Getting students excited about course content
What are some methods you use to get students excited about your course?
Hi Nancy,
Excellent way to come up with ideas to keep your students engaged. No one wants to be bored. I never teach any class the same way twice. I am always thinking what I can do better to keep my students wanting to come back for more.
Patricia Scales
I often will reflect on the class and ask myself "what would make me want to come to this class?". This sometimes helps me come up with ideas to keep their interest.
Hi Wendy,
Great idea! I also love bringing in graduates as guest speakers to share their success and where they came from.
Patricia Scales
Hi Eddie,
I really love getting students excited by applying everything we do to the real world.
Patricia Scales
I try to give the students some real-time feedback from former students now on the job about how the class helped them.
I try to tie them right to the final goal of contributing to people's lives in a positive manner by giving them concrete examples of relationships I have formed with patients over the years, and how the confidence they will have will allow those patients to feel trust in them and create a very rewarding environment for all involved.
Hi Patricia,
Wow, what great experience you have to bring into the classroom. Experience really is the best teacher! Your students are fortunate to have you as their instructor.
Patricia Scales
I get students excited by relating the subjects we are covering to the career they are pursuing. I have worked in dentistry for 35 years and have lots of practical examples.
Hi Ebony,
Students love it when we make learning apply to the real world.
Patricia Scales
Hi Linda,
Starting Day 1 with excitement is a must! You want them to be excited from the very beginning!
Patricia Scales
I give some interesting examples of what happened during the work day, that they may experience when they enter into the career field.
To get students excited about course content is to engaged them on day one. Give them the syllabus, explain what is expected of them, make them fill relax, and explain some exciting activities that we will do in class.
I often use real life experiences that I've had as examples to get them to be interested in what I'm saying. This way they don't think I'm reading out of a text book or an already made up scenario. So giving more of a personal touch seems to work.
Hi Carlos,
I like how you take your knowledge further and share it with your students by showing how the Office Suite is truly an integration package. As you stated, most people only know how to use each software individually, they do not know how to make it all work together.
Patricia Scales
I am a technology instructor, so the courses I teach are technology based. What I try to do is make sure that there is a lot off hands on work for them. The hands on is what they are looking for and majority of the time is the first question they ask. But I make it clear when we have to do some theory reading before doing any hands on work. I actually pose the question to them why we need the theory first. One of the biggest challenges is be able to do things on a computer that has been lockdown for security reason. Since we do not want to break any system and we do not have the budget to have a second physical system that they can use I make use of virtualization technology (the free version). It is an additional bonus to the course, especially when it is also a hot technology. Also since it will be something that they can use at home as well to do any testing they wish without breaking their home machine. The courses that do not require virtualization like the Office Suite course, I try to create real example that I had to resolve while working in the corporate world. I will go over that it is not just important to know the products by themselves but how they can be used together to solve problems quickly. I would give a demonstration by exporting data from a system contain names, parse the information with Excel and import that information to let say Word or Outlook or create a batch file to create folders for them to place they work on a common share. All of it done with minimal typing. For this course I found that gets them interested because some know the products individually but do not how to use them together. So, at the end each course could have a different way it lends itself on how it can be made exciting as well what the students are looking for.
Hi Vicki,
Humor can really lighten the burden. Laughter is good for us all.
Patricia Scales
Hi KarrieAnn,
These are great ways to generate excitement, especially the hands-on portion.
Patricia Scales
Hi Ryan,
I suggest that you talk to your DOE and/or seasoned instructor to find out if they know how you can put a twist on the course to help students see how the course will help them in their field. Even if it does not help them in their field, it may help them in life.
Patricia Scales
I use humor such as course content related cartoons and animations which demostrates learning concepts. For example I teach microbiology which for most students can be academically challenging, so by adding elements of humor it helps to "breaks the ice".
