Transcript MotivatingTodaysCollegeStudents

Motivating Today’s
College Students – The
Millennial Generation
Angela Provitera McGlynn
Biography
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Professor Emeritus of Psychology, MCCC
Author of several books and numerous
articles; regular contributor to The Hispanic
Outlook in Higher Education
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Latest books: see slide towards end of
presentation
National Consultant on Teaching and
Learning Issues; Trainer for Transformation
Associates, LLC
Web site:
www.mccc.edu/~amcglynn/index.html
E-mail address: [email protected]
Objectives: We will explore
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Millennials - who are today’s students?
How do millennial students prefer to learn?
What pedagogical strategies promote student
learning?
How can we engage and motivate today’s
students to promote academic success?
Who are today’s students?
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Millennials:
Generation X:
Baby Boomers:
Matures:
Born 1982 – 2002
Born 1965 – 1982
Born 1946 - 1964
Born 1900 – 1946
Many people are born on the cusps of two
generations, and many people do not fit their
“generational type”
The Millennials – historical context
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also called “Generation M or Y,” “Echo
Boomers,” or the NET Generation
roughly 30% of the American population
children of Baby Boomers or early wave
members of Generation X
the most diverse generation in our history –
34% are nonwhite or Latino
Diversity – Opportunities and
Challenges
Characteristics of Millennials
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Millennials:
 identify
with their parents’ values
 are fascinated by new technologies
 1 in 5 have at least one immigrant parent
 gravitate toward group activities
Diana Oblinger (Understanding the New Students,
EDUCAUSE Review, July/August 2003)
Millennials Gravitate Towards Group
Activities
More Characteristics of Millennials
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grew up in a time of economic prosperity – how
times have changed!
went to “play groups” and played soccer from
the age of 3
the most protected generation in terms of
government regulations on consumer safety
often indulged as a result of changing childrearing practices
More Characteristics of Millennials
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used to being consulted in decision-making by
their parents
typically strong bonds between these students
and their parents, particularly with their
mothers, and they stay very connected even
when they go away to school
expected to excel by their parents
highly scheduled and sheltered in childhood
More Characteristics of Millennials
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constant social contact with friends via e-mail, Instant
Messaging, cell phones, and video games
digital natives (Prensky, 2001)
 raised in a technological environment
 accepts that environment as the norm
 grown up surrounded by digital devices and regularly
uses these devices to interact with other people and
the outside world.
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Adapted From Digital Native website – www.digitalnative.org/wiki
Digital Natives
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Today’s students have spent their entire lives
surrounded by and using computers,
videogames, digital music players, video cams,
cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of
the digital age
Today’s average college grads have spent less
than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over
10,000 hours playing video games (not to
mention 20,000 hours watching TV)
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Marc Prensky Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
From On the Horizon (MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5,
October 2001)
From Lost in Translation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o
Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State
University.
Multitasking
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Multitasking is a way of life for this generation
Two tasks at once or cognitive toggling?
More Characteristics of Millennials
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often seek information and knowledge by going
on-line rather than using a textbook
little tolerance for delays so it is important to let
students know when they can expect feedback
or a response to their queries
for many, the idea of constructing knowledge
within a social community has lots of appeal
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(Skiba & Barton (2006)
More Characteristics of Millennials
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tend to be conventional, accepting of societal
rules and expectations
 team-oriented
 achievement-oriented: External locus of
control
often Intellectually Naïve, that is,
they need help determining reliable sources of
information
Question
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What do you see as the major difference
between today’s students and those of previous
generations?
What challenges do those differences present?
Millennials’ Preferences
Millennials
 want to learn by working collaboratively
 have a preference to learn in their own time and
on their own terms
 seem to appreciate structured activities that
permit creativity
Millennials’ Preferences – Working
Collectively: Focus Groups
Millennials’ Preferences
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want to be involved with “real life” issues that
matter to them
most millennials are comfortable with
technology – plugged in since they were babies
(exceptions related to SES)
differences among first generation students in
terms of proficiency with technology
Maximizing Millennials Preferences
for Social Contact
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Early in the semester, get students to meet each
other (First Day exercises – icebreakers)
Set up opportunities for students to work
collaboratively both in and outside of class
Set up a web page for your course and social
networking tools related to the course material
Maximizing Millennials Preferences
for Social Contact – Retention
Given Millennials’ Preferences, What Makes the
Most Sense from a Cognitive Learning
Perspective?
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Ways to help students create meaning
between their life experience and the material
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Use examples students can relate to
Ask students to develop their own examples
Creating multiple connections with
concepts also facilitates the process of
retrieval because the more connections we
have, the more retrieval cues we have to
access the material
Given Millennials’ Preferences, What Makes the
Most Sense from a Cognitive Learning
Perspective?
