Keeping students motivated
I agree with everything this course covers. Motivation on the collegiate level is one of the most important factors today. Of course there are many outside factors, such as life, that can keep todays students down and unproductive. Touching out and providing relevant examples has always worked for me. Students can relate and see that they process many of the same problem solving skills to get over these hurdles. They just need a kick-start to get out of it.
I am currently teaching terminology course to a diverse audience; I have medical assistants, billers and coders, and massage therapists. I use real-life examples for all three groups when we are discussing hard-to-grasp concepts. The students from the other programs enjoy hearing how each concepts applies to the other professions.
Hi Wendy,
Thank you for this example of how you are connecting the dots for the students between their own lives and the career they are training to enter. This illustration will stick in their minds throughout their careers.
Gary
Hello,
I can appreciate all the comments to date. I believe as well that a student can remain at a high level of motivation if they are able to connect all of the dots, especially if they can draw from their own personal life experiences to make the connection.
For example, students in our Health Care Orientation course learn about empathy, standards of care and an brief intro to patient care. As a part of the lecture/instruction, I occasionally ask students to reflect on their own past experiences as a patient in order to see the big picture. They are astonished to learn that in many cases they are not handled with the best of care. Many of them expressed frustration and anger after learning that healthcare professionals are held to a high level of standard. When asked to analyze their own experiences with healthcare and compare to what they are learning to be the right way, they find that unprofessionalism and poor quality does exist. For this reason students' motivation level increased ten-fold to become the best medical professionals ever.
Wendy
Hi Clayton,
Thank you for your profile and perspective on how you want to approach your instructional process. Real world application and relevancy are critical for students success. The more you can connect the dots for them the greater their success is going to be. I like your style and know that at the end of this term you are going to have the satisfied students you are seeking to educate.
Gary
I think this is a good course for beginning instructors. Motivation has always been a key to my own learning. I am starting as an adjunct instructor for a 3D CAD program. I took the course in 2000. I had some instructors that were learning the program and trying to teach it at the same time. Needless to say, a lot of the class time was not as productive as it could have been. Also, there was little or no real world teaching. Teaching was out of the manual and tried to cover everything, including complex procedures that an entry level job seeker would never encounter. My motivation came from what I was able to do with the program and used every minute out of school modeling items, even purchasing old blueprints and creating 3D models from them.
I landed my position from my externship at school; the company hired me and I spent seven years. Now, an opportunity came up that I can teach this class. My goal for my students is to be able to use this program with the efficiency of someone who has at least a year or more experience. In my seven years, I learned all the tricks and problems that can occur. I feel that this concept of teaching from personal experience will be a great motivating factor for my students. Instead of slogging along through a textbook, reading instructions that are hard to comprehend and usually do not make a lot of sense, I will be teaching them real world skills. This will also move along at a more rapid pace, since I have made up many exercises and lessons from actual projects that I have designed and have been bought by real customers.
I am looking forward to working with this class and looking forward to the completion of this term so that I may see the results of my efforts, and hopefully have some very satisfied students.
I would also like to mention that when I took the course in 2000, I was over 50 years old.
Hi Jason,
Good point. Application and relevancy needs to be the core of our instructional planning. If students can see how the content will apply to their career goals they will remain engaged in the learning process. When they see relevancy then motivation increases and it becomes a win win for everyone.
Gary
