Hi Paul:
Field trips offer students a glimplse into their future work world, and for some, this might be an eye-opener. For others, it might inspire and motivate to the degree to get them working harder in class. Yet for other, they gain an inner drive because they visualize a potential better future for themselves and their families.
Regards, Barry
My students love guest speakers related to people participating in a real world capacity.
Hi Eileen:
A good guest speaker serves many beneficial purposes, and is one of the better activities we can plan. Answering questions, giving a different perspective, just hearing another "voice" with a differnt spin is usually interesting and enjoyable. Also, sometimes a guest speaker will validate information the teacher has emphasized, which helps build trust and respect for the class teacher.
Even contrary opinions can be useful for discussion, as that promotes critical thinking, and an opportunity to reinforce the prefered responses and material.
In any event, guest speakers usually evoke inspiration and inhanced motivation for the students, and that's always a good thing.
Regards, Barry
Hi Jose:
Yes, field trips often "open the eyes" of students. It can offer hope for a potential graet future. For that reason, I notice some students begin to try harder in class after a field trip activity.
When a student gets inspired and motivated from within, that's a powerful drive that will often proce amazing results.
Regards, Barry
Hi Barbara:
Field trips in particular can be a great activity to allow students to see for themselves certain aspects of the work they'll be doing. I find students often try harder in school after they've been on a field trip.
Regards, Barry
Hi Jennifer:
Both activities involving guest speakers and field trips are very powerful to motivate, inspire, and create a renwed vision for many students who may only have vague ideas about what their profession requires, or they get clarification about certain aspects of the profession - many times not different from what the teacher has taught, but serves to validate the importance of that information.
Regards, Barry
I think field trips benefit the students by allowing them to see first hand what their chosen career path is like as well as giving them a break from the class room which can help rejuvenate their desire to learn more. Always being in the class room and hearing lecture after lecture can become boring. Guest speakers are also a great way to break up the monotony of lectures and also a great way for the students to learn from another perspective. Also guest speakers can help show what the students can look forward to when they have graduated.
To show the students they types of work areas in their field.
Guest speakers are very important to the education of a dental hygienist. Not only do they pique the interest of a DH student, but are importnat in their learning what each of the specialists do - hygienists are a piece of the puzzle in deciding when to refer to specialists - so it is important they know the scope of each of the specialists. Having other hygienists speak is also useful to the DH students. I try to find hygienist/speakers who are not in the traditional private practice setting. I try to bring in hygienist/speakers who are in research or sales or perhaps public health. This gives the students an idea about how many options are really available to them.
Taking field trips allows the student to see the field that they will be working in when they complete the course. They will have a better idea of the work enviroment that they will be in and how their future position functions in it. The guest speaker allows another perspective of the field that they will soon be in and will strengthen the subjects taught by the reconfirming by another in the same field as their intstructor.
Hi Donna:
Guest speakers are good, and graduate guest speakers are dynamic! It seems they always have a level of enthusiasm that's fresh, their attitude is encouraging, their dying to answer questions, and students can relate to them especially because "they're one of their own".
Regards, Barry
One of the greatest benefits that I have seen in field trips and/or guest speakers in a classroom is that students get the opportunity to see/hear where they are going. What is the career that they are training for really like? What is the job setting like? What are some of the expectations?
The field trip and the guest speaker also give the students opportunities to ask questions like those above and even more direct ones. If the guest is from a 'company of interest' of one or more of the students, having them in class gives these students an excellent networking opportunity.
Having students participate in field trip activities allows students an opportunity outside of their day to day learning environment. It can also allow the student an opportunity to see options available in their career choice.
Hi Michael:
If you do this every module, that's terrific!.
Both guest speakers and field trips provide benefits not easily matched. They provide students with a glimpse of aspects of their chosen profession, and that may inspire student to begin to try harder in class as a result.
Regards, Barry
Hi Isabel:
Sometimes a good guest speaker will relate or share information a teacher has been emphasizing and that really adds credibility (trust and respect for the teacher). Seeing what their soon to be work world is like can be very inspirational and motivational, translating to better performance in the classroom, too.
Regards, Barry
Hi Alison:
Also, I have found some students may only have a very vague idea about some of the working aspects they're being for. A good field trip can be powerful in opening eyes, motivating and inspiring, and giving a renewed enthusiasm about their study so as to be better ready for the world of work.
Regards, Barry
Hi Teresa:
I think a good guest speaker can really motivate a class, getting to think about their chosen career field, and recipients of real world perspective. It's very cool when the speaker will validate something the teacher has been emphasizing - credibility.
Regards, Barry
Whenever I teach a crime lab class, I always make an appointment with the crime lab at the Police Department I work for. So many students come into class thinking the crime lab is like CSI or NCIS. It's not, in fact, I usually tell them, I wish we had the technology portraid on the show, but we don't. By taking the time to go on this particular field trip, the students get a realistic view of what their chosen career path really entails as opposed to how television portrays it. This realization can ultimately better prepare them for making the decision about their career path. It's based on truth rather than fiction. I feel fortunate that I can do that for them.
Taking field trips are a great way to learn. They give the student a break from the classroom and are able. It also excites them to be more positive in their chosen studies.
I am a new instructor and upon employment, was presented with a syllabus and class calander. I have followed this very closely, not wanting to miss any part of the cirriculum. The school just recently approved of field trips, but with 4 week mods, I don't know how to best fit it in and still get in Lecture/Lab time needed.
