Preparing for the Next Generation: Teaching Millennial Students in the Community College

1
Preparing for the Next Generation Teaching
Millennial Students in the Community College

• Chuck Lepper
• Director of Faculty Development Student Life
  Initiatives
• Ivy Tech Community College Central Office
• April 21, 2007

2
Who is the Class of 2007?

• Nearly 70 Million strong vs. estimated 76 Million
  post-war baby boomers.
• Feel significant pressure to perform well
  derived from their parents generation (Yuppies).
  
• In general, they are up beat, confident and have
  SOME of the moral and social perspectives
  associated with young adults in the 1960s
• Greater focus on social class - recognition of
  benefits and barriers
• Due to parents success in the early 1990s, they
  have become accustomed to luxury items and assume
  their careers will provide money to fulfill their
  needs
• Source Fortune, July 24, 2000 , Vol 142, Issue
  3, pp 144-157.

3
Who is the Class of 2007?

• Strong desire to be well educated
• Concerned regarding ability to make
• Grew up during a time of high divorce rates
  desire to establish loving/caring families
• Technology oriented do not view the computer as
  technology, but a way of life.
• Control, Alt, Delete is just as familiar as
  their ABCs
• Source Fortune, July 24, 2000 , Vol 142, Issue
  3, pp 144-157.

4
Differences Between Baby Boomers, Generation X
and Millennial Students
Baby Boomers Generation X Millennial
Overall Mood Passionate Cynical Practical
View of Authority Attacked Ignored Trusted
Academic Standards Easing Lax Tightening
Parental Role Receding Distant Intruding
Violence/ Risk Taking Rising High Conventional
Source Brownstein, A. (2000, October) The Next
Great Generation?, The Chronicle of Higher
Education, A71.
5
Differences Between Baby Boomers, Generation X
and Millennial Students
Baby Boomers Generation X Millennial
Pop Culture Controversial Alienated Bland
Racial/Ethnic Consciousness Asserted Accepted Questioned
Cutting Edge Fields Arts Humanities Business High Tech Politics and Social Sciences
Community Service Falling Low Rising
Main Arguments About war and country About race and gender About class and culture
Big Question What does it mean? Does it work? How do we build it?
Source Brownstein, A. (2000, October) The Next
Great Generation?, The Chronicle of Higher
Education, A71.
6
What Research Tells Us

• A new generation comes along every 22 years.
• Generations have one of four orientations
• Civic
• Adaptive
• Idealist
• Reactive
• Source OReilly, B., Vella-Zarb, K. (2000).
  Meet the future. Fortune, 142(3), p. 144-168.

7
Generation by Generation

• GIs/Veteran Born 1901-1924 Civic
• Silents Born 1925-1942 Adaptive
• Baby Boomers Born 1943-1960 Idealist
• Generation X Born 1961-1981 Reactive
• Millennial Born 1981- 2003 Civic
• ?????? Born 2004 2026 Adaptive
• Source Managing Motivating the Generations
  Implications for the Student and the Employee,
  Combined Sections Meeting 2003, Peggy Blake
  Gleeson, Texas Womans University Houston
  Matrix Rehabilitation, Katy, TX.

8
Civic Orientation

• Typically Large in size
• Focus is on Technology and Institutions
• Last Batch came of age when FDR was President
  (WWII)
• Most likely respond to tangible not spiritual
  problems.
• Will focus on delivering practical solutions
• Source OReilly, B., Vella-Zarb, K. (2000).
  Meet the future. Fortune, 142(3), p. 144-168.

9
Millennials in the Classroom

• Incorporate Teamwork
• Technology is expected
• Expect teachers to know more than they do
• They want more attention from authority figures
• Active and interactive let them move
• Visuals
• Provide multiple focal points
• Provide supervision and structure
• They are readers so provide more back up
  information
• Want to know will it be on the test?
• Make it fun, experiential, allow them to come up
  with their own solution.
• Source Managing Motivating the Generations
  Implications for the Student and the Employee,
  Combined Sections Meeting 2003, Peggy Blake
  Gleeson, Texas Womans University Houston
  Matrix Rehabilitation, Katy, TX.

10
What Millennial Students Expect

• Frequent instantaneous feedback At the touch
  of a button
• Specific expectations
• Skills information that reduce stress and
  increase marketability
• Training in people skills
• Fun and experiential learning
• Ability to come up with their own solutions
• TECHNOLOGY!!!

Source Managing Motivating the Generations
Implications for the Student and the Employee,
Combined Sections Meeting 2003, Peggy Blake
Gleeson, Texas Womans University Houston
Matrix Rehabilitation, Katy, TX.
11
Views on Technology

• 70 use instant messaging
• 41 use e-mail and instant messaging to contact
  teachers
• 84 own a computer and of that 25 own more than
  one computer
• 28 own a laptop computer
• 75 use e-mail for assignment clarification
• 73 are more likely to use internet than library
  for research
• Oblinger, D. (2003). Boomers, gen-xers
  millennials Understanding the new student.
  EDUCAUSE July/August 2003, p. 37-47.

12
Millennial Students are Information-Age
Oriented!!

• Computers arent technology
• Spend more hours on-line than watching TV
• Reality is no longer real
• Doing is more important than knowing
• Learning more closely resembles Nintendo than
  logic
• Multitasking is a way of life
• Typing is preferred to handwriting
• Staying connected is essential
• Zero tolerance for delays
• Consumer and creator are blurring
• Oblinger, D. (2003). Boomers, gen-xers
  millennials Understanding the new student.
  EDUCAUSE July/August 2003, p. 37-47.

13
Some Ideas to Explore

• Pronto Free on-line IM system through
  Blackboard
• On-Line Communities using Campus Connect
• Thematic Communities
• Service Learning
• Games
• Non-Banking approach to teaching
• Others??

14
Keys to Developing Successful Learning
Environments

• Know who they are / Meet their needs
• Know why you are doing it (theory to practice)
• Assess learning and outcomes adjust as needed
• Focus of teaching should be learning and not
  instruction
• View self as learning along with students
• Collaborate with others to create a seamless
  learning environment
• Think outside the box

15
Conclusion

• Focusing on student learning turns our thinking
  about the future of our colleges and universities
  upside-down from faculty productivity to
  student productivity, from faculty disciplinary
  interests to what students need to learn, from
  faculty teaching styles to student learning
  styles, from classroom teaching to student
  learning
• Source Guskin, A.E. (1994, July/August).
  Reducing student costs and enhancing student
  learning The university challenge of the 1990s.
  Change, 26, 4, 23-25.