Student Retention & Motivation
At the Career College where I work, our Culinary Arts Department has the lowest retention in the school. I am afraid that many of the students decide to come to our school because of the way our profession is portrayed on television. Once they begin school, they are hit with a dose of reality and think twice about continuing.
My question is, how do I let my students know what this industry is all about while at the same time keeping them motivated to continue in the program?
Hi Sandra,
I hope that other participants in this course forum will have some suggestions for you. It is a great question with a tough solution.
Several years ago when all of the CSI shows hit TV we had the same thing with students wanting training in crime scene investigation. They came with no "real ideas" about what CSI work really was about.
As a result of the Food Network we are seeing the same thing in Culinary Arts. What we have found to work is at the very beginning of the training sequence have guest speakers in talking about the real requirements of the field. Then we take the students out on field trips to show them the work environment. Time is spent on work hours, time on feet, etc. This not meant to discourage them but to give a real perspective about their career choice. What we have done also is go into the high schools and explore culinary arts field options so when them come into the training area they are much more focused on what they really want out of their training and they can see the future for themselves.
Gary
Sandra,
That dose of reality is a perfect thing to build on...and admissions rep's should have prepaired your students for the reality.
You may have to start from scratch, explain the cold hard facts - you teach and reinterate methods for overcoming absticles & issues that arise from your industry. Be honest, but use tact to not scare them!
Here is where I would go - start with the fine art of cooking. Then elaborate on the prestige of being a high end chef. Find examples of people who have started at the bottom and risen to be the top of thier industry!
Charles
Thank you for the insight! I definitely will try your suggestions.
We are odds sometime with the admissions reps about letting them know the facts, but that just brings about another challenge for us instructors, and I say bring it on!
A reality check may include bringing in industry partners to speak to the students. Its a time for them to share initial experiences they encoutered and how they overcame them and got to where they are now..
That's the spirit!!!
Without students instructors don't exist. I feel your pain and we all need to work together.
Hi Wayne,
The use of industry partners is always a good idea so the students can see the transference between classroom and the real world. They are going to be seeking employment very shortly and they need to know exactly what the field is looking for. Your method helps do that plus helps keep contacts with business and industry so your program can remain current.
Gary
Another great source of motivation is to have alumni come back and talk to the students. It's a great source of motivation and reinforcement of our values when successful students come back and share their success stories with current students.
I believe this is a common problem throughout the education environment. It is especially true in technical schools. I find that most students have an idea of the particular field they have chosen to train in, but most of the time it is an unrealistic idea. They have latched on to some aspect of that profession that they believed they would really enjoy but know nothing of the details and, of course, the devil is in the details. There may be things about the chosen field that are not very appealing to the student once they are more involved in the training process. I believe that in this case the instructor must step up and act as a counselor, give the student a realistic perspective of the profession, and let the student decide to stay or go. I have found that, in most cases, the one thing that they originally thought they would love about their chosen field is enough to keep them motivated and they discover more rewarding aspects as they progress through school.
That is a great idea. One of the things I do is to talk about my own experences in the field or bring in others that are working in the field and speak about theirs also.
I actually do share experience with my class.
This certainly keeps the class interested, however
some days there is so much material to get through that if I share a 3 minute conversation with the class we have a tendency to not get through all the material for the day.
We just had a quiz today, not difficult, I have a feeling I'm about to see who is with the program and who needs attention.
Thanks for the input!
Your absolutely right about getting off track.
Depending on what I see at that point is where I make the decision on how I am going to approach the additional information of the course or the particular block of information with particular students. If I have students that retain info a little better in labs(hands on),I give them a little more attention in the labs than say the student who understands the classroom led lectures and can lead themselves through some of the lab exercises. Then I review the material with them after they have completed to make sure their approach is on track.
