Inadequate background
I have experienced many instances of students who have inadequate background it is helpful to be aware of options to offer these students such as student learning groups, a pretest, offering study guides, referral to other resources, and individual help.
Angela ,
Ideally, students would carefully plan and choose their studies based on thier true interests and abilities, and do the necessary preparation for entry into these professions. Too often we are given students who lack this ideal, but yet we can still work to make progress, assist them in gaining forward successes, and make for a better working life through our efforts.
Barry Westling
Our school has recently done away with the Professionalism class. It is exchanging it for GED prep. Personally, I have found the Professionalism class a great help in preparing the students with the proper mindset before entering the classroom.
Kelley,
One way to compensate might be to integrate certain key content areas into your core classes. For instance, nearly every class requires applied writing, spelling, communication and computation. Also the importance of good attendance, dress and hygiene can be intertwined with the core topics.
Barry Westling
Self-perception is a huge factor in this equation. They many times don't know that "they don't know something"; therefore, helping the student see themselves in relation to needed expectations is a valuable skill of an instructor. It is best done with "a spoon full of sugar".
Diana,
I think this is true. It became evident to me when I would ask students at the beginning of their program to write an essay about what they hoped for as an outcome. Then, during the final week of the program I would give the same assignment -- then pass out their original essay for comparison. Usually, that revealed students were quite naive at the beginning, but full of determination. The final essay showed a more realistic perspective about their career, albeit with less passion.
Barry Westling
Students with inadequate backgrounds have definitely been a problem in our program. We are now working with admissions to create pre-testing and higher standards.
It is very important to do this as the program is very expensive and intensive. It is heart breaking to me to see a student struggle or fail out of the program due to inadequate background.
Dareen,
It is sad to see an individual with lots of ambition and determination fail because they were not adequately prepared. I still feel committed to try to help all who come to me -- sometimes I'll be surprised at the outcome. So I never give up on anyone.
Barry Westling
Professionalism class is an important prerequisite choice that should be chosen in any specialized technical teaching field. Students in those fields usually need extra effort and continuous support during their teaching courses till they reach their graduation stage
Emad,
You're right, often the work expectations are a bit higher in many technical and medical fields, yet students don't always appreciate the need for or importance of compliance and conformance to professional standards. Methods to get support and sustained participation by the students show their degree of professionalism.
Barry Westling
correct, students in my opinion should be evaluated as early as possible to give them all the help that they require.
JOE,
And they appreciate that effort. This contributes to trust and respect, as we mentioned earlier. When students see that their instructor takes the time to give advice, suggestions, encouragement, and support, they likely feel their instructor is wanting student success as much as the student does.
Barry Westling
Starting next term I will be teaching a new class. I am fortunate that I have had most of the student before so that will help. The new class is a capstone course that is a revision of all the previous classes. I think I will use a pretest on day one to see were each and every students education level is at. I have a feeling that this will be a true challenge for me as a instructor and I'm looking forward to it.
Ryan,
Great. It is always interesting to do a reality check on what we think students know, what we think they should know, and of course, an assessment of their actual understanding of prior topics and lessons.
Barry Westling
