Professional presentation, your ability to clearly present your subject with enthusiasm and passion will grab the students attention and keep them engaged. You want to see them succeed and one of the ways to demonstrate this is to relate yourself with the student. Becoming an instructor in a field that you trained and worked is a great way to model success. Show the students that you embrace it yourself. The students will see that you are dedicated to the field, to continued education but that you have been where they are. Encouraging them to strive for anything.
Anthony,
I am a big advocate of mentoring programs for the reasons you state. It is so important to have someone to help you get started in your career and with whom you can talk and seek advice from as you climb the career ladder.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
For several years, now, I have really enjoyed mentoring students and emerging professionals. I really feel that this fits in well with my role as an instructor. In addition to what I do for my students, I really hope to be able to mentor them outside of the classroom. As a seasoned professional there is nothing more important to me than to be able to somehow help teach and mentor future professionals. Demonstrating model professional behavior is a big part of what mentoring is about.
Dennis,
Right you are about both the modeling of our expectations and the provision of opportunities to develop their own professional appearance and competence.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Students deserve to be treated with respect, and encouraged to do their best, so that they can learn to do the same in the workplace.
As instructors, it is important for us to always carry ourselves in a professional manner. Our personal appearance, confidence, and willingness to share our expertise must always be on the forefront of our minds. We need to give students a look or a deportment that they can emulate. Teaching them to express themselves clearly is a great place to start.
Emily,
I like your approach to teaching. You are a model, manager and motivator for your students. This is so important when teaching an online course as you mention because they don't get to work with you in person so they need to see your professionalism in action via the methods you mention.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Mary,
Using your method you are showing your student both relevancy and application and both are critical in their career development.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Deana,
Simple powerful advice for all instructors to follow.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Nazanin,
These strategies are so important in the development of the knowledge and expertise of students. I use a lot of case studies for the reasons you mention in my own courses. The more I can help students make a connection between the content I am teaching and the applications they are making the greater the retention of the content is going to be. By being a practicing professional you have examples and stories to share each time you interact with your students so your information is current and relevant at all times. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Carole,
You make a number of very good points and support the development of students. Their ability to function in the work setting involves personal as well as professional skill development.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think instructors acting as role models is one of the most important ways to help our students to succeed and to help the course be successful. Instructors can act as role models in several different areas and ways. One of the ways I like to act as a model for my students is in my timely manner in responding to emails, posts, correcting assignments, etc. If I respond quickly, post things on time, and give appropriate and helpful feedback to my students they are more inclined to model my behavior and complete work on time, write appropriate and well-thought out responses, etc. Another way I like to act as a model for my students is through using professional language (specifically within the field I am teaching) to help them become comfortable with these important terms or topics and help bring the field experience more into the classroom. I also find that when I act professionally and courteously to every student they tend to do the same with each other as well. In an online course students are looking for a model to follow and help them succeed, what better model than the instructor.
Respecting different points of view, specially when these are not in agreement with our own position can help students succeed in their career.
I believe that respect for different points of view or positions that do not agree with our beliefs is a way of showing students how to succeed.
Being professional but also showing the students that you are investing in their learning experience. By sharing clinical experiences that relate to the subject matter.
Always keep in the back of your mind .... most times leading be example pays off.
I believe we must model the behavior we expect from our students. Professional dress and demeanor, preparedness and punctuality should be the standard. I stress that since we have chosen health care careers, we have a great responsibility to present ourselves so that every patient encounter is meaningful. I expect the class to respect each other and me and to value diverse opinions. I feel it's important to try to inject some levity when we can as well!
Having the opportunity to be a part time instructor, while actually practicing as a licensed health care professional, enables me to provide live examples and actual case scenarios in the classroom. Showing students how they can make a real difference in a real patient's health care outcome, makes them become more interested and motivated. Presenting model behaviors through "case studies" makes them think outside of the box and gives them an opportunity to see themselves out there in the real world doing the actual work. They start learning about the "do"s and "don't"s and start to recognize, appreciate, and develope into who they want to be and how they want to be in their career field.
To help students succeed in their career field, we can dress according to the standards of our profession so that students are able to visualize what the working world looks like. Speak to students in a respectful manner which will demonstrate an acceptable way of communicating with professors and peers and what is expected of them in the business world. Demonstrating professionalism and integrity teaches students how to conduct themselves in and outside of the classroom. Success in the classroom and in the business world is dependent on timeliness. Time waits on no one.
Hieu,
This is what being a model is all about. I commend you for all of the effort you are putting forth to be a role model for your students while making sure you are current with your field.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
