Get Your Students Hired
Michael,
This is a good point about knowing why students are enrolled. Having this information can help shape the approach that is taken when delivering content and assigning projects.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Students select course based on their own needs and desires...understanding why they chose your course could go a long way to understanding their expectations. understanding that piece helps the instructor develop or maintain relevancy by tailoring to the learner's needs or expectations. Preassessments are a form of strategy that can bring this information out.
Edward,
This approach truly does make the content relevant. This should help the students see the value of what they are being taught and the skills they are developing.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
For my classes every thing we do is relevant to our classes. We start with specific car models they will be involved with when they start their career in the dealership and they are given the expectations on how that fits with their job requirements.They get to see the specific way a dealership needs a task preformed and then they are required to perform it until they are skilled at it.
Linda,
Examples and stories from the field are critical to showing both application and relevancy. The more connection you can create between the content and their career goals the better.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Jennifer,
Good way to show the ROI to the students. They through this approach can see the value they are getting for their time and effort.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
When I am lecturing I give the students examples of my experience in the field. The more amusing the incident the better. It connects with the topic as well as lightening up the subject matter. They tend to remember things about my story that helps them connect with the topic.
in the vocational courses I teach everything is relevant and I explain why at the beginning of every lecture. I also point out the objectives.
I always try to review the days tasks as a learning session. I ask specific questions to the contentof the project for day to help them remember what they were doing and why it is important to perorm tasks in a specific systematic approach
I agree, students must be aware of the ultimate goal of their instructions. Often times they have to be reminded of this goal over and over again so that they stay focused throughout the course.
A student can and will lose interest in the course content if it is not presented in a relevent manner. I agree with your assessment stated.
Ronna,
This is a good plan because it reinforces the content that has been shared and reinforces the value of it in terms of applications that can be made. This makes the content real to them and increases their engagement.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
John,
The more examples and applications of real world experiences you can share with your students the better. They need to see the connection between the content being shared and how they will use this information in the work place. When they see such a connection the ROI for the course really goes up for them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have found that towards the end of each mod I plan a video or a field trip that "shows" how what they hve just learned applies to the career they have chosen. Not only does this give clarity but it also excites the students into what comes next!
Very good point. I have experienced similar conversations with adult students myself. One of my main goals of keeping the course content relevant for my students is to constantly give them real world/ practical uses for what they are learning. In career education, I believe it to be just as important as the theory/ book knowledge they are receiving. Almost all students seem to be receptive to more and more practical examples.
David,
I like the way you are connecting the dots for your students between theory and application. Helping your students to know where to find information and then pull out the content they need to respond to the topics being discussed is a great service to them. The effectiveness of this is demonstrated by the success they are having in their summer internships. Keep up the good work you are doing in helping your students move closer to their career goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
One of the courses I teach is Emergency Management. The students do not plan to be Emergency Managers - rather they expect to be in government where they would set policies for or perhaps supervise Emergency Managers.
One specific way to show that my course and instruction is relevant to the students' future careers is to show a professional standard or policy requirement that is directly related to each lesson.
Example:
- For the topic of Risk Management, refer them to the ISO (International Organizational Standard) for RM.
- For Business Continuity, refer students to NFPA (National Fire Prevention Association) 1600 -- a national standard in the field.
- For community involvement, show students PPD (Presidential Policy Directive) 8, which establishes Whole of Community as a national standard for Response and Recovery.
The idea here is NOT to assign these sources as readings for class, but rather to use them as examples for presentation/discussion IN class. (Perhaps have one student do a 3 min summary of such a document each week.)
This would allow the students to see that what they are learning in class has direct relevance to national and international standards which they will need to understand and master upon graduation.
A bonus (in my experience) is that students who take part in this weekly exercise in relevance do very well in summer internships when they demonstrate knowledge of some of the professional standards required of their potential profession.
Amber, absolutely. I always try to tie in some of my experiences in the field with both the classroom and lab portions of our program.
Meeting the learner needs and integrating strategies must be included in the course planning.
Amber,
This is an important part of the instructional planning process. Building the "why" into the lessons reinforces the value of the content being presented and increases the ROI for the students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.