I have found that one of the easiest ways to get students excited about the course is to be excited about the course yourself first. You usually are teaching a course that you find interest. If you do not feel a deep passion about the course you are teaching, review the course, make a list of what you enjoy about the course. You can then utilize this list to highlight aspects of the course to come. Your excitement will shine through and the students will usually jump right along into the positive, upbeat feelings that you have created.
Yes it is helpful to teach your students your life experiences in their field. It helps them see their selves in a medical setting.
I use real life scenarios and news articles to show students what they are learning is relevant to my course content. My goals and objectives are clearly stated and I present successful graduates as motivation for current students.
I try to make sure they know on the first night WHY the things they are going to learn are going to be important to them and to their career. I use a LOT of real-life examples from my 30+ years in healthcare, so they can see why it is important, and they know I'm not just spouting off a party line from some book.
I try to keep students excited about my writing class by making it relative to their every day lives. For example, I had students write persuasive essays that included a reseach component, one student chose to write about and research the benefits of co-sleeping.
Hi Patricia,
Anytime hands-on teaching can be done, take full advantage. Students love doing.
Patricia Scales
H Darcy,
These are sure ways to get students pumped. We must keep the fire in our students.
Patricia Scales
Hi Judy,
I can tell you do a super job motivating your students and keeping them excited. Students like it when we let them know that we are approachable.
Patricia Scales
Hi Vance,
Great way to get students to understand the importance of the course!
Patricia Scales
I teach Medical Assisting and in this program I teach several different things that the student will use out in the field on a day to day basis. I try to engage them with hands on as much as possible because they seem to really relate to it more. I just recently taught an EMR program to them. Well, you can imagine sitting at a computer isn't really all that fun, at least for some, so I implemented what they learned about the EMR program into our Simulation Lab and they really related to it and enjoyed it. They understood it more. Now when we go to the Simulation Lab, my students not only use paper charts but also know how to do the EMR system. I have them doing both so that when they get out into the field they have an idea on what to expect and how to do it. They really enjoy doing both and are excited about doing it.
I get students excited about the courses they are taking by talking about my own experiences, having examples of what we are talking about, and by letting them perform the task that we are discussing when possible. It is much easier to get them excited about something that they are actually going to get their hands on. For example, I teach a Lab II class for dental assistants. They love this class because they get to actually take impressions, pour models, trim models, and work with the actual material.
Share with them how the course relates to the real career world. Bring guest speakers in who are currently in the field, maybe a guest panel. Be positive and proactive with you yourself keeping up to date.
I know in my anatomy classes I play medical jeopardy and we have competition amoung the students.
Even in my College Math class I try to give my students hands-on experience. It does them no good to watch me do example after example problem. The students need to do the problems. I set up competitions and games that help each student to contribute. One of their favorites is the relay. Students in rows form a team. The first student does the first step of an algebra problem, then passes the paper to the next student who does the second step of the math problem and then passes the paper to the third person and so on till the problem is done and they hold up the paper to get it checked. The first team to get it correct gets a point.
I teach College Algebra and getting students excited about the course is critical. Most students have negative emotions regarding math and algebra based on past experiences. I have to encourage students to believe that they are more equipped now as adult learners than they ever were as teenagers. One of the ways I do this is to give them challenging brain puzzles to show them how smart they really are. Another way I do this is to be excited and enthusiastic about the content myself. Even as adults, they feed off of my attitude and energy.
I love to make my students excited about the course content. A few ways I do this is by tell ing the students the benefits of learning the material and ways that they will be able to apply this knowledge to everyday situations for their benefit.
Students will be excited about the course when examples of real-life is applied. Do activities and situations of the working environment.
I completely agree Brandon I always start my lectures or discussions with questions to my students. I want them to feel that they can interact and ask questions or make comments during my lectures or anytime during class. By asking them questions you invite them to talk about their own experiences and this makes them feel more comfortable. I also tell them stories of real world situations that I have encountered in my experience. This seems to really interest the students and allows them to have a better understanding of what really happens out in the field. After a lecture I usually ask them if they can see themselves doing whatever I lectured on in the field, this really opens up huge discussions. I think it is very important to get students motivated and to make them feel comfortable in class.
I use a memorandum (based upon a real experience) in which grammar resulted in a costly mistake for a law firm. I give the students the memorandum and ask them to carry out its basic instructions. I then "fire" those who make the very mistake the person in the real story made. This is done in a comical manner and the students are always amused by it. When they learn what the grammatical mistake was and that it really did cost someone his/her job, they are more interested in hearing about grammar during the English 101 course I teach.
Hi Jeff,
I concur! In order for our students to get excited, we as instructors must be excited.
Patricia Scales
