Hi Jim,
I think you have developed an excellent way of getting students invested in the online course. The idea of equating running a home as a business which it is really helps to make it real for your students. The "heads up" email really helps to set the stage for the coming content and gets the students thinking about what they need to be concentrating on. Great job.
Gary
Even though I posted earlier, it was from My perspective. Perhaps the best way to sum up my instructional teaching methods is to share a student's feedback (with permission)when asked to provide a 'review' of the class at the end of the course:
The first goal I had in mind, was to get 100% in everything I did. That seemed attainable and made sense to me at the time, as long as I put in the work and time, I thought I could handle any challenge rather quickly, that's what I thought!
You see, because I was so focused on making the grade I wanted, I became out of focus in learning. It took the Professor to call me at home and help me realize that what good is the grade if I didn't learn or retain anything from the class? Sad to say, but I honestly couldn't answer that question and it was rather embarrassing to say the least, to have a goal, but not a valid reason to back it up. Try as I might, I just couldn't talk my way out of this one!
The conversation was refreshing and made me think about the value of learning, retaining and putting to use that information to every day life situations, personally and professionally.
I am still a high achiever for the near perfect grade, because that is very much important to me, but now I know that I wouldn't have needed or learned anything from taking this class if I were perfect.
I am happy and proud to admit that I got an "A" in this class, but I couldn't have done it without all of you and our wonderful Professor. Your thoughts, words of wisdom and encouragement were inspirational and brought out the determination and motivation to successfully succeed! So for that, I thank each and everyone of you!!
The preconceived ideas that I had before starting this journey was that after 20 years of being out of school, I thought I'd lost some of my smarts and wouldn't be able to understand like everyone else. Understandably, I was nervous, scared, intimidated scared of the unknown and afraid that I wasn't going to be able to keep up. None of these notions were valid, in fact I kind of feel silly to have thought those things in the first place!
Personally, I think differently, outside the box, so to speak! I get excited to take what I've learned and relate it to an every day situation or apply it to my job. I always say I learned it in class, it just makes me feel good!
I think the most important thing I have learned is the "Value of Time"
Time heals, it changes and progresses for the better, it makes us money (interest) helps us learn and mature, goes by quickly (as did this class!) gave me the opportunity of meeting all of you.
And when the time comes, I will have come full circle, earned my degree and continue to use the knowledge from this class, for years to come.
Hi Margie,
Thanks for sharing your students' feedback on where they are coming from and what they have gained from the course. You are giving them a true picture of their future through the teaching that you are doing, not to mention the legacy of preparing the next generation entering the field.
Gary
Many of our students have already worked in the field at entry level positions; by discussing some of the things they have seen and experienced we can consider alternatives. What have they seen that seemed to be a real problem and what potential remedies can we determine based on our current study?
We also review current job descriptions and use that framework to construct scenarios for discussion and role play.
Hi William,
The key to working with advanced students is just as you explained the ability of transferring their previous experiences into future possibilities. If they can define and refine their problem solving skills then they will be much more viable in the work place.
Gary
Making a course relevant to adult learners is necessary, but can also make for a fun class discussion. After providing the students with new class material, I like having an open discussion to allow students to talk about the material and how it is relevant to their work or life experiences. This helps solidify the information for the student speaking, but also helps students who are not able to make a connection to see someone else's perspective and maybe open new doors of thought.
HI Dina,
You made a key point when you mentioned students seeing and hearing other students' perspectives on course content. This really helps them to internalize the content and then make application of it in ways they had not thought of before.
Gary
Generally, i try and get as much feed back from the students as possible, by always asking for their thoughts on what they are learning and if it is what they expected the clas to be like. As well, I try and make the class relevant by using my own professional experience to give the students a picture of what the day to day experiences may be like when they enter the work force in their chosen discipline.
Hi Bruce,
You are doing a great job of blending the interests of the students and your professional experience. They get to see you as a model of the field plus benefit from the experience you are sharing with them.
Gary
Steve,
Not sure if you are still following this discussion but I wanted to tell you that your list of "How learning the lesson will.... " is great. I will be sharing these with some of the instructors in my department.
Thanks,
-Chris
The bottom line to making things relevant to students is that the students need to tell you what is relevant to them. I teach HVAC/R at a career school and one of the most frequent questions I get asked is "Why do I need to learn this? We will never use (math, English, Ohms Law, ...) in the field." I must have examples ready for just about everything in the curriculum to show them how it will be used in the field.
The other important thing is for the instructor to ask the students, individually at the start of each term to set goals. I like using a short essay question to do this, something like, "What are you hoping to learn during the course of this term?" And for new starts in the program I alter that a little to ask, "what are your goals following graduation from our program?" The answers to these two questions tell me quite a bit:
1) Does the student have goals, or will I need to help develop them?
2) What type of communication skills does the student have?
3) How can I alter the program a little to meet their goals?
