BRIDGING THE GAP: HOW TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE MILLENNIAL STUDENTMary Ann Blitt

MCC-Maple Woods

WHO ARE THE STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASSROOM?

GENERATIONS AND INFLUENTIAL EVENTS

Baby Boomers (1943-1960)

Generation X (1960-1980)

Millennials (1980-2000)

Liberation Movements (Civil Rights, Women’s Lib)

Roe vs. Wade Technology

Woodstock MTV Clinton/Lewinsky

Kennedy and MLK assassinations

Fall of the Berlin Wall

School shootings

Vietnam War Desert Storm 9/11 attacks

DPO&M Diversity & Inclusion Business Council

BEST PRACTICES ACROSS GENERATIONS

Baby Boomers (1943-1960)

Generation X (1960-19780)

Millennials (1980-2000)

Communication

Ask, don’t tell Brief, pertinent info only

Keep it real, interactive

Development Acknowledge accomplishments

Let them run it

Group learning

Feedback Formal, periodic, documented

Frequent Immediate

Work Do it all Do it with help Cut and paste

DPO&M Diversity & Inclusion Business CouncilBonner, Fred. Teaching and Advising the Millennial Generation in Higher Education Texas State University

MILLENNIALS: WHO ARE THEY?

Approximately 75% of degree-seeking students

Most diverse generation in history Grew up protected Connected to parents Focused on achievement Technology is the norm

Paula Gleason (Meeting the needs of Millennial Students In Touch, CSU Long Beach, winter 2008)Diana Oblinger (Understanding the New Students, EDUCAUSE Review, July/August 2003)

MILLENNIALS: IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Students know each other and work in groups

Christy Price Why Don’t My Students Think I’m Groovy: The New “R”s for Engaging Millennial Learners E-xcellence in Teaching, Vol.9, 2009

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: SOCIAL

MILLENNIALS: IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Students know each other and work in groups

Learning is relaxed, enjoyable and fun

Christy Price Why Don’t My Students Think I’m Groovy: The New “R”s for Engaging Millennial Learners E-xcellence in Teaching, Vol.9, 2009

MILLENNIALS: IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Students know each other and work in groups

Learning is relaxed, enjoyable and fun Use of multimedia

Christy Price Why Don’t My Students Think I’m Groovy: The New “R”s for Engaging Millennial Learners E-xcellence in Teaching, Vol.9, 2009

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: MULTIMEDIA

MILLENNIALS: IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Students know each other and work in groups

Learning is relaxed, enjoyable and fun Use of multimedia Relevance

Christy Price Why Don’t My Students Think I’m Groovy: The New “R”s for Engaging Millennial Learners E-xcellence in Teaching, Vol.9, 2009

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: RELEVANCE

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: RELEVANCE

MILLENNIALS: IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Students know each other and work in groups

Learning is relaxed, enjoyable and fun Use of multimedia Relevance Interactive, participatory

Christy Price Why Don’t My Students Think I’m Groovy: The New “R”s for Engaging Millennial Learners E-xcellence in Teaching, Vol.9, 2009

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: INTERACTIVE

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: INTERACTIVE

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: INTERACTIVE

Our task as educators involves far more than teaching the content of our courses. We need to teach students how to become effective learners and guide them in honing their critical-thinking skills. (Angela Provitera McGlynn, psychology professor Mercer County Comunity College)

DISCOVERY LEARNING

What is discovery learning?

Through guided discovery learning the student builds knowledge through an active process with the guidance of the teacher.

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: INTERACTIVE

MILLENNIALS: IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

When using guided discovery learning and creating examples for student analysis consider the following:

Present one thing at a timeHave a number of examples for the

students to observe a patternPresent the examples in meaningful contextCarefully structure questions that will guide

students to come up with the rules

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: INTERACTIVE

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: INTERACTIVE

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: INTERACTIVE

IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: INTERACTIVE

MILLENNIALS: ASSESSMENTS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Graded

Relevant

Frequent

Structured, clear

Christy Price Why Don’t My Students Think I’m Groovy: The New “R”s for Engaging Millennial Learners E-xcellence in Teaching, Vol.9, 2009

Millennials: Assessments and assignments

CLOSING DISCUSSION

Something I currently do that seems to reach my millennial students is...

Something I’d like to do differently to reach these students is...

REFERENCES Bonner, Fred. Teaching and Advising the Millennial Generation in

Higher Education PowerPoint presentation Texas State University DPO&M Diversity & Inclusion Business Council Castronova, Joyce. Discovery Learning for the 21st Century:

What is it and how does it compare to traditional learning in effectiveness in the 21st Century? http://chiron.valdosta.edu/are/Litreviews/vol1no1/castronova_litr.pdf

Gleason, Paula. (Meeting the needs of Millenial Students In Touch, CSU Long Beach, winter 2008)

Howe, Neil and William Strauss. Millennials go to College: Executive Summary AACRAO and Life Course Associates, 2003

Oblinger, Diana. (Understanding the New Students, EDUCAUSE Review, July/August 2003)

Prensky, M. (2001) Digital natives, Digital immigrants. On the Horizon. Vol. 9, No. 5: NCB University Press.

Price, Christy. Why Don’t My Students Think I’m Groovy: The New “R”s for Engaging Millennial Learners E-xcellence in Teaching, Vol.9, 2009