Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Lynn,
This is what making the course relevant is all about. Getting to students to see how they can use what they are being taught in their lives.
Gary

Lynn Wolters

It is fun for the students if you can find case studies that use local companies or products they are very familiar with or use every day. I think it helps the learning take place outside the classroom. When the students come back the next week and tell you they were discussing it over the weekend with friends it is successful.

Kirk Lewis

One way we learn is buy taking that "new thing" and comparing it something we already know....So stories and real-world experiences work well.

RAQUEL RIOPELLE

I also agree. Bringing real world examples into your lecture materials helps to tie in the theory to your lecture. I find that bringing in examples invites studentes to interact and provide their own examples to the forum in class. It also helps those students who find it difficult to stay focused on simply lecture materials.

Bonnie Tuggle-Ziglar

There are times when you teach a course that you may not have any real world examples for. In this case, you can usually find some examples in the textbook to present and discuss. Even if you haven't participated in the real world for this subject area, you can certainly imagine what you would do in certain situations. I often times "make-up" stories for real world examples, just to give the class a better understanding of a topic. And of course you should always ask if anyone in the class wants to share their experience.

Marie McCraw

I agree. Students want real world examples. I found that role playing works wonders in a classroom. It keeps everyone's attention and makes learning fun. I always keep Monopoly money available when I teach accounting classes. It makes more sense to the students when they actually see the money exchange hands between the companies involved in the transactions.