Kenneth,
I am a big believer in the use of stories to reinforce content. These stories bring relevance and application to the knowledge being shared. In your field the stories have an even greater impact due to the nature of what you all do and the ways lives are impacted. Keep sharing!
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I use storytelling that offer examples of what to do and what not to do. Some of these stories of military operations just happened to involve a student in the class and it no longer is my story of an event to support the course objectives but the students. This is often very powerful and takes the class into the effective domain of learning.
Cynthia,
This has been my experience as well. They see how the content that has been covered can be applied. They get excited because they are seeing relevance to what is being taught and how it applies to their future.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Using their personal experiences in a positive manner to help the students see what impact they will be able to have on their chosen career.
The lab is were I find that motivational techniques work best. the students are able to see the life experiences of my work by examples in the procedures we do the hands on brings the students together as a group. When I include the stories from the life experiences they enjoy it even more. This motivates them to want more hands on. It's like on the job training.
by taking the srudents good qualities and building on them
By praising the students when they do a good job and by showing you care.
Johan,
Speakers like this help to motivate students and encourage their participation in the class. Guest speakers help to make the course content real and relevant.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Paul,
It seems that many students don't realize that we have had extensive life experiences or we wouldn't be teaching. The sharing of our experiences and work situations help to make both us and our content more real for the students.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
bringing in people from the field to let the students hear first hand what they will be able to do when they finish the program. Finding something that a student really enjoys and giving them chances to sample the skills which will motivate them to finsh and do them for a living.
What i have found useful is by sharing experiences with the students that you have travelled the same path as the are doing. Identifying common obstacles in learning as they fit it in their life struggles.
I like to share stories about the field I ran into to give them real world ideas of events in the field and top it off with the latest news for the field on new technology and career positions
Wow, now that was in deed informative and useful thank you. I will be using this.
i think that if you show to your student that u really care and you show theme how much you take the time to make sure there sic-seed and there future they will feel confident to make it in the field
To motivate my students, I look for an example that will apply to them, their children or their family. Working in the dental field gives a vast amount of experiences we can all relate to.
Paul,
Thank you for sharing this example. Students seem to forget that we, their instructors are former students that have been where they are and in addition we have career experiences that got us to the classroom. We have practiced our profession and now we are sharing what we know with them.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I had one student that questioned me on several occasions when I told the class how to do a process. His response would be "that won't work" then after I showed him it worked he acted surpised that I knew what I was talking about. After about the 3rd time of me telling him that it wasn't my first day doing this kind of work he started to trust me. Later he joked about me being "Mr first day on the job". He turned out to be a very good student.
Christopher,
I use guest speakers a lot in my classes for the reasons you cite. They can really get the students fired up about what is being taught. In addition, they help the students to see the value of the course content and the career preparation they are receiving.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I have found that sharing real-life examples from the field by bringing in outside speakers contributes strongly to motivating students to do better and to generate excitement about the course. Ideally the speaker would be a graduate of the institution the students are stydying at. This shows the students they have an attainable goal - which can sometimes become hard to see when the daily details of life and requirements of the course become difficult.
Effective motivation can include:
-providing constructive criticism
-celebrating successes
-demonstrating relevancy of learning in the real-world
-connecting with the student to constantly reinforce the student's particular motivation and best method of learning/success
