College instructors may find that their tried and true teaching methods don’t work as well with the current generation of college students (students born in the late 1980s or early 1990s). Understanding Generation Y can help instructors understand how to better work with them in the classroom and ensure that they both learn and retain course material.
Cultural Characteristics of Gen Y Millennials
Each year, Beloit College publishes a “mindset list” that can be helpful for instructors to understand where college freshmen in particular are coming from culturally. For example, current college freshmen have never used a card catalog to find books at the library and books have always been available to read electronically. Not only does the Beloit College list point out generational differences between current college students and their instructors, but it can also give college instructors some hints as to how Gen Y students approach education.
Social Characteristics of Millennials Generation Y
In their book Millennials Rising, Neil Howe and William Strauss point out that in general, millennials are optimistic team players who follow rules and accept authority (especially parental authority). Gen Y parents have closely supervised their children, often over-scheduling them and making sure that they are highly-involved in school, community, and/or church activities and thus making them more dependent on peers and parents than previous generations.
Reaching Millennials Gen Y in the Classroom
The generational characteristics of millennials can pose unique challenges for college instructors used to students who work independently with little supervision. When teaching millennials, instructors may find success in allowing students to work in small, cooperative peer groups on a task related to course readings. Instructors will also find most millennials are overwhelmed by large course projects with due dates far in the future. Breaking down projects into smaller parts with periodic due dates and frequent feedback will allow millennials a greater chance to succeed.
Putting Theories into Practice
Due to their overscheduled, participatory childhoods, Millennials/Gen Y are an active bunch who want to be able to see the practical, real world applications of what they are learning in the classroom. Designing class projects that allow students to get out into the community and/or inviting guest speakers who use course concepts in their professions or day-to-day lives will make a bigger impression upon Gen Y students than a research paper or test. In addition, millennial students are more likely to learn and retain course material when they have been actively engaged with that material, whether inside or outside the classroom.
References:
Howe, Neil and William Strauss. Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation. New York: Vintage, 2000.
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