Alisha,
Very true. It's often the soft skills that get workers fired rather than the technical skills they were trained for. Having some system in place to reinforce the knowledge of and importance of soft skills is as impotant as the technical skills and knowledge that are required for effective work preparedness.
Barry Westling
For me it is ti insure that they understand and can apply their new knowledge and skills in real world practical applications.
My goal is to insure that they can relate what they have heard, seen and done in class to the real world application of their new knowledge and skills. I am constantly questioning and challenging them with situations from my own experiences in the field and workplace.
Tom,
That's it. Work ready with the tools to do it well.
Barry Westling
Tom,
Great! Practical situations such as you describe help students become critical thinkers, and that is so helpful both as workers and in the students personal liives.
Barry Westling
It may be a play on words, but I teach more for knowledge foundation than a specific skill. A student with a knowledge foundation can addapt in his/her feild.
Clarence,
It's true, skills are usually kinesthetic tasks, whereas knowledge can be learned, expanded, and is creative. Interesting quote from A. Einstein: "Imagination is more important than knowledge because imagination has no limits".
Barry Westling
I made the previous comment based on one of the quiz questions that seem to indicate that we train people for a specific skill. Although that is true to some extent, the back ground knowledge and theory help us to identify if something is operating as it was designed. Students often want to know "How do I fix this". You first have to be able to know it's not working as designed.
Clarence,
I understand. Skill and knowledge often go hand in hand, along with critical thinking skills, that can resolve many things through rational thought and analysis.
Barry Westling
the goal is to help as many of them as possible to become productive happy individuals ! who have the skills to live and work successfully anywhere in the world !!!
Curtis,
I often reflect that if I can provide skills, knowledge, and professionalism attributes to my graduates< I will have their goals. If I can also provide the ability to think critically, I will have met my goals for them.
Barry Westling
The goal fo rme is to equipt them with the necessary tools which will allow them to be success in class and in the real world.
Charmelia,
Yes, skills, knowledge, and professionalism specific to their likely job settings. Critical thinking skills also help students in both their personal lives and at work.
Barry Westling
There are several goals in educating students. One of the major goals is to make sure they have the knowledge to succeed in the career that they have chosen. When they leave the learning environment with the knowledge readily available to them in their minds they have more confidence in their ability to do their chosen career. Another major goal for educating students is to be able to help them to shape their minds to function in an environment that they may not be accustomed to. Many people are rased a certain way and they try not to deviate from that life path. But when a person is trying to start a career in a field that they have no experience in it can be a culture shock when they enter it. These soft skills of interpersonal interaction are essential to the success of a student in the workforce.
Richard,
Right. I too believe our goal is to transform individuals from one lesser place they've been to a better place they're headed. Changing habits, sharpening courtesey and etiquette, and developing professionalism are wonderful traits to aim for besides the requisite skills and knowledge associated with their training.
Barry Westling
The goal is to help the students to lean as much as possible to be good at their career choice
Christine,
Yes, and I'd even say more than as "much as possible", we should prepare our students for all learning objectives, skills and knowledge, and the professionalism associated with their career setting.
Barry Westling
Helping the students to learn necessary skills, information, and facts that they will need for their future career. It is also important that they are able to apply these skills and the information to the work place. It is also important that the student understand the relevance of the information and the skills.
Heather,
Relevance along with knowledge is important. Creating critical thinking skills is a helpful goal too, as this can help both in the students personal life and professional endeavors.
Barry Westling
Knowledge and skills motivate students to reach further more. It provides them with a positive outlook and energy to strive for more.
