Course content & instructor experience
One of the quiz questions asked if course content should be selected based upon instructor experience and judgment. I understand that course content must meet the requirements of the curriculum but I also believe that instructor experience is beneficial with regard to adding material to the core/required content. If an instructor can add additional information or a lab project, approved by the department, which will enhance learning and provide clarity, it is the students who benefit.
I do share my life experiences with my students when it comes to teaching my class....it helps them to understand better and puts them at ease.I think your students have to know that you are human.Mistakes will be made and thats when you pick yourself up and start all over again.
I also find that students get excited when I can relate course content with my own life experiences
I think it comes down to the word "selected".
A more acceptable word (at least to educational administrators responsible for curriculum and ensuring that it is uniform across campus locations for a specific course) might be "modified" or "enhanced" by the instructor's experience and judgement.
I agree with both of you that course content shoule be impacted or better yet, -"amplified" - by the instructor's experience and judgement.
However, when you are being asked to follow a acampus-wide "all-site" master syllabus (as I am this quarter for the first time; I've always done my own syllabi in the past), it's hard to change that master syllabus.
However, because the students WANT to hear about how the work they are doing (I teach accounting) is made REAL in the workplace, I supplement the required curriculum with real-life examples and stories from my 20+ plus years in business, half spent in public account and half spent as C.O.O. of a mid sized, fast growth company where timely accounting info was crucial to making decisions.
So maybe it comes down to semantics. I agree with both of your points, but since experience and judgement of instructors can vary so widely, I don't think those factors can or should directly affect what is taught..... but it can affect HOW it is taught and especially how it is enhanced to keep it interesting to the students each class.
Hope this makes sense!
Sue
I agree. I find that students respond well to examples from my own professional experience, and that those examples bring the curriculum to life.
