Summary of Lessons from teaching Millennials by Kenneth Stewart Kenneth Stewart wrote a case study “Lessons from Teaching Millennials” when he resumed teaching undergraduates students after a break of fifteen years. He was optimistic about his return to teaching undergraduates. The students from his class "Principles in Psychology" thought otherwise. A "significant gap" developed between Stewart’s expectations of the students and the students' expectations of themselves. When asked about their opinions on the course, many said that they had not expected it to be this rigorous. Subsequently, he got a low rank in the teacher evaluation by the students. Therefore, in the spring semester Kenneth lowered his expectations closer to the fall students' to "reach more students." Though the spring class had a friendlier environment throughout the semester, their work quality and understanding of the subject was the same as the fall students. Consequently, his teacher evaluation rank was above average this semester; although, he did not see himself having made an actual improvement. Stewart examined data collected by the spring students for their research. He picked the "California Psychological Inventory, …show more content…
The pattern of the CPI-R showed that the scores could be categorized into two groups: one group that was two-to-three standard deviations below the mean of the pre-1987 students' scores, and the one group that was close to the mean of the pre-1987 students' scores. When he researched observations reported by others, he found that many observations contrasted each other. One thing agreed by all of them, however, was that society reinforcing the Millennials' tendency to avoid hard work made it hard for them to handle college/university work. Benoit, a psychiatrist, advises college teachers to be demanding of students to help them get prepared for future
Brooks presents an overview of the frantic fast paced lifestyle of America’s future elite, (those who will end up at prestigious schools like Princeton). A typical youth wakes up at dawn and then cycles through a mind-boggling succession of activities such as classes, study groups, volunteer work, prayer session, and exercise. These kids are so highly booked they go so far as to make appointments to socialize with one another. Millennials don’t read newspapers or follow national politics. Even romance, takes a back seat to achievement oriented activities. One student is quoted as saying “It’s a basic question of hours in the
Not So Much” had defended the actions of millennials of which had been misinterpreted as have other generations past. However, “A’s for Everyone” by Alicia C. Shepard had voiced the opposition’s side, focusing the student and often times parent harassment on professors for better grades of which student entitlement as well as the inflation of grades have been to blame. With these two articles, one could conclude that although this most recent generation has been misunderstood, certain factors has made this generation expect some comeuppance. To put it simply, Generation Y had been bashed by its elders for their behaviors seen as immoral, lazy, and even negligent in their roles of society. Although some may have proved to increase efficiency in the workplace as well as in personal relationships, the human trait of entitlement has, in fact, been ubiquitous, especially pertaining to academic
Zinsser, William. “College Pressure.” The Norton Reader. 13th ed. Ed. Linda H. Peterson. New York: Norton, 2013. 380-388. Print
The claim that students are not being prepared well enough for the working world is simply a false notion. College students are being as prepared as they have always been. They major in something relating to the job they want and then they search for that job. No one can ever truly be prepared for things they have not experienced yet. As said before its easy to criticize a generation of people for flaws when they haven't had their opportunity to cement their place in the world yet. Altogether they pose a critical and cynical view on society. Although the fact that these arguments are separated by about forty years only shows the fact that its common for older generations to criticize the younger ones. In an ever advancing society there are bound to be differences in lifestyles between generations and its common for each generation to prefer theres over the others because of nostalgia and their own personal bias. In conclusion while their arguments may have validity at the surface level. When you dig deeper into there views and what they are saying, it proves that what they are saying is a
By feeling that way high school graduates feel forced to attend college just so people would not criticize. We live in a society where having a Bachelor’s Degree is a big deal now and not having one means that you are not going anywhere in life. Charles argues that society is the reason why this is happening. “Today, if you do not get a Bachelor’s Degree, many people assume it is because you are too dumb or too lazy. And all this because of a degree that seldom has interpretable substantive meaning”. (Murray 253) I agree with Charles because it is true that society forces people to go to college even if college is not the best option for them. For instance, I took a year off of school right after I graduated high school. During that time my family members, like cousins and aunts would ask me, if I was going to college, what I wanted to major in, and why was I not in school? I was always afraid to answer those questions because I still was not sure what I wanted to do and I did not want to get judged if I said something that they did not approve of. Not going to college made me feel ashamed and guilty just because of my intrusive family. They think that just because someone does not attend college they are automatically on the wrong path and dense. My family reinforces the example that Charles Warren makes
Today a leading cause of stress is change; a change in your job, lifestyle, or significant others can cause stress. Many Americans are living longer and discovering, as a result, that the learning process can never really be allowed to stop. To be successful or sometimes even just to maintain a comfortable existence, one must adapt to the rapidly changing order. Acknowledging that there is more that needs knowing and embarking on new educational journeys requires courage and fortitude, due to man’s inherent nature of fear. Persons of the best natures must be compelled to attain a more complete knowledge, and those of this more complete education must expose the others to the realities of “ the beautiful, the just, and the good” (752). Often the path of explanation and clarification is unsure, but confining thought to merely the realms of the known can only prove fatal.
