Stephen,
Well said and how the instructor as learning leader needs to conduct the class. Relevancy and application are the elements needed for student engagement and to keep their focus.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Lead by example. By being motivated and enthusiastic ourselves and showing them the pride and sense of accomplishment of being in the field of what they are sitting in class for. Make things as relevant as possible and come up with scenarios to show how valuable that the skillset really is.
George,
This increases the level of their investment in their own future. Sometimes they forget the reason they are in school and need to be reminded by applying what they are learning through their projects.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
By being personally involved in the training. make him/her feel she is a part of the project.
Mariah,
I like openings like this. They let the students get settled in, learn something new and have a bit of fun before the class moves forward.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Michelle,
Students like change of pace and variety in instruction. Your comments are right on about how you are offering both to keep your students engaged. Keep up the good effort your students appreciate it.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I always start my class with a "fun fact" its a good way to get the students involved with the subject!
Probably one of the most important things to remember is that of attention span! Don't lecture anyone for hours on end. You hate it. So do they. Give them a variety of modalities, opportunities to work in small groups (especially for the quieter individuals), and independent work time for application purposes. Share application stories and examples, and be sure to laugh! Just finding ways to keep them engaged will help keep them motivated.
Andrea,
Helping them to make the connection between their future career in nursing and what they are being taught now is a powerful motivator. This connection increases the value of their education to them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
One of the things I do to motivate new nursing students when teaching in the clinical area is to help them understand the significance/relevance of what they are learning.
Norma,
So true and something we need to remember as instructors. If we don't being passion for our field it won't be there for our students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Books can give the guidance BUT it will not give you the passion, it comes within..
Daphne,
Passion for one's field and enthusiasm for teaching it are two elements needed for instructional as well as learner success. You make a good point about the value of both.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Be passionate about the teaching material is a must, because students are reading your behavior about the subject. specially if it is a new subject, they don't know what to expect therefore you definitely need to show how much you enjoy sharing a material with passion. Also whoever introduce a new subject to you can make you hate it or love it.
Daphné
Karen,
I teach a required gen ed course as well. I can relate to what you are saying because my students are there because they have to be and not because they see any value in what I am teaching. I work hard to bring relevance and application to what I teach and for most it works. There are still some that never become engaged and miss what I consider to be the real value of the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Karen,
You make a good point about the need to personalize and internalize the course content. This is how students will see the relevance of the course because they see how the content will help them to move toward their career goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
David,
Well said and I agree that these two elements have to be present if students are going to be engaged.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree that motivating is the greatest challenge! I teach for 4 departments-law, liberal arts, criminal justice and paralegal programs. I have repeatedly concluded that students do not care a great deal about courses that are not in their major-in particular liberal arts courses. Ironically, I believe that many of those courses will in fact provide them with some of the most important skills for career success-critical thinking, communications and cultural diversity. I run these classes in a manner that incorporates numerous activities and group work but I still encounter resistance-apathy. I can work with "dislike" or differing interests, but "apathy" can be a killer.
You must be enthusiastic yourself and present material in a way that helps students recognize its relevance to the real world and more specifically to them.
Karl,
Well said and I like your example. The more we can help them to become thirsty for the content and the skills we are offering the more engaged they are going to be.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
