Hi Charles,
Excellent points and good examples. The students not only know the material they can apply it which is essential if they are going to have career success.
Gary
I like the idea of motivating through transference. This method ensures that the student really understands the topic. They are able to transfer the acquired knowledge and make the connection. It really is the process that helps the student transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory. We see examples of this when instructor allows students to use their own experiences and discuss how it applies to the subject taught.
Always, always relate the learning to what the students will do in their chosen career. The idea of relavance makes motivation a possibility. If students see the material is going to help them later in either another course or after graduation, they see the value and are motivated to learn.
Hi Michael,
"Making it real" is essential. This really helps with motivation as you say. By seeing application and relevancy students really get excited about the content and can start to see themselves in the future as successful in their career.
Gary
some good motivational techniques are to bring real life experiances into the topic you are discusing and always ackowlage students undersanding of what they just learned.
that boost there moral and confadance.postive reinforcment always gets students motivated
Hi Kerry,
Variety is a major part of learning. You listed several ways you are using variety in learning and I know this helps to keep the interest of your students.
Gary
By using real world experiences that we have learned in the field. I use good examples I have learned and I also use bad examples of what NOT to do. I also change my vioce tone during lectures to keep the students up and interested. Mono tone is very boring.
Hi Brian,
Great way to show students their progression of growth in both knowledge and skill. You are reducing test fears through the use of the sample exams so when they take the real exams they know how they tests will be constructed and what they are expected to know.
Gary
I often utilize the Motivation by Reinforcement technique. For an example I teach a course where upon successful completion a Certificate is awarded. This being the case in order to obtain the Certification I have found that the majority of my students learn by taking "Mock" exams on a bi weekly basis in order to reinforce what they have learned and they are graded accordingly. In this instance they become aware of what there shortcomings are and can make the necessary modifications in their behavior in order to succeed.
Hi Brain,
You make a good point about the need for creating connections between what you are teaching and your students. That is what rapport is all about with your students.
Gary
Clearly being able to motivate students to learn is challenging, owing to the diversity of the majority of my classes. However, I always use the technique which assists me in the learning process, and that is by applying the particular subject matter to the students lives..how it affects them ...how it is associated to them etc. This generally assists in their ability to quantify the importance of the subject matter.
Always provide a positive feedback when discussing a students performance. I provide much needed positive reinforcement before discussing what needs to be improved upon. I purposely do not say their work is wrong, rather it needs to be improved and show them how to become better.
Hi Vivian,
You are doing a good job of creating a vision of the future for your students. As you know sometimes students get lost in the schooling process to the point they don't remember why they started college in the first place. These reminders really help them to stay engaged in the learning process.
Gary
I ask my students what their plan is with their degree. I try to tailor the lessons to something that is personal to their goals. I allow them and remind them to use those goals within their studies and they engage better and feel like they have a stake in the lesson.
Hi Michael,
I really like your approach of sharing both the good and the not so good times. That is real life plus as you say it can be humorous as well. This helps to keep the interest of the students and they can see how the future might unfold for them in their career area.
Gary
Although I bring personal experiences into the classroom discusion. I will often tell of the tough times as well as the good times. Always keeping it light and somewhat funny in nature. This allows the students to present some of their own personal experiences to the class. Even if their presentation isn't related to the topic, it does often motivate others to chime in.
I try to keep my instruction as colose to real world scenarios as possible.
I also try to schedule field trips and or guest speakers to help support how I am teaching and this tends to bring students full circle.
If they believe that what they are doing applies to their immediate future, usually that is enough to get a large enough by in to continue in that direction with all students.
Hi Michael,
Field trips are a great way for students to see how the real world operates and of which they are going to soon be a part.
Gary
I take my class on field studies. This way they can actually apply what was learned and see results.
One of the biggest techniques I use is to encourage creativity and to make the learning have a real life application in the eyes of the students.
