Motivating Today’s College Students –

The Millennial GenerationAngela Provitera McGlynn

Biography Professor Emeritus of Psychology, MCCC Author of several books and numerous

articles; regular contributor to The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education

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: amcglynn5@verizon.net

Objectives: We will explore

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?

Millennials: Born 1982 – 2002 Generation X: Born 1965 –

1982 Baby Boomers: Born 1946 - 1964 Matures: 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

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

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

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 child-rearing practices

More Characteristics of Millennials

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

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.

Adapted From Digital Native website – www.digitalnative.org/wiki

Digital Natives 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) 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 Multitasking is a way of life for this

generation Two tasks at once or cognitive

toggling?

More Characteristics of Millennials

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

(Skiba & Barton (2006)

More Characteristics of Millennials

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 What do you see as the major

difference between today’s students and those of previous generations?

What challenges do those differences present?

Millennials’ PreferencesMillennials 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 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 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?

Ways to help students create meaning between their life experience and the material 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? 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 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

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

(based on “The Case for Learner-Centered Education,”) http://oncourseworkshop.com/Miscellaneous018.htm

Metacognition

General Strategies for Engaging Millennials

Provide High, Clear Expectations

Offer individual feedback

Engage with/through technology where appropriate

Utilize group work: collaborative learning techniques

Incorporate reflection and metacognition

Specific Strategies for Teaching Millennials

Teaching style— what they want

High Energy Passionate Inventive Humorous Active Entertainment

(Smetanka, 2007)

Specific Strategies for Teaching Millennials

Teaching style— what we know

Clarity Organization Feedback Availability/rapport Class time management Engaging

(Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)

Specific Strategies for Teaching Millennials

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

Clement, 2009

Specific Strategies for Teaching Millennials

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…

Specific Strategies for Teaching Millennials

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

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

The four-step plan Set goals for each class Focus the students

Present new material Have students apply the material or do

something creative with what they have learned

Review, conclude, and assess

Adapted from Clement, 2009

Adding Tools to Your Trade/Art

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

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 …

Angela’s most recent books by Atwood Publishing, 888 242-7101,

www.atwoodpublishing.com

References 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 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 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