Age differences in class
I find that my older studens (30 and above) are more of a challenge. They haven't been in school in years and find it difficult to re-teach themselves to study and learn. They are also the students that question every thing I say - maybe because some of them are older than me. They are very eager to learn but more nervous when it comes to lab skills like drawing blood and giving injections. They do however get all their homework and assignments done when some of the younger students just blow it off - any suggestions?
Hi Derek,
This is a common situation for instructors. They need help in seeing the value from the instruction they are receiving in the global sense of their career development.
Gary
I also teach culinary arts and don't find the same challenges. No matter what, it is cooking. The principals put before us by Careme, Escoffier, Medici, ect. There is in many cases only one way to perform a technique. A braise is a braise and a saute is a saute whether you are 18 or 48. I actually find that younger students are less serious and have poor work ethics so they are harder to teach.
Having older students also raises the level of seriosness to the younger ones. Too many younger students can create an immature atmosphere which can be distracting to those who want to learn the material. It's almost like having a parent present.
Michelle, I agree with you because I had to deal with several of my students who are much older than I am. They found it to be difficult to learn the course assigments that are presented to them. There excuses were they have not been in school in a very long time, but I assured them that if they read the material presented to them it will be a breeze, which really turned out to be helpful.
I have not found my older students to be more of a challenge. Most of them are much more motivated than my younger students. The one area my older students seem to lack confidence in is the ability to use computers and understand advances in technology.
Hi Kris,
I try to find something about each one in terms of their life experiences and connect that with my course content. I ask their input on topics where they have had some experience or at least some idea about the topic. The key is that I am engaging them through respect in the learning process by drawing on their knowledge in relation to what I am trying to do in the class.
Gary
In what way do you challenge older students that don't seem to be interested?
Hi Walter,
This is common with the different age groups. Older students come there with a purpose and goal. They want to gain the knowledge and develop the skills needed to be successful. Time is of essence to them. The younger students if given an opportunity to work with older students can develop respect for the life experiences that the older students bring to the classroom.
Gary
I have found my older students want challaged more than my younger students. All of my older students have more drive to do well in class, they treat it more like a contest. Many of my younger students just look to get by.
Hi Kathleen,
This is a great story of how you can make an impact on a person's life. Her biggest concern was her self confidence in terms of being able to pass the course rather than the subject matter itself. Once she started achieving success her confidence increased and as a result she left the course feeling a high level of accomplishment. This is what makes the thank you note so valuable. Keep up the good work.
Gary
This past session I had a women in my class who was in school to get training in another career. She has been laid off of a job she had worked at for many years. She was very hard to convince that she needed to be more organized in her algebra. I received emails almost every weekend about how she did not need math for her job and that is was going to ruin her GPA. I contacted the career services people and had her go in for an informational meeting with them. She passed the class and sent me a thank you with the added message that I had taught an old dog some new tricks.
Hi Kari,
Something that I have done in the past that has worked when I have a mix like this and the integrated approach is not as successful as I would like due to the different personalities is to put the students in same age groups. Then have them do case studies or projects and have them report out. This is not really a competition but they get to see how different age/experience groups approach situations. Then I may mix them back together with the different age groups.
Gary
Kari...my dissertation and entire doctoral studies focused on characteristics of successful members of dispersed virtual teams. We have a pilot URL being completed. There WILL be a tool to test the proclivity of certain people to perform well on such teams.
I am writing a book and a syllabus to work with the tool to optimize the skills of student virtual work.
It is not an issue of Boomers versus GEN X versus GEN Y....much too much generality. It has all to do with each individual's characteristics that apply to this work. I have worked 4 years on this doctoral topic, online for eight years and 400 courses, and 43 year international industrial career.
If you would like to particpate in our final pilot exercise next monhth, please let me know....734-878-1313.
Joel
This has been an interesting strand to follow. I watched students work in small groups last quarter. I had deliberately mixed ages (spanning 25 years) to encourage tolerance. I was surprised at how impatient and indignant the younger generation was! These students interpreted differences in technique or approach as being wrong. There was no end to the eye rolling and gasps. It was a struggle. I had to speak with the older students, apologize, and discuss the differences in experience and maturity. Any other suggestions? I have the same group of students this quarter. Thanks.
Daniel, I do not know how you get your demogaphic information to track your experiences with the older folks. If properly motivated and contacted by the instructor to ease trepidation, I have found that my self-identified older folks have embraced the contacts and offered wonderful focus, insights based on experience, and more willing to welcome a team effort.
Joel
Hi Daniel,
I hear you about the older students. I always enjoy hearing an outrageous excuse. They must think we have never lived anywhere outside of the classroom to fall for some of the excuses they bring into the classroom. They make me smile and then we get serious about behavior and class management.
Gary
I have never had an authority issue with my older students - luckily. However I have found they can often times be the biggest rule breakers and sometimes with outrageous excuses. Perhaps they are out of practice in that regard.
I agree the older student challenges the information but that pushes the rest of the students to learn. In lab I tell them
"if you knew how to do these skills you wouldn't be here" and that seems to relax them a bit
I feel that the older students have a direction that is based on experience and drive with the ability to take the time to study and learn the task at hand.
