It is all in the attitude. Project a positive attitude and your students will feel it and then feel motivated to also be positive about the learning situation.
Enthusiasm is contagious. If the class is fun material will be retained and recalled easier when needed later. Class will become an environment where students will want to come to participate versus just being a body in a chair. When I find my enthusiasm wane I take a step back and revamp the class. Students can pick up on the lack of enthusiam, will become bored, and feel that attendance isn't necessary for their success.
I also teach math and the enthusiasm is so important. If I don't enjoy the subject and am excited about what we will learn, how can I expect students to want to learn it or find value in it? Even when it is goofy I will be excited to share topics, which sometimes gets students more interested.
Jennifer
I teach in an online environment, so it might be a little different for me. I have to depend on the written word. Simply showing that I care through my feedback and the words I choose carefully can go a long way. As the lesson said - if it seems you don't care, they won't care.
Instructor enthusiasm influences students retention by being enthused about what you are teaching. You have to love what you teach and you have to let your students know it. This helps to keep your students motivated and interested in what you are teaching and saying to them. Make them believers and they will stay in tune with you and participate. This will keep them interested and they will want to come to class everyday.
Tom,
Yes--this will lead to engaging the student and students must be engaged in order to learn.
Julie,
I totally agree with you--you make an excellent point.
Instructor's enthusiasm matters greatly b/c that is what gets students to either come to class or not come to class. Also once they are in class they are more willing to participate and pay attention if the instructor is animated. This will lead to better grades and thus higher retention.
How does this apply in the online environment? I mean, I can only do so much to reach out to them and to instruct them. It would not do much to just state that I love what I do. I do love it, and I love the fact that I teach online even more. However, my interest does wane from day to day or week to week(I am hoping that in all honesty, this is the reality of any career?). There are days that I am definitely more active and more involved than others. I find that the students operate the same; I have never tried to find if their response correlated with mine because it never crossed my mind. I do know that sometimes the students seem to expect me to be available 24/7 and that I sometimes feel overwhelmed by their need to have feedback and grades so quickly. This sometimes does affect my enthusiasm and my feedback/grading has suffered. I copied some of this section to my One Note because there was useful information. I feel that I probably need to go to the drawing board and make some new plans - I've become a bit complacent and comfortable in the few years I've been teaching. Maybe doing that will enhance my enthusiasm and make my efforts more satisfactory to me and my students. And, in response to the question, I don't think any customer would want to buy a product from someone who was not invested in its creation or who didn't believe in its potential for success. Maybe the seller does believe in it, but if it is not evident then it might as well be absent.
When I think of instructor enthusiasm, I think back to an English professor that I had as an undergraduate. It was a class that I was not too excited to take, Victorian literature. The professor was so excited and enthusiastic by the end of class that I was excited and wanting to know more. That is the kind of enthusiasm that makes a student want to attend the next class/.
On the first day of class, I tell students that I love math and I hope that they will learn to love math too. When presenting new material I try to demonstrate how the new concept might be applied to their future profession, or how they might apply this concept to their life. I try to implement humor during the process as well. I have had students tell me that they hated math, until they took my course; they actually look forward to coming to class.
I have had less in enthusiasm this last session due to stress and such. I can see it reflected in the retention and understanding of the class. Reality check!
If you are involved, on time, and actively participating in all classroom activities, your students follow. Most of my students have been working all day, and are taking class only at night, and they are tired. Understanding where they are at in their day, helping them push through, and giving positive reinforcement can really go a long way. I have had my students tell me so.
If the instructor seems to not care about the students or the material, the students will not be engaging or care themselves. They will become bored and frustrated, even if they like the subject material.
Students see if the instructor is enthusiastic in the class and that way will motivate them more in the subjects as well the teaching methods which will let the students more higher.
TC,
I would agree - that if the students see the instructor enthused about the topic, they, too are more likely to think, "what's all the excitement about?" and become engaged as well.
Toni
Alfredo,
I agree with you - that the students do interpret instructor enthusiasm as "liking" what they do and the students appreciate that the instructor is invested in them and the class.
Toni
I feel as though it is "key" in the online environment. You have to be "over" animated and enthusiastic in your posts, announcements, in your introduction to them - it's all vital in that connection - and once a connection is made it is harder for the student just to disengage or leave the class.
Hi Nicholas,
So true. I am sure we have all had instructors that made their subject matter dry and uninteresting because it seemed that they didn't care about teaching it. Enthusiasm is catching lets continue to spread it around while teaching.
Gary
I think it shows that YOU think the course and material is important. If it's not important in your mind, why should it be to anyone else?
