Hi Pam,
Wow! You covered a lot of material in your forum response and it is all good advice. The more you can involve your students in the field and the future the more successful and directed they will be. The use of the field trips, guest speakers and business/industry standards(field boards) helps to make the students' efforts worth it. They can see the end result of all of their efforts.
Thank you for sharing your efforts in this area. I know your students are well served as a result of your bringing the community to their classroom.
Gary
Hi Gary,
I am in constant contact with potential employers of my students. I have a very clear understanding of what qualifications they are seeking in new graduates. I also speak often to past students out working in the field, and am able to keep abreast of any new changes or information. It is my goal for every student to be as successful as possible. I teach the information to the level that they should be able to succeed in passing our field's board tests, the gold standard in the industry. Most employers are now requiring the passage of these boards, as a condition of employment. We have past students return to speak to the current students about their experiences. We also have potential employers come and give a presentation regarding their expections for new graduates entering the field. The goal is for every student that seeks employment to find employment. Therefore, all of my teaching lays the groundwork to meet that goal.
Pam
Hi J Kanso,
As dedicated educational professionals we have to do what ever we can to keep the students engaged in the learning process. As you indicated in your remarks about the diversity of your students this presents a challenge. As educators we have to constantly be looking for novel and creative ways of presenting content to our students. This is both a lot of fun as well as very challenging. The key is to have a sense as to when we need to change tempo, introduce new content, and reconnect with our students. This requires skill in the area of reading people. Some students will send very overt messages about how they think the class is going and others will be less forthright. The needs of both have to be met. Keen observational skills will help greatly in determining just what changes need to be made or if reorganization is in order.
Your use of outside resources is very good. Students enjoy hearing the stories of those that have taken the training and been successful. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Hi Gary,
I think having a variety of instructional strategies is important. Different students with different back rounds (cross cultural, language, education…), you do whatever it takes.
I personally use field trips, guest speakers, videos, power point and sometimes irrelevant stories just to keep them interested!
The bottom line is to give them the education needed and to keep them motivated with a positive attitude for them to achieve their goal.
J kanso
Hi Diab,
Great job of including your students in the “real world†of career preparation. I hope all of the experiences that you lay out for them give them an understanding of how they soon will be a part of their selected career field. I have found that when they have that understanding they are much more willing to complete assignments and projects. They start to see the application of what they are learning.
By being able to study with someone that has done it (you), they are getting field information that is accurate and relevant. Your sharing of your experience helps them with this understanding. They are being given a successful role model to whom they can emulate.
Gary
While I am teaching the content, I talk briefly about my past experience in the field and how I have succeeded throughout my working years to reach a top position as a lab manager.
I invite some successful graduates to give speeches about their experience in the workforce.
I arrange field trips for students to attend several working sites (Reference Labs).
I encourage students to read professional magazines for their prospective career that contain interesting topics and to view the current job opportunities in the field.
Diab
Hi Ann,
Application of newly acquired knowledge is the key to engaged learning. The hows and whys of knowledge application does much to motivate students especially in the core courses as you mentioned. By creating a clear picture of career use for students you will be doing a great service for their career planning. You will be helping them to create a future for themselves.
Yes, the Career and Technical Educator's Survival Guide is out of print, but I have been able to find used copies through Amazon after several attempts. You never know when a copy will pop up.
Gary
Hi Carol,
You are correct about using a variety of delivery methods in order to touch on the different learning styles and multiple intelligences of your students. Each person prefers to take in information in different ways as well as processing the information in different ways (multiple intelligences). By using diversity of delivery an instructor can hit on both intake and processing thus enhancing the learning potential.
By having a variety of instructional strategies it also helps instructors to stay fresh in their teaching. Looking for different ways of delivering the same content helps instructors to hone their skills as instructors, increase their own motivation, and facilitates learner improvement.
Gary
Hello Ann:
Regarding the Survival Guide, try ACTE:
http://www.acteonline.org/store/actebooks.cfm
Dr. Meers will comment seperately on your forum posts.
