swim."
Hi Kenneth,
I certainly understand the challenge. It sounds like you are doing a super job to get the point across as to how math relates to the real world, especially one's personal life.
Patricia Scales
Hi Susan,
You are definitely on point to get students to understand the relevance of the course as to how it applies to the real world.
Patricia Scales
Hi Pamela,
Students love it and see the relevance of the course when learning applies to the real world.
Patricia Scales
Hi Lynn,
Students like scenario teaching as the various scenarios pertain to the real world. Scenarios make learning more interesting.
Patricia Scales
I teach college math. My classes consist of students majoring in many different subjects. So the class covers a wide range of math topics. Some of which may not be as useful in a particular major as in another. This often makes it difficult for me to relate every math topic to every major. Therefore, I try to think of situations where they will be able to use the concepts and procedures in everyday life. I find some topics (i.e. percentages) are easy to relate to everyday experience and others not so easy. This is a continual challenge.
Adult students need to know the relevence as to what they are studying. They like to direct their own learning so we need to get their attention by giving them information and examples of how the course will benefit them on the job. We can do this by sharing rationales, show and tell of equipment and instrutments used on the job, sharing our feild experience, have prior students share how they use what they learned in class in the field, show dvds/movies on how skills are performed.
I discuss the course by using the syllabus, calendar, and lifes examples that would pertain to the subject at hand to help grab the knowledge the student will need to know to be able to see compare and understand so the student can get the most out of it and learn it with confidence.
As a medical assisting instructor I give the students an example of situations that come up in the medical office and then we brainstorm how we would take care of the situation - which steps would we take first.
We have professionals come and speak about their working lives and how it relates to the curriculum. I also make a point to show how specific areas of instruction will be used daily in their professional careers. Since we are so hands on in our dental hygiene group, it is easy to relate their learning to the profession. Asking others to do just that helps them see the correlation.
Students have a hard time retaining information they don't feel is relevant to their chosen careers they are preparing for. I find that if they first day of class, you make the infomation relevant to the students, clearly stating how the information they will be learning in this course will benefit them in the "real world"; you will have more attentive students and students you are engaged in the course.
Hi Michael,
I concur! I also like to let my students know that the course is relevant to their career, and then I let them know how the course is relevant to their career.
Patricia Scales
There are two common rationales for the relevance of course content. Sometimes the two are intertwined and sometimes they are not.
First, there is the matter of knowing the material in order to recall it because it is a standard, such as understanding the defition and purpose of patient privacy and confidentiality of protected health information under HIPAA.
Secondarily, there is the need to recall and apply the base knowledge for critical thinking evaluation, such as the comparison of assessment data for "abnormality" of body function and the determination of the specific condition.
Hi Kathy,
Students need to and want to know how the course is going to benefit them, especailly as it pertains to their career.
Patricia Scales
Hi Deborah,
I concur! On Day 1, I have a PowerPoint developed for each course that I tell to fully express to students why they are taking the course.
Patricia Scales
Provide clear examples of how the content of the course will allow them to be able to apply their knowledge in their field. I also recommend bringing in professionals of that field to make his or her self an example of the application of knowledge that is provided in the course.
As am instructor at a career school I constantly try to relate how the content of a course will benefit them in their new careers.
