A guest speaker can help motivate students or offer inspiration to them. Field trips are a fun and interactive learning tool. Both tools keep the students interest and change things up from the day to day lectures adding some excitement
Dianna ,
This is not an unfamiliar situation. Depending what time your class is conducted, if possible try to get your guest to arrive first thing or last thing of the class. If they're first, you can adjust your time remaining better, and maybe reflect on what the guest had to say. If at the end of class, your student will appreciate a change in the routine, anad they'll be focused because they know that it for the day and the guest will be done as time will run out.
Barry Westling
I love having guest speakers; my only dilemma is that we have such restraints on time that I feel that if I take any time away from "lecture" time, I am cheating the students.
Sometimes the guest speaker only covers a bit of what I think they should (for me to value having them and their experience/erpertise), so I'm really weary of taking away this valuable theory time.
What do you think Barry?
Jacqueline,
Having graduates return is special and usually meaningful. What new working graduates lack in extensive work experience, they usually make up for in enthusiasm, portraying the profession with admiration and high regard, and bridge their current work with thier experince at the school, being quite familiar with school policies, practices, and curriculum.
Barry Westling
In massage therapy I have graduates come back and talk about their successes in the field. I also like them to talk about the skills they apply in the field that they learned in the course as well as things they may have learned from their externship as well as their current employer so the students can see that their field can be a continual learning process and to embrace that.
Belinda,
I have seen students students literally transform form mediocre to outstanding based on their experience with a field trip. They can be very motivating and stimulating to the point that students buckle down change their ways, and begin on focusing to be prepared for the work setting.
Barry Westling
Some of the benefits students get from the field trips, is to help them understand where their field of study came from and what may be going on in the field. It could help them make life changing decisions as well.
Zack,
Yes, and I think when students are motivated from activities we plan, they feel much more appreciative of the effort their instructor and school has done on their behalf. This helps promote good P{R, rapport, trust and respect.
Barry Westling
Yes,I think both of these things are a big eye opener for the student. It allows the student to see real world jobs in there field and hear first hand acconts of there job experience.
Melinda,
I agree that it doesn't take as much thought and planning to find and coordinate a good field trip as many instructors might think. Students enjoy them, they motivate and stimulate interest, and regardless when in the term they're planned, they're a welcome break from the routine.
Barry Westling
I love taking my students on field trips. Especially when the semester begins to drag and people are losing motivation, it's a great way to get them excited for class again! Chances are, you probably know someone or somewhere to take your students. I think it's also great for people on the other end- gives them something to break up the mundane.
Jocelyn,
Great rationale and argument in favor of incorporating field trips into your courses. I agree these outside events are stimulating and tend to motivate students in a way unlike most other activities. And the break from the routine is usually a welcomed occurrence by the students as well. Every speaker or outside event can potentially put a slightly different spin on selected topics in the course, and that is like a value-added component.
Barry Westling
I really enjoy the opportunity to take students to areas that they can't experience in their usual routine of school. It absolutely gives them the chance to see things above and beyond the "school" experience. They love to ask future colleagues hints and tips for future success -- they can see the end of the road and they rewards for all their hard work. It can be a jump start for those who are getting tired and loosing motivation. It's such a brain recharger. I use guest speakers as much as I can to bring subjects into focus. I can't be an expert on every single aspect of my subject - nursing - so I realize my limitations and have an "expert" teach a specific content. I come behind and stress important points. I belive students gain so much from hearing different instructors teach the same information. Different techiques/different results.
Tony,
Yes, and students usually enkoy a past graduate because they can more easily relate to that person as "one of their own".
Barry Westling
they can see how exactly to put what they are learning to what really goes on in the job place. Listening to guest speakers especially past graduates will allow them to hear from a peer what to expect after they graduate.
AnnaMarie,
My program has clinical hours they must complete throughout their program. Yet still, attending events apart from their regular clinical experiences adds an enhanced dimension to their education. Students get excited and motivated, and tend to feel more a part of the profession they are training for.
Barry Westling
I have found that my students really enjoy attending local conferences that are hosted by Professional organizations in the field they are studying. it gives them a great sense of the idustry as a whole and a chance to talk to differnt people from different areas of the industry so they can understand the different areas they can go into.
Alyson,
Very true. Experiencing a slice of what the expected work setting will be like can be a transformational experience for some students, resulting in them buckling down, modifying their study efforts, and working towards improving their performance based on being motivated and inspired by their field trip experience.
Barry Westling
Sometimes in a mandatory course, it is difficult to see how you will use the information moving forward. Real world experience serves as a preview to what the career force entails and how the course objectives are integral.
Arthur,
I think students find videos' fairly interesting, especially if they are shorter and very specific to topics the students are interested in and/or relate to the course of study. Students can zone out for a lot of reasons, and a longer video that requires mere passive watching is one way to potentially lose some travelers along the way.
Barry Westling
