I am teaching a hands on course in massage therapy. I'm a rather new instructor. So far I have approached the buy in by instilling and transferring my passion for our trade. I use a lot of personal experience examples of repeat clients and how I keep them as a regular client. The old "You can only make a first impression once" lesson. Touch is a powerful gift. First impressions are the key to success. I guess I continually work on bringing out the reason they chose this field in the first place. To provide a sense of well being for each person they encounter.
I like to put them in groups to devoled their thinking on the subject at hand. They get to bounce ideas off each other and from there. I always show them my abilities as an teacher, instructor and as a person who has done his craft.
I can understand what you mean by getting students to "fall" for being a college student because so many of my students want to be spoon fed or forget why they are here or get unmotivated so easily when I require them to study for their A's and B's.
It means when you want the students to "follow" what you are saying or "understand and comprehend in a way that they want to be a part of the material" and want to relate it to their career interests.
Hi Cindy,
How do you get the students to say yes I want to take this course, yes I want to major in this program, yes I want to graduate etc. In other words how do you get students to fall for being a college student and to get them motivated and excited.
Patricia
Hi Brooks,
What a creative way to get students to buy in. I am sure this generates a lot of discussion as well.
Patricia
Play a game called "20 Questions," where students write as many questions as they can about what they want to know/learn in the class. Put them on the board and discuss how the course will address these questions. Also, you can use their responses to tailor the course activities/topics to what they want to learn.
I'm not sure what you mean by "buy" please advise
Generate a whole group discussion as to the applications of the material in the "real world".
From the start, I tell my students that I want them to remember me a week, a month, a year, 5 years from now because what they learned in that class will be used again and again as valuable information.
I always give real world or workplace examples of how students will be able to use the knowledge they will gain from taking a particular course.
Hi Amy,
Excitement comes from the top. If the instructor is dull and borain, you can not expect much different from the students. As educators, we must be enthusiastic.
Patricia
I try to show how excited and passionate about the subject that I will be teaching and give real world experiences relating to the subject matter.
Hands on. Games using vocabulary words. Pictures where have to find correct name of insturment. X-ray the have to tell me whats right or wrong with image.
Hi Phillip,
What a great response! You made some awesome points as a refresher. I especially like the mentioning of how students have already bought into their subject matter. Math is hard to sell if it is not their major, but you seem to have a good grip on selling it to the students. Math has many personal practical values, which is a great selling point.
Patricia
Hi Pamela,
Thank you for being helpful. Students want to and need to know that you care, and you are willing to help them succeed. I am sure your students feel very comfortable approaching you.
Patricia
In discussion of the syallbi, I introduce the/my expectations. I also go around the room and ask students what they expect or need from me as the instructor. I write down the responses and attempt to incorporate them in class lecture, activities,tutoring and discussion. I feel this communicates to the students that there are different needs, learning styles and strengths. This also communicates to the students that I have an interest in helping them suceed in the course.
Based on reading some of the responses, what I am submitting is nothing new. First and foremost, students have to see and believe that you enjoy and have a passion for what you do. My area of expertise - Mathematics - is certainly not a subject that most students see as all that exciting. In fact, it scares an overwhelming number of them. Regardless, if I do not look like I enjoy what I am doing in front of the students every day, students are not going to buy in to what I have to say.
No one enters our career school to become a mathematician as opposed to a medical assistant, graphic designer, or a paralegal, so the buy in for my class has to be more substantial. Most students have entered their respective programs because they have already "bought in" to the subject matter. Those who teach mathematics - or just about any general education course - have a little more work to "sell" the product.
Along those lines, one question I hear frequently is the famed "when are we ever going to use this?" As much as I would like to be able to give a clear example of every single topic taught for every student in every program, there are some topics that not every program will see in the specific field. However, I may be teaching a class that has students from four different programs in it. Since some topics apply more to one program than another, I have to make my examples specific to the respective programs when I can. Essentially, most of the word problems/real life examples are the key to the "buy in" and getting the students to see the relevance, since these examples basically show how and when they will need the skills and topics being taught in class.
Hi Liz,
What do you do to get your students interested in the course?
Patricia
i dont understand this question
Hi Kimberly,
It would also be great to have a GRADUATE guest speaker present. Students love to hear graduates testatmonies; they become really excited about their field of study.
Patricia
