Get Your Students Hired
Possibly have a real world comparisons of those who applied what is being taught and those who didn't and the differences in success.
Hi Daryl,
You do a fine job with retaining your students and providing course relevancy. Our students need to understand how the course applies to the real world.
Patricia Scales
I totally agree that guest speakers can really bring home the message that every course is in some way relevant. I recently asked a family friend of mine who is a Pharamacist if he could come speak to the Pharm. Tech. students at my school, and he responded that he has no time to take off to do it. Maybe its me, but professionals need to MAKE the time to give back! Their presence is needed in a learning environment. Sometimes a teacher can teach a lesson countless times, however when SOMEONE ELSE reiterates the point, it becomes REAL!
Having professionals from the chosen career field come speak to the students about the necessity of various aspects of their education when it comes to real world application.
I always show my students real world concepts in their course, such as in my Pharmacology course, I show students mock Rx pads, when using dosage calculations I bring in sample bottles to mock a Rx bottle, such as a bag of Rx's that a patient would bring into their appointment. I also show in their Medical Orientation class, to double as a retention technique, current pay scale, as well as bring in a MA from the field to speak to them. I try to keep activities as relevant as possible to avoid "losing" my students.
Hi Karen,
Awesome to go the extra mile for your students! Students love it when we directly make the course relate to the real world.
Patricia Scales
Make it a goal to speak to a professional(s) in the field of study for your students. In other words, I am a general education instructor that works with several occupational fields. It takes time, but it is well worth finding out how my area of expertise relates to the occupational goal of my students. The goal of my students varies based on their professional path, but there is always a connection from my courses to their overall goal…I just have to take the time to seek out that information. In doing so, it becomes very easy to point out the relevance of my course(s).
Hi Jamie,
Guest speakers are amazing, and they add a lot of flavor to the classroom. Students are really inspired by guest speakers.
Patricia Scales
I like your style I also bring in guest speakers that have been in the field performing there field of duty they are going into.
I try and use my "real" world expereince for them to understand the relevancy of the course. I think they enjoy the stories and realize that one day they will have them as well.
Hi Lisa,
Students love it when we share our experiences/stories as they pertain to the lesson. Students really love visuals as well.
Patricia Scales
Hi Janice,
Your students are fortunate to have you as their instructor, there is nothing like speaking about a topic from experience. Experience is truly the best teacher.
Patricia Scales
I strive to always tie in a clinical experience to parallel with the lecture. I instruct dental assistants, primarily their medical terminology. If the terms are related to diseases of the oral tissues, I provide visual aids, discuss what speciality of dentistry they may see this condition themselves, and discuss an experience I have had in the field where a patient had a particular condition.
The same is true with the Office Management course I instruct. When I lecture on communication in the dental office, I will recall experiences of nonverbal messages transmitted by the patient in the treatment room, as well as verbal conversations about fees or insurance billing, and so forth.
Showing students the relevancy of course content is vital in capturing and keeping the students' attention throughout the course. Students want to know that the information they are learning is relevant, current, and necessary for their career. Students do not appreciate busy work in the classroom. My students appreciate the fact that I am working full time in their field of healthcare and that I speak from experience. My background allows me to merge theory and practice so students can relate what they are learning in the classroom to what they need to know for their job upon graduation.
Not only showing students how it applies to their career field but giving real life examples or specific instances where the skill they are acquiring is going to be useful. For instance when teaching how to take and record vital signs, letting students know they will be doing it repeatedly and the significance of both normal and abnormal vital signs and what that means to a successful medical assistant.
Hi Brady,
It is awesome when students have great clarity of the course relevancy. Students understand the importance of the course when they understand the relevancy of the course.
Patricia Scales
Hi Judy,
I agree! As you are covering the syllabus you can really focus on the course relevancy.
Patricia Scales
The syllabus and course objectives is a good way to show relevancy of course content to the students.
Give personal experience on the subject matter or show how in the "real world" that your course applies and give examples of how.
I work in government. Many of our lessons focus on ethics, critical thinking and strategic thinking. I use the news cycle to start off our discussions on some of these topics. Our students are very sensitive to issues affecting the government, missteps of individuals in government, etc. The relevancy for them becomes very clear.