Get Your Students Hired
How important is it to bring your professional expereince to the classroom? I have found that my industry experience in communications, ethics, policy, politics, organiztion of work and time management was well received by many students.
Deborah,
This is good as students need to know about how to problem solve in the career area.
Shelly Crider
Discussing professional scenarios also helps to walk students through the problem-solving process. Sometimes, I present a scenario then ask them for solutions before I share how I resolved it. In sharing my resolution, I help them understand the options I considered and why I ultimately chose a given option. With the students that we serve, this is a crucial soft skill they will be able to use both professionally and in their personal lives.
Ben,
This is an excellent post. I can only imagine teaching a course like this. Working as a team is certainly a major plus as you say!
Shelly Crider
I teach courses for training radiologic technologists. Our core cirriculum of radiation physics, anatomy and positioning is very technical and the students find it very challenging. I try my best to find opportuniites to discuss "soft skills" that are essential to working within any organization. I try to emphasize that it is just as important to refine how you work with others as it is to learn radiologic technology. Arguably, even more so. The science of our job is very cool, but success in the job will depend more on how you work as a part of a team, than how good you are are positioning for an x-ray.
Maurice,
The good, the bad and the ugly need to be discussed. As a student we read the picture perfect setting, not the abuse or the confusion people have.
Shelly Crider
I feel its very important to bring your experience in the classroom. I found out as I begin to talk about the medical field and my experiences, how the students faces light up! They can go on and on with questions to peak their minds.
Tony,
It is good to discuss the positive and the negative in your class! I like that!
Shelly Crider
I find that it provides a backdrop for students to relate to. By relating what is being learned in the classroom enviornment to real job expierences, the subject matter has "life consequences" positive or negative.
Thomas,
The book does not add emotion to the subject nor does it show passion!
Shelly Crider
I find that a good background in real world experiance allows one to use it as a tool in adding validity to any traing I do.It helps students to relate many times to things new to them and why they need to know.
David,
Students will have personal experience as well that they can bring. It may not be related to the field, but somewhere along the line they had some sort of experience to make them decide the path of their career.
Shelly Crider
I agree personal experiance brought into the class room is a must it helps the student understand better about the field you are instructing about and what to expect and how to handle the situation.
Michele,
Yes, books are just books....but personal experience....priceless!!
Shelly Crider
That is a very good example to give that the clinical is always fun, but yoy have to be able to explain what your seeing or what you hear, When it comes together for the student it all clicks one dosent work without the other. Alicia
I agree that bringing professional experience into the classroom is great for the students. You can review the book and the material but they will get a better understanding of 'real life' situations with hearing about experience from the instructor or from a guest speaker.
Terry,
Excellent....anything that shows a student why them must learn a topic is another step to transfer of knowledge!
Shelly Crider
In my Healthcare Career education programs (sonography), the only thing that keeps some students motivated to endure the Anatomy, Physiology, Physics, Algebra, etc. is for me to relate what they are learning to something I encountered in my own professional experience. Knowing the clinical value of being able to explain to a doctor why he is seeing an ultrasound "artifact" and not a tumor brings it home!
Gregory,
Oh yes.....personal experience is better than the textbook as students will see you and what you have done as real. The textbook is "picture perfect", but you offer the real world!! Good job!
Shelly Crider
Greg is both my friend and colleague, and I concur wholly with his affirmation that bringing one's professioal skills and knowledge to the classroom will make his course(s)much more alive and pragmatic for students. Likewise, I've served as a minister, high school/college English and Business Communication teacher, and corporate writer/motivational speaker. I've enjoyed them all and believe that my students will also benefit from my diverse professional careers.