Annoyed by this part of the module
When I went through this part of the module, I couldn't help but be irritated by it. I understand the issues with educating Generation Y folks. I understand that we have to adjust the learning environment to the needs of the class.
But when I read the information about "Performance Contracts" and "Investigative Research", I could only just scoff as I continued to see more and more capitulation and stepped over my boundary.
There comes a point in the classroom where we can talk all about generation differences and locating insights into the thought processes of people. But the student has to step up into the reality.
I work for a voc-tech school that teaches people to prepare for the working world. The plain truth here is that there won't be any "Performance Contracts" like what was suggested in this part on the job site. The only real agreement on the job site is, do the job, get paid. Don't do the job, get fired.
In the classroom, we have to be very careful about how much we "appeal" to our students and how much we hold a hard standard of what is required for students to be successful in the real world.
Students in Gen Y fear the loss of their social media, but they're going to have to grow up annd realize that they won't be able to be on Facebook during work hours. They are going to have to adapt to more conventional, traditional processes. Our Gen Y students are going to have to learn how to adapt to more traditional methods.
As a Gen X-er, I have been told about how I'm one of the "latchkey kids" and how I differ from the Boomers and the Veterans. But in the end, I had to adapt. I had to learn how to submit to authority and do things their way. They didn't especially capitulate to my sentiments. They didn't especially care about my past or "what makes me tick". They expected me to do my job to the very best of my ability. If I did it, I kept my job. If I didn't, well, I was given the opportunity to pursue other opportunities for employment.
I am now in the position where I lead and train Gen Y's to go into the field. I will try to connect to them, but I won't spend remarkable amounts of time warming up to Gen Y's. I will set a standard and conditions and tasks for them to follow. They will meet them or not. No contracts - they will step up or stand down.
Perhaps this isn't the kind of response this last module would have evoked. Perhaps I'm just cranky and overreacting, But I'm pretty irked about this one and I had to speak up.
-R
Thanks Erin - as a very un-entitled Gen-X'er, I often get miffed at the distinction in mindset. No one gave me an agreement or attempted to nurse-maid me when I was getting my degrees. I had to work hard for it. There were no "support plans", "performance contracts", or anything of the sort. You did what that instructor told you by the numbers if you wanted to be successful in the class.
I'm often amazed at the sheer lack of coping skills when Millenials are faced with real challenge. And I believe the biggest contributor is the idea that education has moved from this notion where students come to university to learn a trade in order to contribute to an industry to where students are paying for a product.
Additionally, they have mismanaged expectations about that product. They think they can slap $30,000 (of someone else's money) on the table and be entitled to an ready-for-work education. The Department of Education continues to exacerbate the problem by mandating metrics exclusively towards for-profit college, like so-called "Gainful Employment", without any regard to accountability by the student. So, if the student doesn't perform, the accreditors and DoE immediately think it's the school or the instructor at fault.
And it's getting worse. Now, we're seeing a rise in standards in accreditation by saying that a certain percentage of professors and educators have to possess terminal degrees. Instructors who have been teaching for years on end are now being kicked aside for someone with a Doctorate, but no real current work experience. Why? So students are made to believe that these high credentials will equate to a higher quality education - and they only have to show up.
No one ever actually "says" this. But I've watched admissions reps sorta squirm in their chairs because I've told perspective candidates that they need to own their education - that they need to actually work hard if they want to be successful. It doesn't earn me a lot of points when admissions is trying to make numbers.
Personally, I think the colleges have gotten too soft already, but increased standards lead to fewer people that make the cut.
/rab
I think you have brought up a very real issue that is frequently seen with Gen Y-er's. People have almost over catered to their needs to the point that they are "babied" and made to think that everything will revolve and adapt to them and their needs. Especially considering many leaders in the field are not Gen-Y, they do need to understand you either get the job done or they will find someone else to do it.
Nice comment! Students need to learn to adapt to their employers's regulations.
Dr. Meers... bravo for the two "gems" contained in the conversation between you and Rick: a syllabus signature page and the Day One selfies... these two techniques serve to affix responsibility and accountability, both of which I find are sometimes in short supply in the educational arena.
James,
yes, during our orientation session our VP of Academics has the students take out their cell phones & take a selfie. He then makes the point that the person in the picture is the one ultimately responsible for their education.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Gen Y student’s needs to understand an instructor can only do so much; it is up to each students to take ownership for their education.
i agree. while we as instructors can adapt to new ways and methods of teaching , it is ultimately up to the student to put in the effort and time of learning, studying, and doing to learn the materials and achieve success. The ability to look up something and gain information quickly does not give the ability to understand and apply that information
Steven ,
and that is a great approach & thank you. The information is meant to help us understand so we can solve, not be an excuse for the students.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I have read all of the posts and I agree with most of the instructors because I have experienced many of the same problems in my classes.
This course has enlightened me as to why Gen Y students exhibit such a severe lack of proper grammar and sentence structure. Just like Professor Eisner, I had experienced quality issues with student reports and was puzzled as to why so many wrote so poorly or never used the Microsoft Word spell check. Now that I have better understanding of the situation I can look for methods to find a solution.
Dale:
That's a little harsh. The point I was making was that I'm not about to go about to go setting up "Performance Contracts" that are distinct from the syllabus, just because the Gen Y's and Millennials can't maintain the proper disciplines in the classroom, doesn't mean we need to make these kinds of concessions.
As for my choice of wording, well, that's the way I speak. I make no apologies for it.
I do need the sabbatical, but not for the reasons you're suggesting.
/rab
So your students have to "step up or stand down". Sounds more like a cop than an instructor. I think you need a sabatical.
