Brandi, in my experience, demonstrating the relevancy of course content has been the most important aspect of the course. Students need to know that what they are about to learn will in some way positively impact their career. As a former military instructor, although most students had an understanding of the material they were about to receive, they didn't fully understand why all of the learning objectives were necessary. By demonstrating the relevancy of these learning objectives, and enabling learning objectives to their particular skill, the course had a new meaning and served to motivate the learner to participate.
Share your experience of the course in which you are teaching. Relate it to how they the students will incorporate it in their career field. And use demostrations throughout your course teaching for a constant interaction of what is being taught.
It is important to show relevancy of course content in order to capture the students' desire to learn. By demonstrating how the course material will benefit their career, the student will become more motivated to become an active participant of the learning process. The relevancy of course content not only affects ones career, but the educational experience may prove to help in everyday life situations. The benefit may be nothing more than an increased boost in confidence toward task accomplishment, but that is a significant benefit when paired against others that are not as motivated to better themselves.
Discussing "what if" questions and relating anecdotes are two of the ways I have done this.
In addition, at my previous college, I was asked to do a presentation about why Math is important in my field (physical therapy). I did this, and went one step beyond, telling them anecdotally about how having a solid, but not necessarily extensive, understanding of basic principles can help them in their daily lives. From budgeting to check writing, figuring tips and taxes, interest rates and mortgage rates to nurses figuring proper dosages and respiratory therapist figuring O2 rates, we all use math daily, whether we think of it in those terms or not.
Even the math instructor told me she had not thought in those terms...........
Yes, they are concerned about paying off those loans!!!
Seriously, they are interested in money, because having it or lacking it affects their future personal well-being.
I use anecdotes frequently to illustrate a point, whether it be a technical issue or a self assessment.
Students can also relate anecdotes and everyone, even the instructor can learn from these.
Connal, you mention building blocks and medical language. I encourage students in physical therapy to use medical language in taking class notes and to challenge themselves to practice documentation skills in their note-taking.
Sometimes it can be challenging to demonstrate to the students the relevancy or value of a course. Often the students may not appreciate just how relevant and applicable a course is until they have completed it and are working in that field. However, it is still important to show examples and discuss cases or situations in which the knowledge of this course made a difference. Perhaps even show situations where an individual made a poor decision as a result of not having attended this course.
Hi Robert,
You can play games and teach the lecture from a fun approach. You may even try using guided notes for students to speed things up.
Patricia
Hi Richard,
Once students understand that they will benefit from the course, they automatically get motivated, and they understand the importance of grasping the material.
Patricia
it is crucial to get the "buy in" of the learner. if they can visualise how the content will benefit them in the future they will engage in lecture. this will give other students the motivation to follow suit.
The introductory A&P classes I teach are approached as building blocks for students to use in their future jobs. Understanding medical language will give the student a way of knowing how to communicate with fellow health care workers. I introduce students to SOAP forms, something all of the students will come into contact with, so they can see how the parts of the body they are learning are being used in this form. I find I am pushed for time (lots of lecture time needed), are there other shorter formats that can be used besides group based activites?
Hi Connal,
Real life scenarios are great ways to get students involved in the course content. I really like how you include success stories as well as mistakes. Students need to know that we learn from our mistakes, and we move forward.
Patricia
I use personal anecdotes almost daily. Also, I use student's daily mistakes and successes as examples for everyone to learn from, making it clear that I am not "picking on" anyone, but instead I'm striving to give them as much information as possible because any number of "real life" scenarios are possible.
I've actually produced a video about street performers as a metaphor for how to do business and it was very funny. I use examples from it, and elsewhere, to illustrate my class points.
To avoid confusion, most of my stories are way over the top events that nobody could confuse, but I use them to make a point. The students love it and remember the point better.
Hi Fortuna,
Students automatically enjoy humor as long as it is not too much of it. I have seen/heard some of those humorous examples of how miscommunication can lead to confusion. Students become real interested in hearing about the work world.
Patricia
Hi John,
Students enjoy hearing about real world experience. Students need to understand how theory is applied in a practical manner.
Patricia
This best way I've found to show relevancy is to include stories about real world experience in the area the class is focused on -- including my own experiences -- then open the discussion up to how they would handle whatever situation we're talking about. Hearing about first hand experience, and exploring their own potential responses, firmly plants the coursework in the middle of relevancy.
As a vocational instructor, I find that before I start a new topic I apply what we are about to learn to the work world. I am a language instructor, so basically I need to explain to the students how this is going to help their communication skills. I find that using humorous examples of how miscommunication can lead to confusion helps me to connect and engage students.
Hi Heather,
This is great! Students get real practice before going to work. The more you practice the better you become. We use this same tactic with our students that are majoring in Computer Technology. Anytime computers at the college need to be repaired or software needs to be loaded the tech students take care of things with the supervision of the instructor. These students also build computers for the college with the supervision of their instructor. This is a valuable way to gain experience.
Patricia
I teach IT/Networking courses. Everytime there is a network problem in the building I talk to the network admins-to-be.
I have them walk me through the troubleshooting steps, and tell them the results from each test as we go, so they can decide what to test next.
They need to tell me what tools/commands to use and explain why certain symptoms are occurring.
The discussion gets intense, and I hear a lot of, "Oh yeah! We learned that in Network+!" or "I remember that, but I never knew you could use it that way!" etc.
These real scenarios make them put all of their past and present knowledge together, and gives them confidence in their abilities. They can see the difficulty of problems in the real world, and adjust their study focus accordingly.
I can also model my troubleshooting process to give them a basis from which to start.
They really enjoy when there is a disaster and I ask them to "solve" it the next day :)
