As a former graduate, I often consider that students may view topics as irrelevant because they cover subjects that they have never heard of. It is important to articulate how these topics/skills apply to the industry. How or where these things will be used, and by whom.
Hi Julia,
I like to do this as well. This helps me to "base line" the knowledge of my students so I know how much I need to cover for the foundation and then when I can move on to the higher level areas.
Gary
I learn the sequence of the classes they have had and where they are in the program, then I do a brief question period to test their knowledge at the beginning of class so I know the areas they need more coverage on.
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for sharing this example and how it worked in your setting and how it could work with others. The key to using any assignment is assessing how it works in your setting. You did a very good job of that. Each time I teach a course I add at least one new thing. Some are great successes and others will never see the light of day again, but no matter the results it keeps me excited about teaching courses that I repeat as often as ten times a year. I want to remain fresh and excited in my approach to the class and the students and this is one of the strategies I use to do this.
Gary
Hi Gil,
You are right on about showing the students the "real" world that is ahead of them. This really helps them to see the skill sets they will be acquiring and using.
Gary
My best responses for this I've already used under the topic of "Instructional Style" in Forum 1. So, I should say that for me matching content to need is perhaps my single most important technique in developing my instructional style. But there is one more that I tried in order to bring "need" and "content" together in mathematics classes...
In my developmental and algebra courses I did try something that is perhaps more the province of English teachers: I assigned journaling for the academic term. The students were to keep a daily record of their encounters with quantitative problems and their use of mathematical reasoning. The goal was to improve the match of need and content from both ends. For myself, this was an attempt to study some of what the students' needs were as well as to encourage them to appreciate more of the content that they were already offered.
However, there was another side to this. Firstly, I was not equipped to assess a long-term journaling assignment. This indeed requires someone with the appropriate skills, like an English teacher. Moreover I found to apply that aphorism, "Be careful what you wish for; you might get it!" This exercise taught me more about my students than I wanted (or needed) to know.
Even though I no longer use this assignment, it was a good one to try and some students did say that they learned much from it, so I won't characterize it as a failure. But I didn't get quite the results that I was looking for.
Nurture your skills and knowledges. Keep up with the trends and adapt to the current market needs. Develop and maintain a professional relationship on the field. Use commun sense, care and Commit.
Hello Dr. Meers,
Reminding students of the types of daily challenges they will have once being hired as a Chef.
That the vision will be broader than other food service staff.
Do they have the skill set to accomplish what has to be done, culinary and business wise?
thx Gil-
My course combines hands on , practical learning. Through a series of demonstrations, lecture, video, and guest speakers, I keep them excited and looking forward to my class every day.
Hi Jane,
You are doing a great job of incorporating all of the learning preferences into your presentations. This way you are appealing to all of your students' input modes.
Gary
Hey, I love that statistic about listening.
I teach a wine course in a professional culinary school...on the very first day I lead a "brain storming" session on why professional chefs need to know about wine...we review the recipes they have made with wine, the role of wine in the overall profitability of a food service establishment, and the interaction of food and wine. Also, every day I try to tie that day's lecture to the topic of the previous class...and tie it all into being a chef! Many culinary stduents are quite tactile learners so I also try to include tasting and sensory experiments (with food as well as wine) woven into my class.
Hi Kristine,
Great to hear about how the course has been of help to you. I wish you much success in your teaching. If you have an further questions please feel free to call on me.
Gary
I have taken the information that I learned in this online course. I have become more aware of the steps to first meeting. Being more personable first then an instructor.
Being more aware of the learning styles , that each student learns differently and a few diffrent methods should be utilized so that more comprhension is acheived
revising power points, making more specific lesson plans for myself.
Hi Ryan,
Great job of bringing it all together for your students. They can see relevancy and application from what you are doing with the course and the outcomes.
Gary
Finding out more about the students current expectations as well short term and long term goals enables me to personalize the instruction and assist them in their long term development.
Nearly every thing I teach is directly related to the field that my students are going in. I do hands on demonstrations every day in class as well as lecture to illistrate why the demonstrations work. Science meets baking. Keeping lecture to a minimum and precisely mapping out demos without shortcuts. This is my strategy to instructing students.
I teach game design, so each assignment focuses on a different element of game play interactivity. While not all games use all the design tools (indirect control, emergence, IP, etc), they need to be aware of them and apply them to different designs.
To that end, I am always trying to keep up with new designs and technology, and actively adapt related content to new information.
Hi Fortuna,
Thank you for sharing this great example of using food terms as a integral form of acquiring proficiency in another language. You are right about the language of food being universal. When you combine food and laughter you have a winner. I have found that when traveling internationally when I am in a market place by pointing and smiling I am soon being offered some wonderful food along with sharing a laugh with the stall vendor. I always walk away feeling very satisfied both physically and mentally.
Gary
In general, teachers of a second language must find ways to make the course interesting and relevant to their students. It is certainly a challenge since communication may not always be clear. I find that in the career education field this is even more difficult but also very rewarding.
I teach English as a Second Language to culinary students and I am always searching for ways to provide language examples using culinary concepts and vocabulary. I find the students welcome the relevance of the lesson being taught and tend to ask more questions and be more involved.They are more apt to explain a recipe to me in English than to simply read a sentence from a grammar book. The language of food is universal.
