Inspiring the Love of Learning in Today's Student

Blog note:  Today's guest blogger is Margie Nelson.  Margie is an Assistant Professor of English at the Valle Verde Campus.  If you'd like to discuss teaching and learning as a guest blogger, feel free to contact me at jrudnick@epcc.edu. 

by Margie Nelson

At this year's Southwest Seminar, I was lucky enough to attend the “Inspiring the Love of Learning in Today's Student” session. Instructors from various disciplines and different colleges shared their techniques and ideas for inspiring the love of learning in our students.



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 After an in-depth discussion, our group organized our numerous ideas into two major categories. The first category, Connecting with Students Early and Often, included ideas that stressed the importance of appropriately showing students your “human” side, making students feel invested in the course, and demonstrating the course’s relevance to students’ lives and “the real world.” Some specific examples include a math instructor bringing in a utility bill to demonstrate equations, an accounting instructor sharing his academic and work history with students, an information technology instructor comparing computer programming to everyday “programming,” and a writing instructor using email assignments to show audience.

The second category, Strategies to Motivate Learning in Class and Beyond, was comprised of strategies that instructors had successfully employed to motivate students’ learning in class and life-long-learning (LLL). Some specific examples include reminding students about their motivation for being in class (even if the course is a degree requirement), requiring or encouraging students to publish their work on the web (such as EPCC’s Borderland’s Project), involving students in professional associations and conferences, and appealing to students’ personal interests while developing their technology skills with biographical assignments on the web (such as using Microsoft’s Photostory software program).

Discussing and sharing techniques with such passionate instructors inspired me. I want to thank all of the instructors who participated and shared their excellent ideas and to El Paso Community College, Central New Mexico Community College, and EPCC’s Faculty Development Office for an enriching seminar. Motivating students to love learning is a legacy we can pass on to our students. Yes, it can be a challenge, but this invaluable legacy is worth all the hard work.