Hi Michael:
Good points, especially "changing some of the interaction between instuctor and students and among the students". When their instruction is viewed from a real world perspective, that experience can be very powerful and motivating.
Regards, Barry
I think that it serves several purposes to include getting them into a different environment, out of the classroom, so it changes some of the interaction between instuctor and students and among the students, it also can make the intruction much more applicable if they see it being applied.
Hi Todd:
Filed trips and guest speakers are valuable because they are enjoyable by the strudents and often can offer a perspective that is difficult to duplicate by other media or instructional methods. I try to "prime" the speaker with specific topics to add into what they have to say, but even if they just speak about the working environment, it keeps the stuednts interest.
Regards, Barry
gets the students out of a boring routine and engages their interests
Hi Diane:
You're right, guest speakers can be quite inspirational and motivate the class in a way that is unique and difficult to duplicate by the instructor of record. When possible, I let theguest know where the students are at in their instruction and may even suggest they touch on a sp0ecific topic or two to reinforce the class lesson (which may add some cedibility to the points the teacher is trying to emphasize).
Regrads, Barry
I agree that bringing guest speakers helps the students. It is good that the students not only hear from a person who has experience in their field but also that the students can listen to someone other than the teacher day after day.
Diane Hensley
Hi Mary:
I like your wording of "glamour" as many students probably feel this way about the experience. There is no substitute for this enlightening and real world experience and classroom activity.
Regards, Barry
Making field trips and guest speakers a part of instruction is always more exciting than the normal classroom time. It brings the glamour into our field of study. We all need the instructional portion of learning but seeing it or hearing about it in the real world brings it home. Sometimes you don't have to go any further than a visit to a lab taught in another course in your school or asking another teacher to guest speak and share his or her experiences.
Hi Rufus:
Yes! When students get motivated, that's something coming from inside them, soemthing inspiring or instructional. I agree having a game plan for guest speakers is a good idea and will result in better student learning outcomes.
Regards, Barry
Allowing students to see how the material presented in class can be used in an actual work environment is a great motivational tool. If you can show them specific processes or procedures that have been covered in class, the relevance of the course becomes self-evident. Once students have observed the course content being applied to a career, they are much more animated in the classroom. Guest speakers can create the same results as a field trip, but he/she must have a targeted message for the content being presented. Guest speakers are most effective if the instructor and guest speaker have develop a relationship ensuring that the speaker understands why he/she is being used to enhance the course.
Hi George:
You are very fortunate to have access to such a rich abundance of meaningul and vaulable material to share with your students. I'm sure many who read this post will be envious!
Regards, Barry
Guest speakers are an integral part of the program I run, because we focus on a mix of national security theory and application. Our Joint Special Operations University does not have a tradiional cadre academic professors. Our pay and personnel structure supports hiring former military personnel with some formal platform instruction credentials. Therefore, we are practical experts who facilitate learning through shared experiences with our students, practicioners from the field, who lverage academically credenialed guest speakers. So, the context of this block of instruction is not directly applicable to our academic environment, but is still generally useful.
Hi Carlos:
Field trips do take a bit of planning and time, and the learning-to-time ratio is low. But I think students enjoy these activities, many of which can be very rewarding and memorable.
Regards, Barry
I think that is essential to organize field trips because not only the students will benefit from the experiance but if you talk about that experiance in class before they get to go it will be that much more exiting to see the real operation.
Hi Dennis:
Your assignment to you online students to arrange a field trip is quite creative. The web sites, although not as impressive as a work site, is a good example as well.
Regards, Barry
Hi Missy:
You're right about asking more questions, even if they don't verbalize it, they'll be impressed with what they see and usually want to be better students and try harder in most cases.
Regards, Barry
I teach online and use field trips to other online locations to help students "see" the topic we're discussing first hand. For some classes I even maintain a web site that has examples I want to show simply because having a staged area prepared helps convey the material.
One area I find cool but haven't figured out yet how I can use it educationally is Second Life. For virtual students, this could be a real asset. Still working on turning that into reality for my students however.
Hi Ann:
Students always enjoy field trips. It may even inspire some to greatness based on the notion of a possible reality they had not envisioned for themselves previously.
Regards, Barry
It provides "Real World" perspective of their chosen field. It allows them to see or hear about diverse challenges and settings within their field - which would hopefully encourage them to ask more questions and exam if the chosen field is the right one for them.
Hi Carl:
Guests often bring in a fresh perspective and soemtimes, even new information. I try to cue the guest about what to cover - even "try not to emphasize such and such", or "we want emphasis on such and such". They have an expertise, but we are in control of our class.
Regards, Barry
