Absolutely! I've had plenty of students who are sent to school because their parents want them to "get an education" but the student has no personal goals or even knows why he's there. Dealing with these students is a struggle but can be done through encouragement and support. Once they've tasted success they want to continue... most of the time.
Hi Cynthia,
Good way to make it personal for the students. There are so many reasons why they enroll just as you say. The key is finding those reasons and then keying on them so you can encourage and support your students.
Gary
Hi Stephanie,
You have highlighted one of the challenges we instructor face with the mix of students we have today. We need to be a to balance the needs of both groups while moving the class forward. Another reason why teaching is never boring.
Gary
I think one reason this is very important, to me personally, is that a certain percentage of my students always seem to have enrolled because it was just the next thing to do. I get, from some of them, that either they felt like their family wanted them to go, or that they feel like there are outside forces or reasons for their going to school. I always feel like these are the hardest students to motivate. At least once a quarter I try to have them do an assignment where they write about their reason(s) for returning to school.
It is also a big help for when I can see that a student is frustrated or down. If I know their motivation is their child(ren), for instance, I can encourage them by saying something like "I know it's hard right now, but think about how you will feel when your child sees you walk across the stage to get your diploma."
I teach at a Technical College and find that the older students have a desire or passion, if you will, that drives them toward the final goal. They have been out in the "real world" and know that in order to change the direction of their career, they need to study hard and get everything they can out of the coarse that they have chosen. Where as, the younger students, just out of high school are enrolled and in school, just as a stepping stone. They still don't really know what they want to do with their lives.
Hi Jackie,
Your approach is a good one because you are meeting them where they are in their field and then helping them to move to the next level. This really helps with motivation and engagement.
Gary
Usually, I see students in my class who are working adults already in the business field who want to gain additional knowledge. They are students who want to use their experience and relate it to the content being discussed. By knowing my students and their needs, it will help me to plan a more productive instruction.
To help them achieve thier ultimate career objective. It may also help you, help them, to overcome any obstacles that will/may stand in thier way of achieving that objective.
Hi Susan,
This is making it "real" for students. You were able by drawing upon the human resources you had in class create interest not only from them but the other students as well. This is what good teaching is all about. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Knowing why students have enrolled in my class/program helps to plan my instruction. I can tailor my examples so that they can relate a piece of it to their own experiences. Once, I had several realtors in my class (business math course), so I used several math examples in calculating aspects of a loan (rates, terms, principal). They really got into it and as a matter of fact, since it was a topic that was in interest to many (either owned a home or wanted to) it held interest of many others as well. Examples that are interesting to the students helps!
Knowing if a student has enrolled as an adult learner, possibly because of the loss of his/her previous job, rather than to expand their knowledge allows an instructor the ability to alter their delivery styles.
It is important to understand the reasons that students enroll in a program so that as an instructor, you are able to tailor your lectures. Also, sometimes you can identify people with specific experiences that will be beneficial to different conversations/lectures throughout the class.
Knowing why students are enrolled in the program will tell me what they expect to get out of the program and what their needs are. I can tailor my instruction to fit their needs. I will be able to clarify any misunderstandings with regards to expectations of the course and design instruction to meet student expectations. Also, knowing why they enrolled will give me insight to whether they already have buy-in to the importance of the course or not. That will help me design the delivery of the material to either reinforce or develop their buy-in.
It helps because you will know their source of motivation. In addition, you will know their perspective and rationale for surrendering time for the course.
Students enroll in school for a variety of reasons. Understanding students' motivation, desires, expectations, and ultimate goals from the program will enable instructors to modify and gear the learning materials to hopefully satisfy these things students want.
Knowing why students have enrolled in your program help you to understand how the make the course content relevent to them. By knowing what they want to accomplish you can show them how their previous experiences can be used to help them in the furture accomplish their overall goals.
You can be sure that those outcomes are covered, mentioned, or used as examples in your teaching...making the students feel like they have "come to the right place."
Hi Richard,
This is a great way to develop rapport with them as well. They see that you are serious about getting to know them and their goals for their careers.
Gary
It gives me a better idea on why there are here and what their motivations are. It will help me know how to work with them to a level they can understand and also emphasize with them a little bit when it comes to difficulties with the course.
Determinig there motivation for being in class