Also, over the last year I have begun the process of making grades less important. Someone else in this forum shared a student evaluation response in which a student addressed this. I have come to the realization that the best students rarely think about grades and more about the material being learned. It's to bad that prior schooling trains students to just be worried about grades. Most students can be taught to realize that the grade is not important, the material is what is relevant; but the instructor taking this approach must really believe in this; and the administrators must allow this.
This has been successful for me. Another thing that has helped is to allow students to move at different rates in the program. Students who come in with more skills, more life experience, possibly already working in the field are allowed to move forward more quickly and cover more advanced material once they prove an understanding of the basics. The ones whom need to move slower to absorb the basics can do so. I make it clear to students that the course is not a race; yes we need to cover a certain amount of material, but it is more important that they totally absorb and understand the material. This individualized approach takes more classroom management skills but has improved retention and student evaluations.
It is all about remembering who our customer is: the student.
-Chris
Hi Chris,
Outcomes is where it is at for career college students. Our culture is tied to grades as evidence of learning and success so this presents a challenge when we try to get students to focus on outcomes in relation to skill development and competency acquirement. The students must have the competencies if they are going to be successful upon leaving school. If they can't do the work they will not keep their employment.
Gary
Expectations and goals will help focus on a target. The target is the what students are expected to learn upon completing a course. Expectation helps to create measurable learning. To create expectations for students, an instructor should translate the Terminal Course Objective (and learning outcomes) for a course into a format that is relevant and easily understandable by students. In a career education setting, the instructor should communicate clearly the roles of instructors and students in autonomous learning.
I teach Medical Assistants, and I bring into the classroom real life experiences that I dealt with when I worked in the doctors office. I tell them stories about some of the issues that I had to deal with on a daily basis, and they become so excited they say they can't wait till they can start working in the doctors office so they can experience some of the same things that I tell them about.
I think this helps them know what to expect from this career that they have chosen.
If you direct the subject matter to addressing student expectations and show them how the information ties to their future professional needs students will generally focus on the information and will work to retain the information. It should motivate students to put forth greater effort.
Hi LE,
I call this "connecting the dots" between the classes that students are taking and the future they can create for themselves. If the can see the connection then they will get more fired up and engaged in the learning process.
Gary
I teach both technology and business, and these are at two different ends of the spectrum. Most technology students I have are working in the field, and have a need to have a result at the end of the assignment that they could apply. It doesn't matter if the technology is applicable to their job; they just need to see a result that they could if needed, for example, setting up an operating system even if they are programmers. Business learners are a little more complex, they don't seem to need an end result, but rather they need to be able to understand a concept that if in the future they might be able to use, e.g., some economic theory. Pre-testing technology students seem relatively straightforward, but business students and pre-testing is a little bit more difficult, and I am always looking for new ways to motivate them.
The concept of Andragogy is now quite common place in the adult ed industry. Malcolm Knowles established the guiding principles by which to follow. However, I have always felt that Andragogy has been pigeon holed when it is actually quite ageless. All students want relevancy, choices, acknowledgment of their experiences and what they bring to the table, etc. I am more convinced every day when working with my students and working with young people that Emotional Intelligence will be the educational research of the future.
Keeping on task with this forum, however, creating instructional approaches that mirror the work environment is critical. Creating practice activities that allow the student to focus on their work or life needs provides numerous opportunities for learners to find relevancy and motivation. Many of us do this very well. Where education falls down is in the area of assessment. Even within the presentation of this course the content talked only about traditional approaches.. multiple choice test, TF, content and test. The reality is that adults don't take test at work. They have projects, they have meetings, they have presentations, they have team elements, etc. If they do not complete these elements they are terminated or counciled. Our assessments must be project based, team based, etc. and include reality. This is a real challenge and mind shift for MANY higher ed institutions and faculty even those that profess to be career colleges.
Dr. Jeannette K. Jones,RCC
Hi Dr. Jones,
Good points about how higher education is going to have to position itself in the coming years. The dynamics of the student body have changed extensively in the past few years and we in higher ed need to be flexible enough to respond to this.
I agree with you about the emotional intelligence research need. One of my doc students just completed his dissertation on this topic. Very interesting the role emotion plays in personal and professional success. I have spent the last 25 years researching ways to assess the multiple intelligences of individuals to facilitate increased communication and learning. Have developed an assessment called Talent Key that gives a person their three dominate intelligences which then enables them to see how they process information. Want to move toward the blending of my research between multiple and emotional intelligences so I can identify connecting and bridge points between the two areas to benefit both instructors and students. Lot of work to still be done.
I use extensively project based assessments because they have the students problem solve real life situations, which is what they will face in the work work. I do them in the form of case studies and learning groups.
Gary
Hi Gary,
I absolutely agree and support your work in the areas of EI and learning. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. It has been a pleasure working with you in this course.
Blessings
Jeannette
