ESTABLISHING RELEVANCE

Development of Interdisciplinary Program on Climate

Change and Sustainability Policy- CLIMASP”

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Jerash University

CLIMASP Course Curriculum Development

Introduction;- Relevance is a critical factor in maintaining student

interest and motivation.

- The element of establishing relevance is one of the

most important aspects of the teaching and

learning environment which motivate or demotivate

students study.

- One major factor that contribute to poor motivation

is inability of students to see the relevance of what

they are learning to their future careers.

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- Relevance can bring theory to life, and provide the

motivation necessary to inspire deep and

sustained learning in higher education.

- By establishing real-world relevance, students are

provided with an important opportunity to relate the

course subject matter to the world around them.

- Relevance matters.

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What is meant by relevance?

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i. Relevance is how one thing is related to another.

ii. In education, the term relevance typically refers to

learning experiences that are either directly applicable

to the personal aspirations, interests, or cultural

experiences of students (personal relevance) or that are

connected in some way to real-world issues, problems,

and contexts (life relevance).

iii. Relevance refers to learning in which students apply

core knowledge, concepts, or skills, to solve real-world

problems.

iv. Having practical value or applicability.

Learning is relevant when the students:

1. Understands how information or skill has some

application in their life.

2. Has an opportunity to follow their own process rather

than just learn “the facts.”

3. Are not just learning content and skills, but are learning

how they learn.

When learning is relevant?

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Dimensions suggested to establish the relevance of course content and activities

There are at least four clear dimensions suggested for making Jerash University climate change related courses and learning

relevant;

1. Relevance for preparing students for potential careers.

2. Relevance for understanding scientific phenomena and

coping with the challenges in students’s life.

3. Relevance for students becoming effective future citizens

in the society in which they live.

4. Relevance for having involved courses with

practical value or applicability.

These dimensions can be combined in many various ways.

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Practices to establish the relevance of course content and activities

In addition to strategies formulated by Vassilios and

Nelly in CLIMASP to course revision, the following

practices intended to be adopted by Jerash University to

establish the relevance of course content and activities;A. Regular sharing and discussing the learning outcomes of

the course;

- Outcomes help clarify what students will know and do when

they complete the course

- Students need to know why the knowledge and skills

identified in the learning outcomes are important in their

future lives.

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B. Tying learning outcomes to the required activities and assignments;

- Linking assignment descriptions to learning outcomes is a very important procedure because those links are not obvious to students.

C. Establish relevance at the start of every class period;- Another way of establishing the relevance of topics is

to relate them to applications in everyday life.

D. Sowing how theory can be applied in practice; - Using real life examples, problem based learning and

service learning methods are the core element in this practice.

• Being given the chance to apply theory gives students a chance to see whether they understand it. Application also demonstrates how the theory is relevant.

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E. Establishing relevance to local cases;- It is a good way to establish relevance by showing that

theory applies to local issues. This implies that courses

content should bee specially related to local issues.• Example;

Examples in textbooks from the USA or the UK are normally of the country in which they were written. It must seem to Jordanian students that both theory and applications come from Western countries. It is therefore a good way to establish relevance by showing that

theory applies to local issues.

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F. Establishing relevance of topics;• Students’ learning should be motivated by finding ways

to show the relevance of topics included in the courses.• If relevance was established students took an interest in

the topic. Establishing relevance and stimulating intrinsic interest seemed to be intimately related.

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THANKS A LOT