I find that in all my lectures I have personal experience's that I can add my own input.
I believe that students appreciate insight on various employer options in reguards to their personal goals, vision of qualitiy of life, and anticipated longevity in the field. Providing this input allows student to form a more concise vision of career life "in the field" and help determin priorities in choosing an emplyoer.
I have 20 years of "real world" experience and I often find that if a student is not understanding a concept that if I relate it to something that happened in my career they usually come to an understanding of the topic. I find real world experiences extremely helpful in teaching, it keeps the students more focused on the topic even when they sometimes don't realize they are. I ofter find they retain the information much better.
I have also had students complain when I have had to have a sub that they did not like it because the sub did not use real world experience and stuck strickly to lecture.
I think this is so true it allows the student to truly idenify with the the field up close and they get a better feel for what will really be expected of them.
I teach in the medical field so my students love it when I tell them stories from my past experiences. They love the stories and I always relate it to whatever we are working on in lecture or in lab. I even tell them when I made mistakes or when I got in trouble because I wasn't fully prepared. It makes them realize that I am human too and I made mistakes, but I recognized them and fixed them so that the patient never suffered. This is what I am trying to instill in them.
I think it’s important to have a successful experienced guest speaker to encourage the students and give them something to look forward to.
One of my favorite application courses I teach is Adobe Flash at beginner and advanced levels.
I try to instill in my students that this is not just an animation program for creating buttons and banners but has the interactive capabilities for creating games, e-learning modules and application interfaces, which are becoming more and more in demand in the real world.
Possession of these skill sets will result in many diverse career opportunities
Students enjoy learning the various employment opportunities in criminal justice (CJ). A lot of students want to become crime scene investigators (CSI) in the CJ field however, our school does not teach enough classes for “qualify†a person to become a CSI. I advise students of the possible employment opportunities in CJ plus I give them handouts on prospective jobs and Internet links to look for future employment.
Finally, I encourage students to do volunteer work in the CJ field or part-time or full time employment while they are going to school. This will make them more “saleable†to a CJ employer by the student showing interest in the field.
Hi Kim:
When students see action in their filed of study being performed by real people, they can better visualize themselves in those roles. These activities can be quite moving, inspiring, and motivational.
Regards, Barry
I'm currently teaching a Document Processing class (typing), which most students fail to see how the benefits of this class directly relate to their field of choice. This term I decided to incorporate a short research project during the first night of class to help the students better appreciate the value that typing has in their future careers. I could've easily provided them with examples of how typing applies to their majors, but I think having them search for various examples made it more meaningful to them. Most students were surprised by the application of the class in their future careers and went out of their way to find specific career-oriented examples rather than simply saying, "it makes sending emails easier, it helps prepare presentations," etc.
Students always find this kind of information valuable. I too have had varied experiences within my field and am able to help students see that as the grow and become experienced that our field offers many different opportunities. I believe this helps students because it proves to them that they can expect to have a long and exciting career within their chosen industry.
