Get Your Students Hired
In addition to some of the other suggestions of teaching Gen Y, I have found that lecturing for no more than 20 minutes at a time helps hold their interest. That is when I implement an exercise of some sort or split them up into groups and give them a project that takes about half an hour or so and then go over what hey have discovered before having to lecture again.
Teresa,
what a great example of using the technology that they have & love to reach them & help them.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Many teaching strategies can work for generation Y students. First, I like to understand their learning preferences. For example, I asked my students if they use Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. They responded, "YES"! Then, I asked them to rate on a scale of one to ten how important this media is to them. Most of the responses were 7 and above. Realizing this is a motivator, I will ask them to review a free on-line product that will help them with instructional review. I will follow-up with them to see how they manage the new interactivity. Second, I like to have a theme for post-conferences, but ensure that the activity is engaging, provides instant feedback, and, at times, involves technology!
Anything that involves the internet, youtube videos, teaching from current shows and characters that the students relate to. Students prefer to work on-line and at their own speed. With the internet so attainable today, education is a 24/7 commodity!
I try to be real and relate everyday things that I experiance to let them what's to come
Erika,
these really are great techniques. Also, adults learn best through conversation & by allowing them to discuss they are engaging in conversation.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I utilize a lot of interactive activities. Students often work in pairs or groups and then present their findings to the class. I like for each group to hear the different ideas that are developed through their groups. Also, I find that they enjoy discussing and bringing insight from their lives into the lesson. The students definitely benefit from connecting the new knowledge to their past experiences. And, I find they pay attention more when I can connect what they are learning to what they will be actually doing in their field. They aren't interested in information that doesn't seem relevant to their career.
Lee,
this is so true & the team work helps prepare them for the real world work experience.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
We break students into teams quite often. They love the "real world experience" and they have to interact and it keeps them stimulated We also do conduct almost daily evaluations. I can see they want feedback instantly and if they get a low score they want to know why. They want to be closely connected to their teacher.
Keith,
this generation seems to respond very well to the real life examples.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I agree to keeep them engauge you simply use real life expearance to help drive home your learning objectives
I primarily teach older students and I am just beginning to adapt to the younger generation of students. Most of my students are still GenX. The adaptions that I am trying to make and planning to make involve breaking things up into smaller bites of knowledge and wrapping them up in technology and team based learning exercises. I am experimenting with lectures via POD-Case (admittedly not cutting edge) because this seems to be a portable way of packaging information that they might take with them and listen to during the commute to or from school. I am trying to find multiple ways to deliver the same information to ensure that I can appeal to the need for variety and still get my message across effectively.
Speaking of my life and work experiences and applying it to what they are currently learning helps them see the relevance of what they are learning and why it is important.
Ileana,
I would keep in mind that generation Y lives in a world where information is always at their fingertips. Being able to look up answers and interpret the answer rather than just knowing it out right.
I allow them to use the computer when taking my test to look up answers I actually word my questions so that they have to analyze what they find. Making it almost impossible to cheat.
Diana,
I have found that this generation does like the small group discussion & to hear from others.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I use a lot of small group discussion and activities so they get more invested in the classroom by putting their knowledge to work. I also use our portal for grades so they can check it anytime they like to find out what they go on a specific assignment and also do online tests to incorporate technology and instant results of the test they took.
We have incorporated games into the classroom which has helped keeping the students attention. We also allow student to use the Internet or their phones to look up and present information during class. For our program the Virtual hospital has been a wonderful tool for keeping the students engaged.
With Gen Y learners I try to set up as many real life scenarios for the students to discuss and perhaps solve or fix the situation. I have received positive feedback when I have done this in class and have tried this type of activity with the varous topics covered in cosmetology.
Michelle,
this is a great idea & one that can help illustrate the seriousness of the situation.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
For a sanitation class I engage the class in a group discussion about recent outbreaks of foobourne illnesses. I am also working on a way to play a video from the smartphone directly into the television which should get their attention.