Hi Randy,
Students really do need to know how various concepts that are to be learned will be used on the job. Once students know the benefit of different concepts, they automatically buy in to the course.
Patricia
Hi Holt,
What an incentive! I love it! You reward those who volunteer. Thanks for community service as well as caring for our students.
Patricia
Hi Patricia
I've got so far 10 students volunteering their time at this Dental Free Clinic and I'm working on getting more of my students involved in this great activity.Yes,volunteering looks good on a resume ,but also volunteering made a big change on my students understanding the course requirements and how the knowledge and practical skills taught in class would be used in the career field.
Hi Patricia
I've got so far 10 students volunteering at this Dental Free Clinic and I'm working on getting more students involved in this great activity.Even my evening students who work all day and come to class at night between 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM during the week,volunteered their saturday mornings to help the people from our community with their dental care problems.
I always state at the begining of each course that the students' practical final grade would be higher or lower depending on their volunteering their time at this Free Clinic.I asked the Office Manager of this clinic to sent me an email or letter with the students' names who volunteered their time ,and specifically how many hours they were there.
They most certainly do. I have been in education for over 13 years and I have not met a student (young or old), traditional or non-traditional that have not enjoyed or found interest in hearing "real life stories" that they can relate to or use as a basis for thier training.
Always link learning to reality. Very early on show the students the WIIFIM. When they know and understand how what they are learning will be related to the real world and how they will benefit they tend to show more interest. RElevancy is critical to interest. If something is not relevant to your goals then you tend not to focus so much or put too much time in it.
Hi Holt,
Great suggestion made about volunteering! Volunteering adds great impressiveness to a resume. About how many of your students actually do volunteer?
Patricia
I tell the students that all the information and skills that will be presented in the course ,will help them in their chosen career,and I give specific examples of applications of skills and knowledge.
I also ask my students to volunteer at least 4 hours during a 20 days course ,and apply the skills taught ,at a Free Dental Clinic .This way the help the community and also apply the knowledge and skills taught in class.
I feel that it is important to give students a clear outlook on the information they will be learning. It allows them to relate what they are learning with their future career goals.
When a course is written by the SME presentations and workshop modules must include information and skills that will be similar to what the students might see in the workforce. An example might be to diagnose an electrical or drivability problem. It’s necessary for the student to see in his mind what all of his hard work will be used for in real life.
Randy Santly
Hi Jacob,
You are correct! $$$$$ motivate people. Students automatically become engaged when you talk about money.
Patricia
I like to use real world stories and experiences that relate back to the all mighty dollar. Students, and people in general, can relate to money. Giving stories of how knowing the meterial will make them a more valuable asset and can in turn put more dollars in thier pocket seems to grab thier attention and sink in.
Hi Maggie,
You are on target! The key is to make some type of connection to show relevancy. The connection can be to the real word, personal, career, etc.
Patricia
It is important to show relevancy especially if you are teaching a required course for a degree. Many students are not going to major in what you are teaching, but if you show them how this course will apply to a later course, it helps them to see a connection. I try to bring in assignments that relate to the career my students studying. This helps to go beyond the classroom and into the real world. During discussions, I ask them questions about how this would apply to their field, what can they take from this discussion and use it in their career.
Patricia,
This depends on the subject. For Social Sciences, you can show the "effect" in some form. In other words, start with the end state or complete picture then explain how each piece is used to create that "picture". Breaking down each component to its basic state allows the students to "comprehend" its relevance. As you put the pieces together (through instruction), students should be able to see each piece forming the "end state". When examining history, you have to comprehend key events or timelines (Crusades, birth of Israel, Revolution in Iran, etc) before you analyze a larger frame of reference like "conflict in the Modern Middle East". Each piece plays a large part in the mindset and how to analyze the subject.
cheers,
Greg
I use real experiences from the feild to highlight key points in the carriculum. For instance, when talking about exhaust repair I'll share a story about a particular problem that I encountered and how I solved or what I learned form it.
I use "war stories" to show the relevancy. I tell students of events which have happened to me in my career and how having certain knowledge/abilities helped, or how I wish I had that information.
I also like to use short clips from movies or youtube to show examples. One of my favorites for customer service is "United Breaks Guitars" -- cute story, cute music video and then I explain how the airing of the video on youtube affected United stock prices. I then show them a list of all the other videos which parody "United Breaks Guitars" to explain how the poor reputation of poor customer service continues in ways they can not imagine.
Further, United Airlines now uses that same video in their customer service training.
You show them by giving examples of how the information can be used in the workplace; giving different scenarios depending on what they might choose to do with their degree once they graduate.
I teach critical thinking and ethics. What I do is provide examples of how ethical guidelines are used in business and criminal justice departments to show my students how the class material will become relevant in their professional lives.
I have found that creating a nexus with the class and professional requirements helps my students understand the need of the class and how to apply upper level cognitive domains to their learning.
I like to literally connect what they are learning to on the job scenarios. The theory portion of classes can only paint a vague picture of what the workplace is about. When the students learn something new, I like to elaborate on how those same concepts are applied in a dialy routine. With much of the theory portions of classes, what the book says and what the real world demands are not in line with eachother. It is important for them to see the connections.
