A great motivational strategy is to bring the subject into the students life. By including a student circumstance or career goal into the subject matter the student will tend to recall that information for a longer period of time and hopefully permanently retain the newly acquired information.
Dawn,
I wish you continued teaching success as you incorporate these additions to your student interactions and support strategies. These methods are what are going to help your students stay engaged for the duration of the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Tammy,
Good way to bring both relevance and application to your lessons. This way your students see the value of the content and why it is being taught as it is. This is a win win situation for your students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
All of these ideas are great. I often u se certificates in class. I also try to meet with students regularly during the semester to discuss their grade.
I am going to incorporate sending positive messages. I usually, reply with positive messages however, I am going to begin generating these messages from the very beginning of my class meetings. Thank you!
I have them share current events in the medical field that pertain to our topic. This gives them an opportunity to share their side of the topic as well as open the floor to how others feel about the topic. They have a feeling of ownership in the classroom along with being able to share what is important to them.
As an instructor I always lead by example, even if I am not feeling well or the topic is somewhat dry I always bring livelyness to the classroom by adding humor to the lecture and saying hello to ever students that come in the classroom
Valarie,
Adult learners are just taller children and we need to remember that. By this I mean they like to be reinforced and receive praise just like children do. So the giving of tools, high fives or food helps them to see that you are excited for them and their learning success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I am an instructor for Cosmetology and the students are very excited about receiving any kind of positive motivation. I use verbal acknowledgements in class, and allow the students to share how they made it look so easy. Cerificates of success for projects and participation. I alos give out tools as "gifts" that they can use in the career they are in. Sometimes just a simple high-five makes their day.
Natalie,
This is part of the human factor in teaching. Making connections with students helps them to see that they are respected and valued as both human beings as well as students. This goes a long way in the development of rapport.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Bruce,
So true. When you have passion for your field and enthusiasm for teaching about it the students notice this and they in turn get excited about what is being taught.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Fiorella,
You have developed a very supportive and nurturing climate for your students. This is earns their respect and forms the foundation for the development of rapport.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Knowing students personally and gaining knowledge of their individual interests in terms of career and motivation can help instructors know how to link course objectives and activities to student success and efforts.
The biggest and best tool we have is our love for our profession.
Here are some of my personal strategies:
When grading assignments, I make sure to point out the "good" as well as the errors, to help motivate them to make assignments as best as they can.
I acknowledge efforts publicly, for instance, if a group completed their project before the rest, I publicly thank them and provide that recognition.
I tell them my professional story and how I have "moved" in life. Students are inspired by other people's stories.
I eliminated the need to raise the hand in the classroom; if you have a question or comment, speak up. This has shown to motivate them to be more vocal in the classroom.
Rolonda,
Providing this type of support is so important in keeping students in school. If they know they have support and respect you as their learning leader you have set the stage for a higher level of engagement and students success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Students like to have instant feedback. They like to be encouraged if they did't do so well on a test. I like to offer extra credit especially if student was having a hard time with a subject. I offer tips on better study habits. I try to use examples either verbally or on the black board to help students if they don't understand. I let them know that I am here for anything that they may need. I constantly let them know that I want them to succeed.
Katina,
This case sounds very interesting. I like learning things like this. Case studies are such an effective teaching tool. I use them a lot in my classes because they quickly engage students and get them to thinking about the topics that are being discussed. In addition they show the relevance and application of course content in a unique way.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
One thing that has work for me to motivate students and gain their attention is introducing concepts in a unique way. In my physical anthropology class I introduce the concept of medical anthropology. So I used a case study about the "vampire" disease. This case study utilized a story format about a person who is exhibiting symptoms that may be listed as one condition but turns out to be a genetic disorder. I put them in groups to discuss each section and then we discussed as a whole. The class really participated and analyzed the case and in turn contributed personal information for discussion.
I love these ideas, especially encouraging them. I give bonus points for reducing paper product. If they can email me their work. It motivates them for these points and for the students who have difficulty with the computer, it provides them with the ability to learn new skill sets.
Whenever my students have a project in the library, I am right there with them helping them if they need it. Usually it is computer related. If I can show students how to help each other with out doing the actual work for another, I relate it to learning how to train others which is a valued skill in the marketplace
I give my students positive feedback if I see them motivating other students to be successful.
Brenda,
Passion for one's field and excitement about teaching the content within it are two elements needed for student engagement. You are right on with your strategies for showing enthusiasm to students so they to will be enthused about the learning opportunities being presented.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think this suggestion is great..often we hand back a grade with do not discuss the learning objective of the test/project etc.
just spoke about this to a fellow professor about clinic evaluation and not going over with student as a learning experience.