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All students need to be actively engaged with the
material we are trying to teach them
Active engagement promotes deeper levels of
cognitive processing and learning because it
creates stronger connections
Active learning facilitates long-term memory
through the process of elaborative rehearsal that
uses meaning rather than rote memorization
Create a Learner-Centered (Active-Learning)
Classroom Atmosphere
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Foster a sense of a learning community
Build rapport with students
Promote student to student connections
Facilitate student participation
Create a safe, welcoming, inclusive classroom
atmosphere
Characteristics of Learner-Centered
Classrooms
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Paradigm shift (1990s) in undergraduate education new focus on what the learner is doing in class rather
than on what the instructor is doing (and “covering”)
Students are engaged in learning how they learn in
addition to learning content – metacognition helps
them develop lifelong learning skills
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(based on “The Case for Learner-Centered Education,”)
http://oncourseworkshop.com/Miscellaneous018.htm
Metacognition
General Strategies for Engaging
Millennials
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Provide High, Clear Expectations
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Offer individual feedback
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Engage with/through technology where appropriate
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Utilize group work: collaborative learning techniques
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Incorporate reflection and metacognition
Specific Strategies for Teaching
Millennials
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Teaching style—
what they want
High Energy
 Passionate
 Inventive
 Humorous
 Active
 Entertainment
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(Smetanka, 2007)
Specific Strategies for Teaching
Millennials
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Teaching style—
what we know
Clarity
 Organization
 Feedback
 Availability/rapport
 Class time management
 Engaging
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(Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)
Specific Strategies for Teaching
Millennials
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Use focus activities or questions – on the screen
or chalkboard, write an activity or a question
that students can begin as soon as they enter the
classroom. These focusing activities can relate
to the last class, the reading material, or what
will take place in the class that is about to begin
Put objectives for the class session up on the
screen or board; this will help you and the
students to stay on track and will help
latecomers to class
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Clement, 2009
Specific Strategies for Teaching
Millennials
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Mini Lectures (15 or 20 minutes)
After presenting some material, try a writing exercise:
(Angelo and Cross’ One-minute Paper)
Please summarize the most important point you
learned today…
 Please describe the muddiest point, that is, the point
that is still confusing to you…
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Specific Strategies for Teaching
Millennials
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After the “one-minute paper” circulate in the
room and ask students to share what they have
written in the class
Ask other students to explain muddiest points
Variation: After asking students to paraphrase
what has been covered, ask them to share with a
partner looking for similarities. Then ask
students to share what they found in common
with the class as a whole
Specific Strategies for Teaching
Millennials
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Ask thought provoking open-ended questions
rather than questions aimed at eliciting rote
memory responses
Find ways to get students working with a partner
Design collaborative learning exercises that
encourage students to hear each other’s diverse
viewpoints and then to reach consensus on an
issue using the “round-robin” process
Specific Strategies for Teaching
Millennials
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The four-step plan
Set goals for each class
 Focus the students
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Present new material
Have students apply the material or do something
creative with what they have learned
 Review, conclude, and assess
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Adapted from Clement, 2009
Adding Tools to Your Trade/Art
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Given what you know about today’s college
students, what might you do to try to engage
more of them?
Given what you know about today’s college
students, what might you do differently when
dealing with them?
Closing Exercise
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Please respond in writing to any of these
prompts:
What I learned today …
 What I re-learned today …
 What I most appreciated about what we discussed
today …
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Angela’s most recent books by Atwood
Publishing, 888 242-7101,
www.atwoodpublishing.com
References
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Angelo,T.A. and Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom
Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College
Teachers, Second Ed., San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Astin, A.W. (1993) What Matters in College? Four
Critical Years Revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Bonwell C.C. and Eison, J.A. (1991). Active Learning:
Creating Excitement in the Classroom. ASHE-ERIC Higher
Education Report No. 1. Washington DC: George
Washington Univesity School of Education and Human
Development
References
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Clement, M. June 24, 2009. 10 Ways to Engage Your
Students on the First Day of Class, Faculty Focus.
Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college
affects student. A third decade of research. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Prensky, M. (2001) Digital natives, Digital immigrants.
On the Horizon. Vol. 9, No. 5: NCB University Press.
www.marcprensky.com/writing/
References
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Smetanka, M. J. (2004, May 7). Millennial students: A
new crew enlivens the “U.” The Minneapolis Star
Tribune, p. 1.A.
Skiba, D.J. & Baron, A.J. (2006) Adapting your teaching to
accommodate the net generation of learners, Online Journal of
Issues in Nursing, 2006, Vol. 11, Issue 2.
“The Case for Learner-Centered Education,”)
http://oncourseworkshop.com/Miscellaneous018.htm