Seminars
How to get the students involve? Most of our students work and have families.How long a Seminar should last?
It seems students are always so busy trying to juggle family, work and school obligations, Miriam, that getting them deeply involved with school related activities is truly a challenge. What actions do you plan to take in the next thirty days to get them engaged?
During the 2 years that the student is in classes we require them to attend 6 career seminars that are given by the Career Services Director. Two of the seminars have been built into their classes. That leaves 4 that they are responsible for attending over 2 years. The seminars are approximately 2 hours in length and occur immediately before or after class. These seminars run rather frequently and at different times to accomodate our students.
Are these seminars a requirement for graduation, Bonnie? Does participation affect grades? Who keeps track of attendance? How do the students feel about the programs? Do they see and understand the benefit/objective?
seminar are very important for futer training for students and anyone who will continue in the medical field.
Why, Rodney? What is covered in your seminar?
Our school offers seminars on most Fridays, usually at 2pm and 6pm. These seminars range from how to build a resume to exposure to new gear and techniques being used in the industry. We bring in professionals in the field to speak to the students. It is required that students attend at least 12 seminars during their enrollment here which is 9 months full time or 18 months part time. The attendance is taken by passing around a sign-in sheet and is calculated into their final attendance average for graduation. We also include the seminars as part of the final student surveys to get their feedback. Most students respond well to the seminars and find them useful. They are also a great opportunity for networking and give the student's a glimpse into the professional industry they will be entering after graduation.
How do you evaluate impact on the student, Monica? Is there a link to placement activity? Do current students have an opportunity to demonstrate their skills to the professionals?
We evaluate the seminar's impact on the student through surveys filled out by the student asking them to rate the seminar and the speaker on areas such as "subject knowledge", "subject presentation", "preparedness", "approachability" etc. Some students see it as a networking opportunity and exchange contact information with the lecturer which can lead to placement activity. If the student wishes to demonstrate his own skills to the lecturer, he can approach them once the seminar is over to discuss that.
One school I worked at had students meet other week during lunch to discuss important college skills topics. They brought a lunch with them and the school provided drinks. It lasted about an hour. Some instructors to encourage attendance actually gave extra credit to those who attended.
What types of topics were covered in these seminars, Nancy? Was attendance voluntary and did participation affect grades?
Topics ranged from test taking tips to stress management and other issues to help students survive in college. Attendance was voluntary and the extra credit points could affect grades.
something short and fun. Maybe on a Saturday morning?
Do you have non-credit chat rooms for students, Elizabeth? How do you handle scheduling? Is Saturday morning a good time to get people together on-line?
Each department has their own orientation chat room to assist the student with questions they might have before starting class. We have had good success holding this during the evening. Saturday morning could be a very good time. We have a lot of prospects that call us on Saturday.
Do you continue to have a chat room for active students? If so, is used primarily peer-to-peer or do the students look to engage staff at the school? It would seem to me that chat rooms could be an effective way to expand student involvement within cyberspace and enrich their experience. Have you found this to be the case?
We have a 7 month program and we schedule speakers and graduates to come during class hours. They are usually one hour and its a great morale boost for the students. We recently had a speaker that was a grad and you could tell how inspired the students were by him by just looking at them. We try to have an activity like this every other month.
A good practice, Yahaira. What can you do to expand this program and have even more impact on the students?
Because these seminars are so important our Student Success/Reentry Coordinator planned an off campus field trip activity that all the students had to attend. At the seminar we had four/five presenters and it was a huge success.
Maple, please tell me more about this activity. I'm uncertain who participates. Who are the presenters and what are the topics? Is this a one day event or on-going?
