I use my clinical and educational experiences in the classroom, daily! I not only relate the course content to it, but, I help the student transfer their own experiences as the "patient", to course content. This is what career college instructors have that can set them apart from other learning institutions.
Life Experiences helps students understand and develop new skills easier.
it helps to better relate to the materialin turns helps the student remember it
Students are amazed when they hear "our old stories back in the old days". I tell them how things were done before we had all the modern conveniences and they just can't vision it. In my field there are changes everyday and we have to be prepared for those changes. Each day is a new experienc not only for the instructor but also for the student.
While the correct answer is to make them feel successful, I also think it is to make them feel as if they have a personal connection to what they are learning. When people have that personal connect to anything, they typically become more interested and focused on the topic at hand.
It helps them to learn, and at the same time helps others learn. I often share my personal dental patient stories, and I think it helps everyone to think of how the information we are currently studying was applied in a certain situation. It makes it more "real" and they are excited about this.
Career schools are their final step befor ethe "real world". Sharing life experiences gives them concrete examples of what they will soon see.
As a culinary instructor this is what really works well to connect with my students. By being able to share real experiences from my own work history I am able to motivate and engage the class members.
Yes, it helps them ask questions about your experience rather than content. This way they can learn about the content indirectly & safely.
I think it's always helpful to remind students to link course material to their own experience as a way to make connections and enhance comprehension. I find that making those personal connections to the information you're trying to absorb makes it more relevant and important. I tell my students: make it personal, put it in your terms. Put the information in a personal context, and it will become inescapable.
Absolutely and I know my students respond so well to those real-life experiences. Like you said taking those stories helps move the concepts out of the abstract & into the real.
It lets the students know that you've been working in the field they want to go into and they look up to you and are able to feel comfortable with asking questions without feeling silly.
Life experiences give the students a sense of learning through others. It gets the point over that it is more than facts from a book!
So true. I just recently started classes & when I asked my students their expectations of me, resoundingly they said we want to hear about your experiences so we can learn from them.
Ryan
Yes! I have found that there is nothing quite as powerful as hearing the story of a peer.
Ryan
Especially in our field...life experiences add extra discussions on success in our industry and the pitfalls of unprofessional behavior
Students seem to perk up when I begin to tell life experiences because they some times have similar stories they tell to extenuate the point of the learning and real life experiences.
Students like to hear about the experiences in the field from there instuctors and guest speakers, it helps them better understand what is going to be expected from them and also in the lab, it helps them over come there fears.
it helps the other students learn from one another. How one person has come as far as they have {in a class}, and this information can be useful in the lives of striving to success with the other students.
Totally right and usually there is a breadth of experience to pull from.
Ryan
