By using life experiences in the Classroom, they have a basic understanding as to the "why" something is being done. They have experienced it before, therefore they can relate to it...and the basic understanding of principle is there.
It is important for adult learners to be able to use their life experiences because it will supply relevance and help with remembering the information they associate to their experience.
I think it excites the student and gives them an oppurtunity to learn about others successes and failures in the field.
I have found telling life experiences is an important tool to motivate them and most times students like to hear it
It is very easy to do this in the medical classrooms as almost everyone (young or old) can share some type of life experience - their own, or a family members. It not only helps the student feel like they have something to add to the class, it helps students participate in the class and helps demonstrate the points that I am teaching about with emotional relevance.
Tehea,
Yes, this is one of the main reasons I love to use real life examples, both mine & have students contribute. It engages them & makes them participants in the learning process.
Dr. Ryan Meers
shavene,
I like the way you put this. Those real life experiences really do help us speak the same language & help the students understand what we're talking about.
Dr. Ryan Meers
By using life experiences in the classroom, it enables students to be a part of the teaching process by using examples of their life to help someone else.
I feel that using life expierences breaks it down into the language that they can all relate to.
Life experience is the one variable each student brings to class that enhances everyone's learning, including the instructor.
Many of my students come to my classes with prior learning from their work. As they share it, I see their confidence improving In many ways, most of my essays are really classified as informal and personal rather than strictly formal essays. The last essay, a research paper tends to be more formal. My students share a great deal of the personal as they illustrate a point with personal experiences.
Gerry,
You are making a great point to your students, their life experiences in working with people will help them as they work with the patients in the dentists' office.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Most students that come to the classroom in a career college come with the rationale that they want to change direction in their life. I encourage my students to share life experiences as well as I share my own life experiences because all of the experiences are why we are the way we are today. They have shaped us. I always tell my dental assisting students that whether you have worked in retail or a job that had you work with any part of society, (even a cashier at a grocery store) you have some experience that can be brought into the dental field. The only aspect that may be different is the "fear factor." In retail you have the "pleasure" factor. Society is not fearful when it comes to buying food or clothing. Patients are generally afraid to have dental work. This is especially so if they have neglected their teeth. I have 30+ years experience in dentistry and I know the students like to hear my bag full of patient experiences that helped shape me professionally.
andrew,
You are definitely right in that students do want to hear about the real world & guest speakers are always a great idea as it helps give that taste of the real world.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Using life experiences in the classroom (dental assisting program)helps the adult learner feel that they can be successful because they have experienced a "type of dental treatment" that others may not have experienced . This will allow the student to feel that ' they can relate' and motivate themselves to improve the treatment that they may have experienced. For example; when teaching about the specialty of orthodontics, there may be someone in the class that has had orthodontic treatment and they can relate their experiences; good and bad, and they can try to improve the experiences of 'their future patients' by being more understanding when a 'tightening' of the springs and wires occur.
Students are about to enter a career, they want to know about the real world not what is taught in a classroom even though as an instructor you were their, you need to share the experiences you had in the field and let the students share thier experiences that relate. I feel guest speakers from the industry help to motivate the students from experiences.
andrea,
Yes, I've found that often my real life examples of mistakes I've made also helps my students learn from my mistakes. It also lets them know that it's okay to make mistakes.
Dr. Ryan Meers
i think using real life examples and experiences gives students better information about the subject and can relate to issues and concerns of someone who went through or dealt with the same subject.
Coleen,
When we share real life examples, we can potentially help students identify others in the field they can turn to & possiblly help them locate another mentor.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I believe that by sharing their life experiences with the class, they are seen by others as someone else the students may turn to for advise in this particular field. It also helps all students to feel engaged because they are hearing a real world story example. Everyone loves to hear stories, and I think to some degree, everyone loves to tell stories.
