Hi Gary
Making instruction relevant, in general education the instructor approach is to have students determine why and how the class content is to relevant to him, instructor need to explain what is the objective of the course and what is relevant to they need, for teacher making the class content relevant to students will facilitates their learning and build motivation to reach their objective.
Eric
Thank you so much for your kind words and your helpful thoughts, Gary. Yes, many students seem to give a heavy sigh at the onset of many general education courses. My goal is to help them see the relevance of the course while fulfilling the learning objectives, with a little fun along the way hopefully.
All the best to you, sir.
Rockford
Hi Dr. Sansom,
What a great way of laying out how a general education course can be of such value to the education of a student. I teach several general education courses that are required for my students to receive their state certification. They moan and groan but somewhere along the course they start to realize they are learning things of value that will help them with their careers. You have expressed it so well with your points. Thanks for sharing them with us because I know they will be of help to other instructors that face the same challenges as we do.
Gary
Hello all,
I often teach humanities-related material online. Adult students, who are career focused, can question the liberal arts content in their general education curriculum from time to time, so I focus on relating the material to the big picture of their educational journey and their goals. I often send and email and invite conversation with this tactic. For example, I might say the following:
As I've read your biographies, I've noted that so many of you have wonderful career goals: teachers, people of business, and all kinds of great paths that lay before. (I wish you all the best in your futures!) But since you're in a humanities class, you might ask, "If I want to be a business person, for example, why do I have to learn all of this humanities stuff?" And that's a very valid question, so I'm going to answer it:
(1) Studying the humanities and the arts builds your reading and writing skills. This reason is a very practical one. In any career path, you will be required to read and write well. Exploring the humanities (like media and culture in this class) is one of the most acute means to develop those skills.
(2) When studying cultures and the arts, we learn about language as a means of communication. We explore more sophisticated and technological ways to express ideas.
(3) When studying the humanities, we explore the world around us and what it means to be a human. We dive into historical and personal contexts, and we look at all facets of the world: political, sociological, economic, religious, and philosophical; the list goes on and on. And we explore our personal reactions to all of those concepts. We ask, "What is it like to be human?"
While--true--a humanities class may not prepare you to be a business person in the same direct way that a business class will, a humanities class can make you more proficient critical thinker and writer, with an appreciation for deep questions and deep answers. My goal is that you’ll be able to apply these skills to all that you do in your educational journey and beyond into the work place and in life.
This strategy has been very successful and provides students with a greater context for the information.
Thank you,
Dr. Rockford Sansom
I believe all instruction should be relevant. I often present to the students the relevancy of the course materials and how it relates to their goals.
Hi Leslie,
Anytime you can show students application and relevance you are doing them a favor in their learning process. They start to see the value of what they are learning by connecting the dots between content and their field. This really enhances their motivation level.
Gary
We are preparing students to work in the medical field so explaining the relevance of the topics is very important to them. When I have to teach gas physics and the students eyes start to glass over, I explain why this is important and how they will be using this at a patient's bedside some day to better care for that patient. They tend to be more interested in the information and tend to apply themselves more.
Hi Michael,
I call this "connecting the dots" to form a picture for the students. Sometimes they can get worn down and forget why they are in the course in the first place. They need to be reminded of how far they have come and how close they are to achieving their career goals.
Gary
To often learners are under the assumption (right or wrong) that what the are learning is irrelevant. When this happens it is hard to "peak" their interest and thus learning suffers. When this happens in my classes I usually revert back to a personal experience that somehow related to the subject in hopes of making them view the lesson as being relevant.
I use my experience in the automotive field to tell my story of education and hands on experience to remind them of the big picture. I tell students to think of their carrer path and planing as they age how it can change from 20, 30 and 40 years of age and it will be different to keep an open mind and keep learning
It's always nice to have the students relate what may be stated during class to their life experiences. I may have a concept relating to their class but show how it can also relate to something in their life or have the students tell me how it relates in their lives.
Culinary arts students want to see themselves working in the industry; as an instructor you need to help them visualize how each particular subject is relevant to their performance in a real life kitchen.
My students come to me "in all shapes & sizes". They have very varied backgrounds & experiences & are all different ages & have different capacities to learn culinary information. So, day 1 I have them fill out a general history about themselves & I analyze them throughout production so I can relate to the auditory, the tactile & the visual learners throughout their time with me for the 6 weeks. I am able to affect most every student positively for culinary skills progress.
Hi Bill,
Right you are about how students respond to real life examples. These stories show them application and relevancy to what they are learning so they can then refocus when you go back to content.
Gary
Hi Larry,
Great strategy. This approach helps to make your math a part of the total career training process for your students. They can see the value of math because you will be giving them specific examples related to their individual career areas.
Gary
I find that stories and personal anecdotes really have a positive effect on helping students "see" how the instruction they are getting becomes relevant.
What I often do when I see that students are either struggling with the course content, or simply drifting away during lecture is pause my instruction and turn the discussion to a relevant real life experience in my background. Usually, students perk up a bit when the hear how what they're learning can be applied to life experience
I teach math to students in a variety of programs. The majority are in some type of health care while others are in business management, IT, etc. I have gone to my colleagues in the various programs to see how they use math so as to build relevant math problems and examples.
This has had a twofold effect. I gain useful material and the other teachers can better coordinate their math needs with the progress of the math course.
Hi Elizabeth,
Great connection between academic competence and career application. The more of these connections that can be created the more value students will see in their support courses.
Gary
Culinary and Pastry students learn better in academic classes whenever we relate the material to the kitchen. For instance, in English class we have the students write menus, restaurant reviews, etc. This helps them enjoy taking the class along with really understanding the material.
So they know that you know what your talking about. Anybody can read. It's the real life situations that are the most beneficial. One way is that the patient's have confidence in you. That they know you know what your talking about and that you know what your doing. If you lack of knowledge or confidence in what your doing they (patient's) are going to see this as well.