I totally understand what your saying. I am definitely not going to patronize them this is the task either get it done or don't its your grade not mine. We have a saying at my school you cant fix 18 years of mess up in the short time we have them.
Thank you for the clarification, Dr. Meers. I certainly meant no offense by any of my statements. As I mentioned, the challenges presented by some of our Gen Y students can be a lot to handle in what is already a challenging environment. It would likely do well for me to be more open minded to some of the modern approaches to adult education.
Thanks again,
CT
Don,
I think you misunderstood the Performance Contract. Rather it is a way to hold them accountable for the work they do in college & to help them be clear on what they need to do for what kind of grade.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Colin,
I take issue with your statement that part of the module was "asinine." The intention of the course was not to indicate that we should overlook texting & surfing the internet as "multi-tasking" but it was stated as a perception by the Gen Y student. They are accustomed to doing multiple things at once; it doesn't mean it is right or that you have to accept it. If you will recall the following sentence immediately followed the statement regarding texting & surfing the web: "Clearly parameters need to be established in the classroom regarding multi-tasking and attention, however it is mentioned here as it is part of this generation's make-up."
It was never stated that you should tolerate this behavior, rather it was stated that your Gen Y students will do this kind of thing & you need to understand why they are doing it. Then you have a place to begin working with them. Hope this helps clarify.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I teach in the culinary classroom, and Gen Y students frequently make up the overwhelming majority of the members of my classes. While I do my best to always keep an open mind regarding new instructional methods, I agree that tailoring every aspect of my instruction, curriculum and interactions to the Gen Y dynamic is not completely appropriate. Yes, I must engage my students, and I must ensure that my curriculum is engaging, but the student needs to expend some effort to engage, as well.
I feel that my duties as an instructor include striking a balance, in all of my interactions, between accommodation and expectation; both my students and myself need to meet in the middle. I review our syllabus exhaustively at the beginning of the term, setting clear expectations, and require acknowledgement of those expectations from all of my students. Once that is accomplished, I can begin to gauge the aptitude and interest level of the group and then "fine tune" my lectures and cooking demonstrations with the idea that my students will come to the table with an open mind and a professional attitude.
While participating in this course, and after thinking about all of my interactions with both my own instructors and with the faculty that are now my colleagues, I think Gen X faculty (of which I consider myself a shining example) are often the least tolerant of the overindulged, overly entitled, ADD Gen Yers that can't be bothered to look up from their phones while we are working hard to educate them. The assertion of this module that the students texting and surfing Facebook during my lecture are simply "multi-tasking" is asinine, and a little insulting. Gen Yers (again, in my experience, so maybe yours is different) maintain this general attitude that career education is strictly a transactional experience - I buy a culinary education, and after 15 months VOILA! I am a chef! Regardless of whether or not they actually work to accomplish anything during or after. This was not the attitude of myself or ANY of my peers when I was in college, and it certainly wasn't for my parents or grandparents. Too often I am faced with multiple cases of students that exhibit no desire to do the work, and while I am sure that this phenomenon is not restricted to Gen Y, for someone who takes teaching as seriously as I do, it provides no small amount of frustration.
In my classroom the first thing that is given to all students is the way they will be graded. The Performance Contract seems to be a way for them to increase their grade by doing something extra. It seems like a reward for poor performance and a promise on their part to do better. I get the feeling that prior to Collage they are never told or shown how to get and retain knowledge!
Hi Jodi:
Overall I see two schools of thought happening here. On one hand I see a lot of discussion about how we can adapt the classroom to meet the needs of the student. On the other hand I don't see a lot of discussion about how the student needs to adapt him/her self to the needs of the classroom, course and curriculum.
We look all across our society and we see our education standards as well as test scores falling to the floor. And I think our society has gotten tired of asking the question "why is this happening?" I can certainly respect it there a lot of smart minds out there who are trying to correct the problem by doing something different. but there's a lot of us out there who will harbor a lot of resentment because we had to do things in a traditional way whereas Generation Y doesn't. Generation X did not have nifty multimedia presentations or active learning systems. Baby Boomers and the generations before didn't even have computers and technology in the classroom. Heck, they barely had calculators. But the previous generations, with all those limitations, managed to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic to the point where they can put a man on the moon by only using a slide rule. They could write great works of literature that are still the basis for today's movies. Generation Y has all these resources now available to them and yet they have the lowest test scores ever.
So I get just a little bit irritated when we are suddenly being asked to modify the learning environment to make things easier for them. We call a generational differences, but I have all different kinds of generations in my program and the ones that seem to do very well are the ones that came before Generation Y.
So forgive my slightly resentful tone but I think the educational system is yet again being asked to solve the problems that society should have fixed long ago.
Good post, Jodi. I think of a few more people like us manage to chime in on this topic, will begin to see where the actual point of contention is.
And for the record, my students sign their syllbi, whether or not they have any inclination of honoring that agreement. /rab
I agree module 4 was my least favorite. I have actually be incorporating what I have learned in this course in everyday conversations-professional and among friends because it has motivated me to consider the Gen Y perspective more. However, I agree with Rick that there is a limit. Just because this generation has grown up with TV as a babysitter and get "bored" with too much talking (lecture) and need more pictures and interaction doesn't mean instructors need to capitulate to their every need. There is still great value in reading a book in its entirety whether it is Moby Dick or a textbook chapter. I think this this generations thought that reading the cliff notes rather than the book and feeling the experience was equal, is the same dynamic that has atrophied their critical thinking abilities.
What next? Because they text more than they write, should we overlook punctuation and capitalization on their formal papers as a Gen Y "thing?"
