Field Trips and Guest Speakers
I had guest speakers last term and it was just perfect. I teach a Small Bs Mngmnt / Entrepreneurship. One students was into jewelry design; the other label recording. The speakers offered specifics and overall information for the students. The students had to 'meet & great' their perspective speakers and then follow-up with thank-you notes.
This term we will visit the SBA. This is housed at Cols St University and will be a great learning experience as well. SBA provides packages for entrepreneurs, mentoring, seminars, and etc. I also feel visiting the university will have a positive impact on this particular group of students as well.
I feel field trip and guest speakers both meet the learning objectives and provide new ideas for students to consider.
Best wishes, Ms. King
I don't get many field trips in but they are a break from the classroom and can be a great sense of pride and accomplishment in the case of a working field trip to say a salvage yard to pull engines or cylinder heads etc. in automotive. Guest speakers give the student a different delivery and a sense that they were important enough to bring this person to speak to them to enhance their learning.
I agree completely and have had great success in the past with guest speakers and short field trips. Today's 100 hour accelerated courses seem to be set up with something more like a 150 hour game plan! It seems much more difficult to cover the material and have guest speakers in the current market.
I encourage my instructors to use guest speakers and field trips when possible. As an instructor we are not an expert at all subject areas. Therefore, why not bring in someone that is. That way it increases the students learning experiences and decreases the stress of the instructor and they can learn with the students so if the guest speaker is not available next time they should feel more confident about the subject. Field trips are always interesting. They allow my students to see things that they may not have access to due to contracts. This way they get exposed to multiple things in health care to help there learning of the content.
I agree, the students retain information that is presented by experts well. They often appreciate the opportunity to ask questions and discuss "real life" scenarios.
In educating future physical therapist assistants, I like to bring in guest speakers who are an authority of knowledge in certain areas of the profession. If you have someone that specializes in a specific area, the information is delivered more richly and the experiences shared by the educator only makes the information more valuable and easier to remember. Also, I use field trips to take the students to specific facilities in order to observe evaluation and treatment on real patients in order for the students to understand the whole process and the patient /clinician dynamics.
I agree that field trips and guest speakers reinforce learning. We schedule both throughout our program. The expertise of the guest lectures in the classroom and out in the field are remarkable. The concept of combing outside expertise and hands on experience or observation helps students put it all together. Students gain a better understanding of theory combined with practical application.
Both field trips and guest speakers both are beneficial for reinforcing what we the instructor, are delivering. It is amazing the students retain information and treat it as brand new, when it is presented by "experts' in the field.
I have always believed that guest speakers in the field of study can be very beneficial for students to get a sense of the real world.
I utilize guest speakers and field trips as much as possible, it a great reinforcement tool. In addition, field trips and guest speakers are a great learning tool for an instructor that is working as a professor full time and not working in the field. With your nose poked in the book most of the time, it is hard to keep up with what is really happening in the real world.
The use of guest speakers and field trips are great tools to reinforce the learning process. Our backgrounds, experience, and skills play a key role in the learning process but there is nothing like having an industry face or visual of a facility to bring home the importance of learning.
