My course is respiratory therapy and I am responsible for teaching them in their first term of true respiratory courses after they complete their GE courses. Our program involves both didactic and clinical education. Students look forward to their first time working with patients hands-on but they have to get through 8 weeks of term 1 with me before they get that clinical time. To keep them motivated and excited to get through those 8 weeks I always use clincical examples with my lectures whenever possible. They have so much material to memorize(anatomy, terminology, medications, etc) that it can become overwhelming at times. If I can give them real life experiences I've had in these areas it reminds them and shows them what all the book work is leading up to. Patient scenerios keep them interested and focused on the final prize of taking care of patients and gives them something tangible to compare their studying to.
I also remind my students about the true satisfaction in taking care of people when they injured or ill. I share stories of their gratefulness, etc. I find this really motivates students to do well in class so they make it to the clinical portion of their program.
I think the best way to motivate and excite your students is to lead by example. Meaning, YOU need to be the one who is excited, YOU have to love what you are teaching. When the students see this it will hopefully rub off on them and they will start feeling motivated and passionate about becoming a professional, and getting a career, in turn keeping them motivated and excited about your course.
I feel that the instructor needs to make the material interesting, real world and exciting so that the students want to learn. I teach criminal justice, and i always employ this practice- it is met with positive results.
Find out what learning styles and interests they have and what motivates them. Combine their interests with associated analogies for learning material
I talk to my students about my pastry chef experience,in the hotel and restaurant industry that require knowledge,commitment and a lot of schedule flexibility.
That's a good suggestion Dr. Meers. I'll have to think on some new techniques I might bring to the table. Thank you!
Kerstin
Hi Kerstin,
In a sense you answered your own question about how to get ramped up for a course that you really don't care that much about. The key has been for me as well as yourself as mentioned in your forum comment is to find different sections of the course that can get you excited. The other suggestion I would have is to try different kinds of instructional delivery techniques for the course. I have found that these different techniques get me excited because I want to see how they are going to turn out even if I'm not that excited about the content. Before I know it I am excited about both the content and the delivery.
Gary
I don't know that this is something that everyone can use, but I honestly LOVE my field. I feel pretty darned lucky that I do something I am actually passionate about. I also found (to my great surprise when I first started teaching) that I LOVE to share my knowledge and passion with others. So I honestly get excited when I am teaching.
I may have found out a new technique in a program I dig and I will literally be bouncing up and down a little in my seat and saying to my students "Ohmygod!! This is SO COOL guys! I can't WAIT to show your this!!" They chuckle at me, but their eyes light up and they grin and lean forward and LISTEN. Enthusiasm is infectious. So I share that with my students. Some of the comments I get in evaluations bear out that my thrill in this stuff is "catching."
So I know, all well and good if you LOVE the subject, but what if you don't? As much as I enjoy what I teach I have had classes I don't feel enthusiastic about. So what do we do? "Fake it till we make it?" Look for SOMETHING in the subject we can get excited about? That's a bigger challenge. I think I do okay with those classes, but I'd certainly appreciate some tis and suggestions!
Hi Bonita,
Great complement to your instructional style. When students start to ask for stories it sends a very clear message that you are sharing something that is interesting and of value to them. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Hi Vicki,
Way to go with making the course relevant to the lives of your students. This is what it is all about. If you can help them create a connection between the classroom and their lives they will be more apt to complete the course as you know.
Gary
The way I motivate and excite my students is on the first night of class I tell them EXACTLY what I expect. I teach Hospitality Suprvision. I tell my students the golden rule of being a good supervisor: unless you let your employees know exactly what you expect of them, they will fail. If they fail because they did not know or understand your (the supervisor's) expectations, then you have failed as a supervisor. With that said, this is the theme of my course, so I tell them that they will know exactly what they have to study and exactly what questions will be on tests.
Another motivational technique I use is I tell stories of actual events related to the topics I am teaching. Since I work in Human Resources and have over 30 years experience, I have many great real life stories. The students love it and by the third night of class, students are saying "tell us a story."
Great idea Mark. I am going to incorporate this more into my English classes. Sometimes the reading material selections can be a bit overwhelming to my students. Perhaps, by bringing in something from outside the classroom, they can be more engaged with the material.
Yes, my students are very unsure in my developmental studies courses, so I try to provide encouragement and real life examples from my ten years of teaching(and also my own background as a student). I find that if you start out with a positive note that first class period, it tends to set the tone for the class.
I find ways that the course is relevant to life and careers outside the classroom. For example, I teach writing and grammar. I begin by illustrations of a sample resume and cover letter as to why the students will need to have these skills.
i think we should motivate the students to learn and tell them that get what they can in the class and use it as their weapon when they are out there and its the best thing they can have with them and have the self confidence.
I enjoy taking my students on a variety of real-world field trips that involve a project or assignment afterwards. This enables them to practice the skills they have acquired in class, see them work in action,and then relate back to me what they have learned. It creates a fun feed-back loop that can lend to future projects - and perhaps, generate interest in future internship sites.
You can make them excited to come to class, by never knowing what fun and exciting game or activity they are going to have next. At the same time, allowing them to hold themselves accountable for any unsuccessful task that may have been completed.
I think it is important to create an environment that students are comfortable for learning. That is you should expose what the real life will offer when they finish this course so they can see the link between the subject matter and the success of their lives in terms of career wise.
Alas
I think it is important to appreciate when they do complete their assignments. You mention successful stories that are real and you should try to connect thier field of study to thier career.
Motivating and inspiring students can be achieved after you show them that your are well organized, and confident. You start with your class certain issues that are related to the subject matter and discuss with them and try to make them relate so they can understand more.
Alas
It is important that, as an instructor, you should encourage and motivate students so that they can achieve their goals.
Alas
