Hi Aminata,
Awesome! Students need examples of real-life scenarios in the classrom as to how things will be in the workplace.
Patricia Scales
I relate everything we study/discuss to job opportunities explaining why the information is impotant to a varity of careers
in my case as a clinical instructor, we do lots of case studies, we apply what thought in theory to every day life and "the real world".
Hi Bridget,
Students tend to get a better understanding when we make concepts relevant to their career.
Patricia Scales
I always try to show my students the real world outcomes/ ramifications to what they are learning. For example if their documentation is not done correctly or if plans are not followed; How this could affect their career/employment.
Hi Daniel,
Let your students know up front how these two courses will benefit them in other courses.
Patricia Scales
Hi Joshua,
It sounds like you have a plan B for examples, and this is great! Students really do enjoy hearing about our personal experiences as they apply to the course content.
Patricia Scales
Hi Cindy,
Great ideas! Students love it when we bring technology into the classroom.
Patricia Scales
I teach Veterinary Technology. I have my students for the entire 2 year program, and teeach all of their courses. Some of the material that I have to teach them in their first term is basic chemistry and biology. They have a real hard time understanding its relevancy, even with explanation and examples. But, when they get to the third and fourth terms, the begin to have those wonderful ah-hah moments where they are telling and showing me how the understand the relevancy of the materials in bio and chem. It helps me to know that they learned the material and that they now understand its relevance.
I'm a news "junkie" myself, and having taught several business and legal courses, I have found that there is literally at least one, if not several, article(s) in the morning paper that directly relate to what my students are learning. I always spend the first 5 - 10 minutes discussing it, and getting feedback on what they would do if they were the CEO and/or judge in charge of the matter, and their reasons why. It always seems to get their energy flowing which carries over into the lesson for that day.
Hi Terry,
Students get it when we make learning apply to the real world. Students really wake up when they know these are the types of things that they will have to utilize in the workplace.
Patricia Scales
Hi Kirson,
I love scenario learning because scenarios are things students will encounter in the real world.
Patricia Scales
I have found that when I use real life examples my students pay more attention to the content. I have trouble though finding examples for some of my theory classes and try to find relevancy through outside sources like older textbooks and the internet. I have found these methods have increased the students attention span and understanding of the course.
A couple things come to mind when I think about your question. One would be to give the students examples from my work experience in the field. Next I would use the internet to pull up different web sites of the orginizations within our field and walk the students through the web sites, including job openings and the descriptions of the jobs available within our field. Another example would be to have guest speakers come in and have a question and answer session.
I show the students by doing something, like on the steno machine, how this will apply to them when they are in the field. This engages them and they keep interested and excited about this particular course. There are always lots of questions and we become a group of people with the same interests and goals, they start the bonding process at this point.
Scenario-building is one way of demonstrating course relevancy to the class; ie. creating a plausible problem or task that needs to be addressed then applying skills/knowledge recently learned in the class to solve that issue.
I like to show the students how the information provided in the course can help them in their day to day activities. Giving them the knowledge to perform better in their jobs helps to movivate them in understanding the operational priciples.
I recently taught a Career Development course that was paired with College Success (test taking strategies, studying, time management) and I had to get the students to buy into the course as well as show relevancy. I used real life examples and personal experiences. I related the content to their major and how the skills were transferable and how it will help them be successful in their job, future courses and even in their day to day activities. After completing the course, many students wish it had been offered earlier in their education (particularly in high school), it would have increased their success rate.
Hi Summer,
Students need to know how to apply what they are learning in the real world.
Patricia Scales
That is great - Jerrod - that you show your students how the units relate to the real world. Can you give me an example? Thanks!
