Without enthusiasm, you have nothing. Students lose interest as soon as they walk in the door. No, cross that, they lose interest as soon as they get up and realize they have to come to your class. Basically, your enthusiasm impacts the class in a number of ways.
First, they retain nothing, or at least almost nothing. The interaction is limited, so you cannot accurately assess how the students are learning. Most importantly, when they leave the class they don't have a feeling of learning, which means they will struggle to actually put any real world meaning to what you talked about. If they cannot put meaning to it, the class loses all value from a real world perspective and impacts the student, you, and the college because employers will begin to lose confidence in the training you offer.
Get excited; keep the class alive, it will pay dividends!
Instructor enthusiasm is a huge component for student success. If I am enthusiastic, it carries over to the students and results in a much better learning environment. One negative student can do much to ruin a class so it is important to defuse the negativity immediately. Downplaying the comment often is all this takes.
I usually go beyond the course material when talking about design. I discuss personal experiences and how much fun design can be. This is helpful for new design students, that see is as just a means to an end and not a lifestyle.
Hi Donald,
Thank you for your comments about being an effective instructor. Even with a captive audience it isn't fun to teach students that aren't invested nor connected with the content. Keep up your good work and help make learning fun for your students, captive or not.
Gary
I teach to a captive (military) audience so students have to stay in the class. Still, it is amazing how some of the instructors, especially those who don't really enjoy teaching, can turn off the class. Liking what you do and projecting that to the students goes a long way in making the class more enjoyable for everyone. Enjoyment = higher retention.
Hi Norman,
Good point about bringing excitement to the class. It is for sure that if we come in dragging the class is going to drag. We need to bring our A game to the class each time even when we don't feel like it or have external pressures bearing down on us. By being excited we may find that at the conclusion of the class that we have had such a good time of teaching that the pressures that were there before class may not be as bad as we thought.
Gary
We have to be excited about the class if we expect our students to get excited about the class. I find that my mood transmits to the students. If I am in a good mood, the class goes much smoother and students are more satisfied. I also find that questions that require critical thinking add enthusiasm to the class. Playing "devil's advocate" also adds interest and enthusiasm to the class.
More times than not, a student is less interested in a subject than an instructor because they feel they are taking many courses just because they have to. However, an enthusiastic instructor can show a student that it must be worthwhile material if an authority figure can be excited.
Hi Meredith,
Something that I have done with my online courses is to get the students to share their own stories about situations or problems they have encountered in our career area. This way they are helping to shape the direction the course is taking through their input. I use a lot of case studies so the students get to problem solve how to resolve the situation in the case study. This generates a lot of excitement and keeps the students engaged.
Gary
I view enthusiasm like a good virus that can carryover into whether the students take interest in a subject or not. When teaching in a classroom, I like to tell stories and act out situations to illustrate the material. In the online environment, I still tell occasional stories to illustrate the material and I try to respond to every student in the discussion at least once per week. I am wondering if you have other suggestions on how to indicate enthusiasm in the online learning environment? I do struggle to carry-over that 'classroom magic' into the online environment becuase being a dynamic and entertaining instructor in person is different than trying to do this online.
We can all sense when someone who is responsible for conducting a group activity in which we are a part is not completely prepared or is not enthusiastic about the activity or their part in it. Just as we, as instructors, can sense when students are tired or less alert, students can readily perceive when an instructor is not feeling particularly enthused about a topic, class, or activity. As we lead, they follow! A less-than-enthusiastic instructor can have a harsh impact on the educational process, classroom environment, and students’ attitude and ability to obtain and recall information that is being covered.
An enthusiastic instructor is excited about the topic, prepared to engage the group in the material and/or activities, and keeps things moving to keep people involved. Not only is the enthusiasm contagious, the knowledge is, too! Keeping the class moving and involved greatly enhances student ability to build knowledge and skills, as they are far more readily engaged than if the instructor is droning or forcing their way through material. Since our goal is, of course, to see students build new knowledge and skills (and, hopefully, be excited about the process!) we need to maintain our own enthusiastic, engaging patterns of behavior. Students will be more motivated to learn and return!
I believe that it plays a significant role. When I see that my students are starting to zone out of a lecture I bring up personal experiences I've had with the topics and suddenly hands are coming up all over the classroom for questions. I make sure to keep the questions geared to the lecture, and even at these times I can hear a change in my voice and energy as well.
I believe that instructor enthusiasm is contagious and that students sense the presence or absence of such enthusiasm. It draws them into the subject and motivates them to remain involved.
Hi Michele,
Thanks for sharing your approach. This shows that a course like Medical Coding can be offered in a way that keeps the students excited and engaged while have a good time learning.
Gary
It shows them that they to can be enthused about what they are doing, whether it is going to school or work.
If students can see that their instructor has a passion for the subject they often get more involved in the learning process and tend to stay more enthused and find ways to stay in school.
I agree. If the students are not interested in what they are learning then it does not matter what method an instructor uses to teach they will not retain the information. It is also important to keep the students engaged in the subject they are learning. There are fun ways to teach while still covering the material in a formal and structured manner.
I was teaching Medical Coding and I kept it funny and enthusiastic. This kept the students awake and they could recite where the codes were and when they learned them.
I agree, but I do believe there is a point where an instructor can be overly zealous about a subject and actually turn the students off to learning certain material.
Hi John,
I am sure there are many things that can be done when teaching food safety and sanitation. By making it interesting and fun the retention of content is going to be much higher and the students will get the message about how important both of these areas are to restaurant success.
Gary
