What is in it for me?

Making Content Relevant for Students

by Ann Bainbridge Frymier

Student want to know when they come into a classroom what is in it for them.  Relevance of material to personal needs is key for students in the learning process.  When students perceive that course content is relevant to them, they are more likely to retain information.

 Expectancy Value Theory:  An individual will be motivated to perform labors that are personally satisfying and have a positive expectancy for success.

Elaboration Likelihood Model: The extent to which a persuasive message is relevant influences whether a person will be motivated to elaborate on the message.

Relevance and Learning

Relevance is an important element in the retention of learning, yet it can be challeging to get buy in from students.  Relevance is tied to perception. All teachers feel that their class is relevant and important, while some students may fail to see the relevance of the subject matter being taught.  We can help our students see that the course material is relevant by helping them understand and articulate how a particular subject has, is and will be relevant in their future.  Additionally, sudents who felt like their teachers were using relevant strategies valued the content more.  These strategies include:

1. Getting their attention.  We can use to engage learning include using tools of verbal and non-verbal immediacy to gain students attention.  This includes using eye contact, smiling, calling the students by name and using humor.
2. We can also help students feel confident in their ability to do well in the class and to learn the course material.
3. Helping students feel satisfaction by offering constructive positive feedback either written or oral

MY APPLICATION:

I think we can help students feel course material is relevant by showing our enthusiasm for the subject and for the students in the classroom.  From my experience,  I have been able to enjoy and retain material from any subject if the teacher was passionate about the subject and used creative methods to help us learn the material. 

I took a beginning theatre production class, in which we could have learned terminologies and operations through our textbook, but our teacher took a hands on approach and got us involved in every aspect of production  We were on stage, in the soundroom, worked on sets, costumes, stage managing, props, etc.  We did it all.  So, how is theater relevant to life and why would we need to retain this kind of information? The experience taught us how to plan, organize,think ahead, understand contingencies and prepare for emergencies.  Most of us were not going to make a career out of theater, however, we were able to learn the nuts and bolts of  how to put on a show, workshop or presentation through our experiences in that class.  And, it was fun! 

Our teacher empowered us and held us to high standards with the understanding that we would not fail.  Although as beginners we felt unequal to the material, by the time the class was over we felt very proud of ourselves for what we had learned and had accomplished.  She was not a teacher to heap on praise, but when she used our work in the show being produced, we felt pride and ownership for the part we had played in the process.