Hi Carol,
You make a good point about learning why the students enrolled in the course. As you have listed there are many different reasons for why the students are taking the course and the more you know about these reasons the better you are going to be able to provide support when needed.
Gary
It is helpful to know what their goals and intentions for enrolling are. Sometimes it is because they have lost their job and need to be RETRAINED in another field in order to get another job. Sometimes they want to further the education/job that they already have or to have a better understanding of their job that they are currently employed at. Sometimes employers send them for further education so that they are more of an asset to that employer. Thus it is very helpful as an instructor to know that their reason for enrolling is.
Hi Jessica,
"Selling" a course like yours is a challenge that can be fun since it is an elective. I teach such a course and have worked hard to build content that will appeal to the students and keep them engaged. This effort makes it fun for me because it gets me even more excited about the course. Have fun ramping up your instructional delivery and enjoy much teaching success.
Gary
The course I teach is an "elective" course that is one of three to complete a requirement for the student. While maybe half really want to take the class the other half are doing it because they feel they have to. Understanding that the students might not be as excited about the material as I am is important so I can find different avenues and experiences that might spark an interest and allow the students to relate the information to their personal lives.
Hi Connie,
A good instructor is one that "reads" his/her students and then plans around their situations. You have done this with your current students because of the transportation issues involved. Keep up your effort to offer them maximum exposure to the work world when you can and when you can't try to bring the work world to their classroom through guest speakers and successful graduates.
Gary
Hi Robert,
Having older students in my classes really helps to "sell" my course content because they see the value of what is being taught. They are goal oriented and want to acquire all the knowledge they can because they know where they want to take their careers. They can be a very good influence on the younger students who are not as goal oriented.
Gary
By knowing where your students are coming from does make a difference if you plan any field trips, since it would make a difference where you could go and if they had a way to get there. I have a number of students that depend on the public transportation routes. This makes me take a step back to decide if and where I can take a field trip. It also makes a difference where I could plan them to come for a job shadow. This quarter since I had a high ratio of transportation issues I chose not to take the field trip.
Knowing that my design students are career oriented motivates me to give them as much of my professional life experience. I feel it helps prepare them for real-world situations that were never explained to me as a young student. Hopefully they will avoid some of the pitfalls of their occupation.
Knowing why a student enrolls in the accounting classes helps me be able to use examples that relate to the area of destination. However, over the last 10 years I am seeing more and more of "because it is required" being the reason that students are enrolling. It is refreshing to see older students that have life experiences and a vision rather than the high school graduate that simply wants a babysitter so they can delay getting a job.
Its helpful to know whether they are entering the profesion because of the pay, or because they have a passion for that type of work or because their mother made them when they are fresh out of highschool. Motivation is such an important factor and knowing who to motivate in certain areas helps with overall performance from the student.
Hi Hilary,
You are doing a great service to your students because you are showing them the return on investment (ROI) that comes with effort. By connecting your general studies classes with their career goals you are helping them to create a vision of their future which results in increased motivation.
Gary
I teach General Studies (Composition and Communications, specifically) at a business and technical school, and I have found it absolutely essential to understand reasons for enrollment in order to make my class activities pertinent to their individual interests and needs. Many of my students enter my class with the attitude that general studies courses are a waste of time, so it is crucial that I customize the curriculum to their individual needs and interests in order to immediately get the students engaged and invested in my classes.
Hi Holly,
Passion for one's field really helps to sell excitement and enthusiasm to others. You can get a much higher level of buy in when they believe you really want them to be successful in your field.
Gary
By knowing why studnets have enrolled gives me a good idea of how passionate and dedicated they are to this career. Some students have very specific reasons for entering into massage therapy and others are just interested in the subject. I like to find ways to increase the students passion becuase I am very passionate about what I do and I feel that it makes me nore dedicated to success.
Hi Thomas,
Your comments really reflect where many of our career college students are. They have a specific set of goals and are ready to work to achieve these goals. The more we can assist in this effort through support the greater the level of engagement is going to be.
Gary
It is very true that in this day and age of company restructures, layoffs, and the need for higher eduction to be viable in the employment marketplace, many people have gone back to school. They do arrive with high expectation of change. They do arrive seeking positive, forward motion. It is important to meet this expectation. I will approach each student individually because I want to know what their big idea is. It really helps me relate the course material to the individual needs and boy, some do get very excited!
As a veterinary technician instructor, I like to know what area of the profession or species a students' particular interest and/or experience is in, so I can tailor examples and case studies to situations they will find most meaningful.
Hi Kim,
What a great example of showing value to what seems to be a course with no connection to their major. By learning how important accounting is to criminal justice you are showing them that you are helping them to add more content to their preparation. The guest speakers helped to make the connection while capturing their attention through the stories they told. These are valuable motivation tools.
Gary
If you have an idea of what has motivated them to enroll then you can use that driving force to help them be successful.
Dr. Meers:
It is imperative in understanding why students have enrolled in certain classes and/or programs to help plan the instruction for the course.
Some students enroll in a program that requires them to take a class in which they have no interest and the instructor will need to find a way to reach that student base. For example, I taught Accounting I and during the summer would teach the Criminal Justice majors who absolutely could not understand why they had to take Accounting I. I would have a guest speaker talk about forensic Accounting and talk about his auditing work that he completed with the mafia in New York, drug cartels in Texas, and other various topics that curbed the Criminal Justice Majors interest and after the guest speaker, they really took interest in the course.
Kim Houck
