Hi Neidra,
I like how you point out soft skills to your students. It amazes me the number of students that do not know anything about soft skills.
Patricia Scales
Hello Rita,
YOu make some important points. Students feel more connected when they have a sense of their instructor's experience. It increases their confidence and makes them more likely to apply themselves. When they apply themselves consistently, as you point out, they feel even more confident, learn more and their overall learning experience becomes more and more positive. Good stuff.
Hello Robert,
I agree wholeheartedly that good math skills are essential. The assignments in my courses often require basic calculations, recognizing variables in formulas, being able to substitute the right numbers for those variables and completing the arithmetic correctly. You are absolutely right that these skills apply on the job as well, whether someone is a grocery store manager, a constuction worker, a pharmacist,etc.
So, I thank you and all math instructors for doing such important work.
I ask students to think of ways they could use accounting in their current or future workplace. Those students that are not convinced of the courses relevance to their future endeavors, I highlight the soft skills that can be obtained from learning the objectives in the course.
I teach economics to adult learners. Economics is often perceived as just theoretical, dry and irrelevant to people's lives. But that is very far from the truth. So, I indicate to people that the principles and the theories we cover underlie have tremendous relevance for all our lives. That is no less true now than during prosperous years, but it is an easier sell during a recession, especially one as deep and persistent as this one.
So, each time we cover a particular topic, I point out applications and real world examples. Alos, the assignments in the course allow people to identify those groups who gain and those who lose as a result of a particular policy - like tariffs.
I like to share some of my work experiences that are relavent to a particular subject
I use actual work experience to show relevancy. As a coding auditor, I talk about common coding issues and their financial impact whether it be a credit or a recovery. What happens when my findings are sent in from an employer perspective. How would it feel if you were the coder that made an error that cost the company $30,000.00.
The majority of my students seem to be preoccupied with making money, so I usually set up a couple of hypothetical scenerios in which the characters are on the job and either have or do not have the skills the students are going to learn in the course. Then I ask which character is more likely to land the client/impress the boss/etc.
Jennifer,
Great way to promote course relevancy. Students can shed light on a lot of useful ways to benefit from a course when they have to think about it.
Patricia Scales
Hi Ali,
I like how you get the students involved to help them determine the relevancy of the course. It makes a big difference when students understand why they are taking a course.
Patricia Scales
As a class activity I often have the student come up with ways they can use the class content in their lives. They then share that with one another.
When I first began teaching, I had this belief I had to separate myself from my students. But soon after I learned that personalizing yourself to one's students helps build relevancy. You can give concrete example success stories , and if you have worked in the given field, then bringing that knowledge to the classroom will help get students engaged. I have learned that gaining relevancy in the classroom is needed for student success, and it also brings a healthier learning environment because students can see their instructor as a person rather than an authority figure; and this brings trust, which in turn creates an environment of relevancy.
Just as the lesson stated, adult learners in a career college environment need a reason why they are in a class. On the first day of class it is imperative that the instructor shows his or her students the value of their class, and how the information they learn will be taken with them in their chosen career field.
Giving specific real world examples is a great way to engage the students, and even more so tell them what they learn in each course will be used in their entire college career, and in the real-world. Having a personal engagement to a course will help students see the relevancy.
Just as in the business world, "buying into the project" is essential for success. Getting students to buy into one's class must be done on the first day of class. Rather than waiting for the next class to begin lecturing, on the first day, make sure you highlight the course objectives and familiarize to the students what they will be learning; which will gain their interest, and have them see the relevancy to the course.
In my personal college experiences, if an instructor does not engage the students and have them relate to what they are learning in the course, then the lack of effort by the students will be a major issue.
We can show our students the relevancy of the course by: a) having them read and discuss case studies b)asking them to research current industry issues pertaining to the course material c) sharing personal professional experiences related to the course subject.
Hi FARZANA,
I like to let my students know how the course is going to help them with their career.
Patricia Scales
Hi Christopher,
You are on point! Students want to know how the course is going to help them professionally.
Patricia Scales
Hi Francis,
I let my students know on Day 1 the "Why" of the course so that they understand the importance of the course from the beginning.
Patricia Scales
I share my experience as a student with my students and tell them how i learnt from my respectable teachers. I try to use the same startegies that I was taught with.
by showing them how it is going to apply to their career and and to make them more valuable by learning it.
Showing course relevancy gives meaning and foundation to your students. We have all studied a course and asked why? Thisvwill help eliminatebthsrbquestion
