Hi Robert,
I like it! I will build from what you have stated. This makes perfect sense. Thanks for taking the idea to a whole different level.
Patricia
Hi Luis,
You do know when you are losing your students. Take a moment and pause and ask does everyone understand, and move forward. Variation is good, and it is challenging to change every 8 minutes.
Patricia
I love this statement. We as instructors need to recognize those times when we are losing our students. Knowing that average attention span is 10 minutes being able to introduce new things every 8 minutes is tough. Especially when you have multiple hours of instructions
George--I like Patricia's idea, and I'd advise taking it one step further: ask your students how they think this course can benefit them professionally and personally. Then use their responses to consolidate and solidify some clear practical benefits. Students will believe in and respond to these points more strongly if they (at least in part) come up with them, rather than just hearing you or me state them.
Hi Donna,
I like it! This scenario can be used in any course! Thanks for sharing.
Patricia
Hi Sandy,
What an attention getter! I like it, I can see how this definitely serves as a buy in. This scenario can be used with a lot of different subjects, just tweak the scenario based on the course.
Patricia
Hi Marianna,
Please share what you have been doing. We may even come up with a better way using bits and pieces from both.
Patricia
Hi George,
I've found that courses make sense to a particular student, but they don't understand how the course will benefit them, therefore I tell them the purpose of the course, and how they can benefit from the course personally and/or professionally.
Patricia
A good way to get buy in is for the course to simply make sense to the students. Whether or not it is a popular course, if the syllabus is methodical and "clean" and the class is well laid-out, the students have a better opportunity to understand what they can gain from it. If they understand that, they will look for what they can get from it (as not all may get the same thing from all lessons).
Upfront the first day, I tell the students a true story on why I left retail management after 27 yrs. A death in the family from instruments that were not properly cleaned and sterilized for a surgical case. The patient died from an infectious disease fromtissue left on the instruments. This is a lack of what one is all about...life and death. They are no, after this story, moving to the "hook" now they are asking questions on how this could happen. It opens up conversation and when we talk about and practice a surgical case, they seem to be more focused and careful about what they are doing.
One day during the second ahalf of the quarter when the get a little "cocky" I have another tereat for them. I give all of them 3 small pieces of paer. On these papers they need to write one name on each of someone they love dearly and that they wouldn't want to live without. Then I turn off the lights and tell them a story. They ae in surgery and have a break in technique...they ignore it and say nothing. On Monday moring they are called into the Surgical Director's office along with the circulator. She is told that the patient has a very bad infection and it was traced to the OR. Was there a break in technique? The nurse says not that she knows of and that she didn't pass anything to the ST. The ST says nothing. Then they are told that the patient has died. The family is furious. Then I turn on the lights, and I ask them to pick up one piece of their paper. I ask each one whose name is on the paper...they died...how do you feel...you killed_______ because you used bad steile technique.
It finally hits home and the majority of the studetns are crying. We are about life and death.
I tell them it is better to get it now, than for that to happen later.
When the students get bored or are not interested, it's time to get to the place where they are familiar and can comprehend, then elevate the conversation and show a relationship in the lecture or by talking to see where the students are in the thinking process.
The more I ask of the students, the more I learn what I need to do to engage them. Life is good
wow that is a terrific response. You are surely on the right track with students. It's a real concept of what employers want to know when they call for a reference. Thank you for sharing
I have been doing this in a similar way, but I think what you proposed is actually better than what I have invented. Thank you!!
I like that approach. I was once told that if you cannot answer the question, "why do I have to know this?", then you probably should not be teaching the topic.
In my subject area, the students are very excited that they met the program requirements and got accepted in the program.
I usually put a job ad for a dental hygienist on the screen. They do not know what position the job ad is for and the requirements never really say anything about teeth, etc.
The ad lists things like:
Reports to work when assigned and on time, works well with others yet can work independently, gives 100% when on the job, enjoys their work and they let it show, respects others and has a high level of integrity!
I tell them that in all my years I have never had an employer call for a reference and ask what grade a graduate made in a certain course. But they always ask the questions above. However, it is important to make good grades so you can succeed and finish the program.
This amazes them and it can help them relax and start to see the "big picture" and realize it is about a lot more than "cleaning teeth".
energy is like attitude, it's contagious
Like healthcare, some teachers are in it for the benefits. It's easy to recognize them by their interactions with students and staff.
Me, I like see accomplishments in progress and the finishing products that really aren't finished, but just beginning.
Thanks, Patricia. Let me make a small but vital change, though. I (we) need to set up the situation so that THEY show how the course helps them professionally and personally, and I confirm their input and pat them on the back for coming up with it. If I show them as part of some opening lecture bit, it only goes so far. But when the students themselves generate the specifics of how the course is useful and even necessary, and I confirm their realizations, buy-in becomes profound!
Hi Robert,
I like it! Very smart of you to ask these particular questions. If you can show how the course will help them either professionally and/or personally, it is a buy in.
Patricia
Hi Sandy,
Why do you think some educators are in education and there is no passion for it?
Patricia