Regards,
MaxKnowledge Administration
For core classes where the students come from a plethora of majors, I tell them what we are going to learn. Next, I ask why we would want to bother learning this; when would we ever use it. I try to make the answers applicable to situations that everyone could encounter.
Under the Further Study section, the link that takes you to Amazon, Career and Technical Educator's Survival Guide, is out of print, is that correct?
It is important that an instructor assess their students'learning styles as soon as possible after beginning a new course. Once the assessment is made, as an instructor, I then development my delivery around the needs and learning styles of my students. Generally, in a career school classroom, I have found that a mixture of lecture, demonstration, and hands on applications work well with my students. To motivate and keep students interested in the material, the instructor must make the course content relevant to the individual students in the classroom. The main strategies for ensuring relevancy is observing students and using a varity of delivery methods to determine which one(s) appear most effective.
Hi Andrew,
Right you are about the examples used and the need to use many of them so students can see the relevance of what they are studying from a variety of perspectives.
You might want to develop an evaluation procedure where you can get feedback from your students about how effective the examples were in getting your point across.
Use 3x5 cards and let the student give you feedback anonymously. This way you can learn how effective the examples are without any pressure being put on the students. This method can be used in terms of assignments, tests, etc. It helps you to keep a running account of how the course is going.
Gary
Some courses are eaiser to show relevance toward real life application than others. Examples are critical enlighten the student as to why they are going to invest the time in the course. An instructor must remember that the example they deem to be waterproof, may not be viewed the same way by all students. Multiple examples or scenarios may be required to "sell" the course.
Hi Keith,
In addition to having visuals for the students, it is always good to have examples of applications outside of the classroom. If you can show the student through pictures, videos, or guest speakers examples of how effective blueprint reading will result in accurate construction you will have achieved a major instructional goal.
Keep up the good work.
Gary
One of the courses I teach is blueprint reading.I have 3d visuals aids for each print, most new student can not see what an isometric is so having an object to hold on to makes a big differentce.
Hi Larry,
Great examples of how you make your course content relevant. These graphic examples give your students clear evidence of how important ethics are and how that through the study of your course they will have an even greater depth of knowledge about this most important subject.
From your examples I can see that you are an instructor that works hard to bring both theory and practice together in your classroom. Not only must the students be aware of ethics they need to see examples, both positive and negative, around them in all walks of life. Your methods help to give them the experience base that they need.
Keep up the good work and I wish you much success in the classroom.
Gary
I am a legal instructor and I teach legal ethics. It is relatively easy to make the course content relevant. I try to demonstrate by real life examples how the concepts we are studying are important and relevant. One method I use is by showing the “disciplinary section†of the state bar association journal. Attorney discipline is published for everyone to see. By reviewing actual cases of attorney discipline and the actions that led to the sanction, I am able to vividly demonstrate that ethical violations are real, they happen all of the time, and attorneys are really sanctioned when they violate rules of professional conduct.
Another method is by showing how non-lawyer ethical violations can have serious repercussions. As an example, a student on an externship once mentioned to her mother the name of a client of the law firm where she was working. The mother, in turn, told a friend at her hairdresser. Word reached the law firm and the student was immediately terminated. This is a vivid demonstration of the importance of confidentiality and the consequences of failing to keep information confidential.
Lastly, I have students bring in articles from magazines and newspapers which relate to ethics both in the legal work place in the general work place. These articles clearly demonstrate that ethics plays an important role in the workplace.
Hi Melissa,
Thank you for the kind words about the information and strategies that you got from this course. It is always a great feeling to help someone move forward with their professional development.
You are well on your way to improving your instruction as well as your ability to perceive how you can better meet the unique needs of your students. Using your creativity will go a long way in helping you in this area.
I wish you the best and if I can be of any further help please feel to contact me.
Gary
I teach accounting so it involves a lot of lecture and notes. I am going to try the mini-lecture, then have them solve a problem before moving on to the next step. This way they can see that they are building on what they have already learned. Doing so will also cause the students to feel less overwhelmed by the subject matter at hand.
Other things I got from this course included the attention span of the average adult (15-18 minutes) and the need to mix up the "delivery" technique of the material so that it better reaches each student, as there are several different types of learners in each of my classes.
