Students need to remember why they came to school in the first place. By being able to tie the information to their ultimate career goals will help the students stay focused and continue their educational career.
VICTOR,
This is true because just because they enrolled does not mean that they have an understanding of what all their career selection entails. The more they learn about it the more they realize that this is the right career choice for them or that this was not and they need to move to another area.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The students might even change their goals after they are enrolled and can gain new insights to future possibilities and new goals.
Hello James,
What you mentioned it is very true. I like to ask my students "why" are they enrolled in the program, as well as what do they want to gain out of it; it gives me some valuable insight and it also makes the students think about their goals.
Jeremy,
This is so important for students to hear and understand. You have selected content, projects and activities that will help them to prepare to enter their chosen career field. Your examples increase their interest in the course and how it will help them to move closer to their career goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The field in which I teach has a lot of related sub-fields, so understanding why a student is enrolled can help me relate and interact with students in their personal areas of interest. This is great to helping them feel comfortable and getting them excited about the coursework.
It is also helpful because my students tend to have a diverse range of backgrounds - all of whom can contribute in some way to discussion forums and other group activities.
In addition, I spend quite a bit of time talking to students about how things are 'in the real world' in their field. Anything I can do to tailor that conversation to their interests will help them relate.
Andrea,
Students do need to be reminded throughout the course as to what the goals of the course are because as they wear down in the course they can forget why they are in the course. Also, the more relevance and application you can make the better because this increases the value of course content for the students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
My courses are designed to teach business principles to students at the end of a technical training degree program.
After several sessions, I've come to realize that some of my students actually took the engineering courses only to get access to the business program, while others are just marking time to complete their course requirements.
It's changed the classroom dynamic a lot and expanded the material we cover because so many of our students want more in-depth instruction in the business details.
Knowing the student's reasons for enrolling gives me some ways of encouraging the students throughout the course by reminding them of their goals. I used to teach overseas, and in that culture, many students enrolled to please their parents. These students were very difficult to motivate. I had to work at finding ways to make the material exciting and get them interested in the field of learning in which they were enrolled.
Understanding why students are enrolled gives you insight into their motivation, and helps you secure buy-in from them to continue and to succeed. Students often start classes with a very clear vision of what they want to achieve, and it's easy to forget this or set it aside once obstacles start popping up, or the reality of being in class sets in. Knowing why they are here gives you something to remind them of, and allows you to tailor your encouragement to keep them going. It also allows you to tie the lessons to their goals, wherever possible, making it more meaningful to everyone.
I belive this is important because it will help motivating your student once you know if this is their dream or their parents.
In the culinary education area, students have enrolled either to gain entry level skills or to buttress what they may have learned in the "school of hard knocks."
Understanding the experience and skill of each student allows the instructor to tailor teaching methods as needed. Additionally, allowing students with a significant amount of experience to contribute to the class can be mutually rewarding and beneficial.
If I know why students have enrolled helps me understand their motivation. If they have enrolled in hopes of moving on to become a better provider for their family or escape a situation, I find myself wanting to motivate them with more information and learning opportunities. If I know they are only there because "they have to be" the student is usually less motivated. This situation often frustrates me due to their lack of motivation, I then find myself challenging them more with questions and learning opportunities to motivate them more frequently.
Leslie,
This is very good information to have as you mention. The more you know about your students and their goals the more accurately you can plan your instruction and target their learning preferences.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
If you know why students have enrolled in your program, you know what they expect to get out of your class. That helps you to plan instruction that ensures they are "getting what they paid for." Your instruction must be relevant to their goals; therefore, knowing their goals helps you to plan instructional activities that will help them achieve their goals.
Jill,
This is a very important bit of information. You can do a lot of instructional planning around this information as well as provide support when needed.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Kurt,
Like your approach of getting students to commitment themselves to why they are in the course. By writing down their reasons you are being informed the why of their enrollment and they are putting themselves in the position of accountability. Good way to keep them engaged for the duration of a course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Knowing the reason they enrolled will help to understand where I need to focus my teaching the most.
I believe that it is foundational that we as instructors have a good idea of why a student has enrolled into the course. I always have each students write down on a card the reason that they are here. This gives me another motivational tool in case the student is in jeopardy of wanting to give up. I can then remind the students of the reasons why he should continue and rebuild the fire that was the driving force of his enrollment decision. As far as instruction planning, If a student is at my school to “get a job†or perhaps is there as a stepping stone to become a mechanical engineer, well then that would definitely change the approach and change the “highlights†of what is being taught.
I have my students introduce them selfs and tell why they chose their cereer field on the first day of class.
Knowing the reason why a student enrolled in your class.Will let you know what motavated them to enroll and their interests.What kind of goals they have set for themself. What the students needs will be so they will feel comfortable in class. This lets me know the characteristics of each student so I can plan for there sucsess.
