Students can then picture themselves in the career they are working towards and become motivated to reach the light at the end of the tunnel.
Hi Dawn,
Right you are about motivation and application. This is the "connect the dots" part of their education. When they connect what they are learning to their future then they get it. They start to see that they have a future in the career field they have chosen and they can be successful in that career.
Gary
Students want to be able to know for a fact that the skills they are acquiring are actually going to be used in their future job. These students have invested a lot of time and money to ensure they have a bright future. Once they start practicing and feeling confident in their new skills it creates an excitment that will hopefully motivate them to be a more successful student and employee.
that they can practice their skills and applie them latter
They are more apt to pay attention if they see what they are learning has a practial use in their field of work.
It is motivating for students to see the relevancy and application of what they are learning because students are goal oriented. If they can see the value in what they are learning and that it will help them reach their career goals they will be more inclined and motivated to participate in class and do what is required to be successful.
I teach basic electricity to automotive students,I have found that it is very important to relate the course material to real world applications,in order to keep them focused .
Students, especially career college ones, want to "cut to the chase". They are not interested in peripheral subjects. Therefore, if they can apply their learnings to real situations, they curiosity is piqued and they want to learn more. Motivation.
I think that sometimes a student can only grasp material when they may apply, even sometimes if it is in error. Purely theoretical knowledge is not always useful for many students. If they cannot see how the trouble of learning will have a payoff other than a grade they may not be willing to invest the effort and resent being forced to recite or demonstrate expertise via testing.
When the relevancy and application of a skill or knowledge is present to the student, they are able to see a "real" world application and are moree likely to actively engage themselves in this learning process.
Human beings have a tendency to intensely internalize information that is personally relevant or professionally relevant. Nonrelevant information gets treated the same as rote-learned information, it becomes unstructured and trivial in the memory if it is retained at all. Identity is a compilation of experiences, therefore retained information has to relate to experiences.
Great point. I was talking with one of my instructors today about his history class. When he was able to help the students see the connection of why they need to know history and how it relates to their future career, the students became excited about the course.
I remember when I was in high school and students would ask the teacher when will I ever need to know this. If students know the why they are more likely to remember it.
Relevancy and application motivates students because it allows them to see the value of the material they are learning and how it will benefit them.
A good example is a student I had years ago in a management class. I able to need to make presentations clear with a sharp focus first on the problem being address, the solution, and why its the best solution. They did a presentation based on that model and it was very well received in their work place with their supervisor praising them for a job well done. Needless to say once they saw the value of the material from the class in their work place they were very motivated to learn more.
Hi Douglas,
You are right on with your comments about helping your students to stay current in their field by both content and skill development. If they aren't able stay current they aren't going to grow in their careers and this is a lesson we need to really drill into their minds.
Gary
In most cases with the auto industry that I teach within,students tend to be more of hands on lerners as opposed to learning thru books.
With the feild ever changing we know must teach them the importance of learning from both and the value of relevance comes thru the time that they actually perfom the task thru application.
This makes for a much greater experience for them and there retention seems to be at a much higher rate.
Relevancy helps them tie everything together and reinforces the value of their efforts. If a student can't see how learning a formula will allow them to function in their new career, leading to success and gratification, they wont have any motivation to learn it. Sometimes understanding how knowledge is used is as important as the knowledge itself.
By being able to apply what they have learned in a meaningful way, they can then directly correlate the information and skill sets aquired to their future careers. It all boils down to just how intense they are about their education - and who is delivering it. If the delivery is boring, repetitive and not relating to their careers, they lose interest and disengage from the class. Creative, fun, dynamic actions engage the learner - and make it a wholistic presentation for students to see the relevancy and use.
It is so important in an English class--they want to know why they have to take English for their careers. One of the first activities I used to do at the technical college was called "just why do I need this class?" I had them find five job ads from their field, create a poster, and then present the poster to the class to let them all know the importance of good communication in the work place.
All educators at our level should strive to make the material understandably relevant to the student's lives, whether it be their professional life or their personal life. At times I get bogged down in getting the "material" covered and fail to address its applicability, and, as has been strongly emphasized in this course, tend to "loose" some of them on the way. Addressing and incorporating relevancy is not a difficult teaching challenge - it is constantly reminding ourselves to do so.
