Teaching Tip: Make your course matter
April 1, 2014
Instructors and students both want courses that frame content in engaging ways. However,
because instructors are so familiar with their subjects, they often fail to appreciate
that some facets may not be so obvious to students. But it can be easy, and hugely
beneficial, to bring a subject's relevance to the fore.
Assigned material can take on new significance by establishing multiple dimensions
of relevance. Here are some examples:
- relevancy to grade
- relevancy to employment
- relevancy to an important life skill
- relevancy to intellectual curiosity
- relevancy to current events
- relevancy to personal passion
Think about the different ways in which you can treat the material you know your students need to learn, so that they come away knowing they need to learn it, too.
Click here to read more about relevancy and for some current event examples: http://elearning.uaf.edu/go/tt-relevance.
-- Teaching Tip by Dan LaSota, UAF eLearning instructional designer