Hi Joseph:
Good points! I believe students are motivated when they see the potential possible for them or even just potential job opportunities. Tours and speakers break up the routine and indirectly motivate students to want to do their best.
Regards, Barry
Hi Barry:
Part of the challenge with me is that I teach classes in the evenings so our field trip options are limited. In addition, exactly because my classes are in the evenings is the reason that I'm concerned that students will see this as an opportunity to skip a field trip. Having said this, I'm going to try a field trip next quarter and, as you suggest, make my expectations about grading and outcome very clear.
Thanks,
Eli
Fields trips are great for the career college students because they give students their first real interaction with the career path they have chosen. In my experience, field trips and guest speakers increase the students' enthusiasm in their course of study. Field trips also give the visual aspect of the job that lectures can not. In our setting, we have labs to practice in, but watching a professional doing their job brings the idea of the future profession into a different realm of realism.
Hi Eli:
What a field trip does is allow the student to see the real world workforce in action. Often it is accompanied by an experienced tour guide or speaker. If you can make arrangements and give the speaker cues about subjects or topics you want the students to hear about, all the better.
My field trips begin at the school, then students carpool. Alternatively, if the destination is far away, I write out all the details about where, when, who, and things about grading and my expectations for the outcome of the trip. Students like field trips.
Regards, Barry
I have had guest speakers come to classes but my classes have never gone on field trips. I just don't know how that could be possible. I could schedule a trip during class time but I'm concerned that students might not show up. I guess that puts the onus on me to make sure that students understand the value of the trip and maybe I could assign it substantial extra credit? Any ideas?
Hi Rehema:
Tours and speakers are great, even if they come in at the beginning portion of a class. I think the possibility of creating a vision for a student to aspire to is hard to duplicate by other forms of media.
Regards, Barry
Opportunities to take your class(es) on fieldtrips or bringing guest speakers in the classroom are priceless. Fieldtrips are one of the best activities for students to participate in that helps develop "real world" experience. Once a student has book knowledge, nothing seals that information better than personal experience.
Inviting guest speakers to facilitate discussions in class are also great ways for students to hear material from an "expert" in their field. This is a great way to make course material relevant and engaging as well.
Hi Eli:
Good plan! The students also may view you as someone from their profession instead of their teacher, which I mean in a good way. Prompting the guest helps assure at least some essential class points get covered. I think students enjoy having guest speakers visit their classes.
Regards, Barry
When we have a guest speaker in my classes, I introduce them and their background and then I become part of the class. I sit with my students and ask questions that I think will be helpful to the student's understanding about relevance to their field of study. I also try to ask leading questions to prompt our speaker to talk about topics which I think are necessary to my students' education.
Hi Bryant:
I agree, students tend to be on their best behavior when touring or listening to invited guest speakers. The tie-in to what you're trying to teach them is also reinforced, and some students who may not have yet realized the "big picture" of things might be motivated or experience an "ah-ha" moment.
Regards, Barry
When we put students in front of industry leaders or take them to industry sites, I find that they are more attentitive to what is being discussed and more importantly it provides the instituion a certain level of credibility that tends to get lost in the minutia of education.
Students who are truly in it to learn want to see what thier future may bring them, and being able to visit with those who have been where they are trying to go is always a good thing.
Hi Eli:
I agree. Tours and guest speakers add a dimension to the classoom expierence that really can't be duplicated. The connection from the classroom theory to real world application is wonderfully emphasized when these activities are planned.
Regards, Barry
The benefit of taking students on field trips and to having guest speakers in the classroom is that those opportunities allow the students to "put theory into practice." They are able to see how they can apply their learning to the world outside of the classroom. Field trips and guest speakers also introduce different techniques for engaging students in the learning process.
Hi Debbie:
Timing and getting good tours and speakers often takes time and patience, but most certainly is worthwile adjunct student activity.
Regards, Barry
If we can show students excactly what they will be doing as their new career it may excite them and make them want to succeed all the more.
Hi Lauraine:
I agree with you. These guests and tours add a dimension that's hard to duplicate in the classroom and students usually like the break in the routine.
As you allude to, there is information and stimulation that may open up thought, questions, or technical aspects about the profession. These events may also contribute to increased motivation and enthusiasm by students.
Regards, Barry
I believe field trips and guest speakers get students to think outside the box. They may not have given thought to all aspects of the career they are studying. It gets creative juices flowing.
Hi Carlos:
You're right. I think students benefit from field trips too.The memory of, and connection with the workforce they will soon become a part of is retained by most students. Plus, it gives the students a break from the routine.
Regards, Barry
i believe that the major benefit that students get from field trips and guest speakers is learning and feeling what its really like working in their field of study.
Hi Joannie:
I agree - students like to hear from real folks who come from the field they're training for. Since you have an evening class, you may have a slight advantage in that the regular day is completed for your selected guest. Also, busy supervisors, managers, and department heads are often working late hours trying to catch up with their daily work. But an occasional field trip might be a nice break for 30, 45 or 6o minutes. They also have the ability to assign a tour to one of the shift workers, if that's applicable. Good luck!
Regards, Barry
