do we have the right expectation?
I can have a grade A in a school setting and still be a failure in my professional life
How do we address the fact that sometime school expectations do not always reflect a success in real professional life expectation?
Hi Rejandra,
You are right about the expectations of the course being beyond just the content. We need to also work on the employment and social skill development of our students. They will need these skills if they are going to be successful in the workplace.
Gary
All of us have expectations for our students including being on time, working successfully with others, asking appropriate questions, etc. that will help our students to understand what will be expected of them in their fields. The process of school incorporates so much more than just the specific content of a particular course.
Hi Shawn,
You are teaching your students critical skills that will help them throughout their careers. They need to know how to make application of the content and skills they are developing. If they can't see how time lines and quality of production influence their career success they are going to have some real challenges when they get in the workplace.
Gary
This is very important.
I stress to students that grades are nice. And they help you in school. But they are not what matters after graduation.
Especially since what I teach is game design, employers are not looking at grades. They are looking at the final product. What did the student learn. And for most of the classes, I base grades around employer expectations. I make the classroom simulate a work environment.
So projects have due dates and their grades become their pay. Late projects, unfinished projects, projects that are just turned in for a grade and don't have time devoted to them... all get marked down.
Just some examples. But the idea is to bring those professional life expectations into the classroom and relate them to what they are doing. And along the way, stress the situations they are going to get into and what are acceptable reactions to them.
I agree, I feel as though some of my students are very good at memorization skills and they only retain the information until the test is over
The use of alumni is probalby the most effective tool to put everything into perspective for a class. Not only showing them the potential for success, but to also let them know that without the knowledge they are at school to learn, the chances of success decrease.
First of all never say your a failure . Some students I feel are miss led on what we teach and what I mean is some students give all there time on studying book work and thats good but students really donot know really how to study. They read books and answer questions , What they need to do is understand what they study and how it works instead of just studying for a test. As instructors we need to highly explain why and how to prep students not just answer questions. If students understand how and why test taking will be so much easier for them.
The Question is whether the class material is relevant to their professional life.
Hi Christopher,
Way to go in getting their attention. This should help them to see that they need to work hard to prepare themselves for their careers because they are going to have to "prove" themselves over and over in the work world.
Gary
What I like to tell my students is that school (especially a trade school) is set up for you to succeed. The "professional" world is out there to see you fail. Therefore, while attending school get a job relevant to what you are going to school. In that way the student can then apply what they have learned at school, in the "real world."
I agree. I always try to make my students stay on top of their life goals as well as the content being taught in the classroom so they are able to utilize it.
I think we should encourage them, while in school, to do a "stage" in the professional field in which they are studying. Anyone will let you work for free for one shift, why not go get your feet wet to see if the demands of the industry are on par with what you are learning in class?
Laurent,
I often hear the expression "Those that can, do, those that can't, teach." This seems unfair to say about teachers because not only do the need to be experts in the subject matter but also know how to develope students. I know of people who were excellent in school and found themselves to be failures in a professional lives. The funny thing is they later became teachers.
I always try to relate my own work expierence (since I am teaching subjects I use on a regular basis in my job), which sometimes differs from the textual conceptualization, so that syudents can get a feel of current knowledge application.
this can be very difficult in the culinary arts field. I can not teach my students how to be fast but do have to constly inficise the need to do thing faster in the real world
I really like your Idea Dr Gary Meers about bringing in Alumni that are in the buisness and have been through the school. That would bring it home to the student.
Hi Emily,
This is a good point to keep reinforcing to students. Their education is intended to help them throughout their careers not just for a moment in time. It they can see the big picture they will start to understand the value of what they are learning in their different courses.
Gary
I think the academic world/real world difference can also be minimized if you reiterate to students -- even if you don't need to know this for the job you want right now, you may need to know it for some job you try to attain in the future.
Hi B.A.,
It is critical that students see the change that occurs from school to the real world just as you mention. Your strategy is a good one to help students to see the relevancy and application of what they are learning. In addition, your method helps them to learn how to cope with the challenges that will come in the real world setting.
Gary
