Course relevancy
Career college students are relevancy-oriented.Students time is very valuable and if they feel that you are wasting their time they will loose trust in the course and the instructor. They must see a reason for learning something. Learning has to be applicable to their work or other responsibilities to be of value to them. I incorporate a Powerpoint project in which the students tell about their favorite career in the foodservice industry.
I agree with that, especialy in the food industry, where Hands on is verry important, and ususaly keep the student engage... But when it comes to lecture, most student get borred fast, and I always try to relate my lecture to real life industry to make sure they understand how important they need to know the course content
Dan,
This is "making it real" for the students and this format really gets them involved. They start to see the value of the content that you are sharing with them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Yes, I agree. Relating to real life experiences in lecture courses helps to stay-off bordem. Another point of relating real life experiences is explaining the "what, how and why" the experience is relavant. Sometimes a part of the relavance is understood by the student, but perhaps not as much as we the instructor understands the relavance. Often that can broaden the perspective of the student.
Also, if you teach the lab, and the instructor can relate the experience that was discussed in the classroom during the "hands on" activity, then a lesson is often getting a firm grip in the mind of the student.
Edna,
Real life experiences are attention getters. Students really like hearing them as you know plus they reinforce the value of the content being shared because their instructor used the content being shared to solve the problem or work through the situation.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Yes, sharing personal experiences with students helps keep it relevant. They always want to know "What's in it for me?"
Jill,
WIIFM is what it is about for students. They need to see the ROI of "What's in it for them?". Once they do they start to really become engaged in the learning process.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I teach something very different from food service but the relevancy concept is just as strong. Making it meaningful to the students is a good way to kep them motivated, involve them in discussions and possibly even get them to initiate learning dialogues in sidebars with each other.
William,
Right you are in terms of how this is a viable approach to keeping the students engaged.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree completely with this statement. The second the student feels like a class, or a topic in a class is a waste of time, they are no linger paying attention or even listening to what you have to say.
Bridget,
So true. We need to bring passion for our field along with enthusiasm for teaching our content to class each and every time we engage students. This will help them see value to what is being offered and increase their focus on success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree. I also use real life experiences in teaching culinary arts. Most of the stories that i share are entertaining because they were usually about mistakes that I have made. I always say that "I learned this the hard way, so you can learn from my mistakes". It definately helps to open the students to learning new things.
Philip,
Students love to hear stories from the field especially when they have a twist that involves something their instructor did. Your use of many stories that may not have achieved the results you wanted illustrate the necessity for students to learn certain skills and knowledge. In addition, I am sure your students get a laugh out of how your experiences ended. Keep telling your stories.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
As an HVAC/R instructor, I invite my students to "bring in special projects" from home or work. Even if we cannot successfully repair the appliance, the attempt makes a great learning experience, and helps the students realize the relevance of their education.
Wilbur,
This makes the learning process so much more real for your students as they are working on their own stuff while learning how to trouble shoot and repair items. This is a great way to introduce them to the coming "real world" in which they will be working soon.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I definitely agree with your perception that students approach classes from a relevancy stand point. The importance of showing them the end goal makes it easier to understand the steps and also helps them coping with the new material better.
Angie,
The more relevancy and application can be shown the more engagement there will be. In addition, when these two elements are present the motivation levels are much higher as well.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Relating to real life is what a lot of my students are looking for. However, not just real life but how do/did we confront REAL problems. They need to develop their skills on how to investigate/problem solve.
Sometimes, things just don't work according to "Hoyle" per se. Sometimes, it takes ingenuity and creativity to work around the problem to solve it. That's real life, that's many times what they are searching for. Not just answers or solutions handed to them.
Mark,
You make a number of excellent points in your comments. Students that can think critically and then proceed to solve problems are valued by employers. Students need to be able to define what problem solving is and how to develop skills within it. When they can do such they will greatly increase their value.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
