Barry Westling

Carol,
Sometimes students enroll in courses or programs with only a vague idea about what the profession offers. Occasionally, they find their interest is elsewhere, the course work is too difficult (or too easy), or they may become disillusioned and either dropout or finish the program but never go to work in the setting they were trained for. Matching a potential student with their true interest will contribute to a more productive outcome.

Barry Westling

Susan Carter

Many students come to my classes thinking (hoping)that graphics is a good career for them. Perhaps they didn't do well academically in high school- except for art. I try to make my clases relevant to their career choice, but sometimes it is not enough to carry them through with just their vague sense of liking art. We have a good student services department to help here.

Barry Westling

Susan,
I imagine there are many students that rely on their artistic skills and feel like academic studies are less important. One way to reach these students is to work with general ed instructors to use visual and tactile lessons to teach theory whenever possible. Also, having successful past graduates return as guest speakers may help current students relate to the challenges and ability to achieve academic success.

Barry Westling

Sue Cordero

Knowing a bit about the students background gives you insight into their study habits or lack of. Many of my night students are single mothers or have families and day jobs and are unable to find solutions for study habits. Knowing this information allows me to work in homework review during class time so they are not so overwhelmed with the amount of work that they have outside of class.

Barry Westling

Sue,
Another aspect is retention of information. Students remember when new material is related to information they already know. So if examples are used, and a specific student situation is used, that will be very likely remembered, because it's personal.

Barry Westling