People can be influenced to go to college because they want the college experience or they want to go to college to study something they always dreamed about . But now most people are influenced to go to college because they need a master’s or bachelor’s degree in order to get a good job. Over the recent years most jobs require to have a four year college degree or better . In “ College Is Not Always the Answer” by Lawrence Mishel , he implies , “ Right now a third of the work force has a four-year college degree or further education . Judging by the growth of demand for college graduates in the last two decades , the United States will need many more college graduates in the coming years - but not as many as half of all workers two decades from now” ( paragraph 1). From the past years most people have
Their professional outlook on how education should be has allowed me to envision a better future for students of all ages. Smaller classes, but more classes for only a certain number of students to learn, will be a must. Also, teaching students of all ages “things to know about the adult life” is a requirement. This will help glue what should be and what is to grow into a question of the past. My plan is to create a growth of love for learning for the young generation.
Feist, G. J., & Rosenberg, E. L. (2012). Learning. In Psychology: Perspectives & connections (2nd ed., p. 310). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
James Scurlock strongly emphasizes this problem throughout the whole documentary. Students, ranging in ages from 18-22 primarily, are young, and naive. They are out from under their parent’s rule and free to make decisions on their own. This means that many are going to take certain steps necessar...
As I planed to take this class, I thought this course would be like all other general education courses. I believed that it would be of little use to me. However, after attending the first class, my view has changed completely. I applied each and every theory to my life.
High school inundates students with memorization tasks and assignments that will just maybe provide enough practice to utilize the info on an upcoming test, however, there is so much emphasis and strain in those areas early on because self-discovery is reserved for the generally more mature young adults pursuing a post-secondary education that “should help students discover what they love to do” (Source B). The idea that college should serve as a staging ground for obtaining a realization of one’s purpose in humanity’s future is not simply a purely idealistic concept, on the contrary, it is expounded upon in testimonials by many college students; they can explicitly identify a new sense of direction carved out in their college years as genuine enlightenment towards where their dreams truly lie. Graduates from four-year colleges have journeyed through the peaks and troughs of undergraduate programs and can testify towards this, as in a sample of graduates surveyed “69%” expressed that college was “very useful in helping them grow and mature as a person” (Source F). Developing such self-knowledge of one’s mental processes, whether of enjoyment and dislike or the preferred type of learning, introspection is the window that provides a clear view of what one would willingly strive towards as an adult. Blindly following a career or “calling” via ignorance and inexperience is like hunting for gold in a minefield with a metal detector: sure everything may seem like treasure, but without deeper analysis the extensive path dug may only turn up catastrophe. Blinkered by illusions of wealth and fame, the lack of time to self-reflect on the and study all the aspects of a career field as a college student would only leave pursuers chasing a
Students go to college in search of knowledge, a new lifestyle, and the hope of a job after graduation. For many young adults, college is a rite of passage into an independent, mature new lifestyle. Not only is higher education a rite of passage, for some, it is also an opportunity to have a better life. Overall, college is a wonderful part of many people’s lives, yet the way the college education system is conducted wastes students time and money. College is basically composed of two parts: general education classes and major specific classes. General education courses are the source of wasted time and money, and should not be required of students. A few of the problems associated with general education classes are that they are basically a repeat of high school, unfortunately they can be the demise of students, they are costly, and they waste time.
A defining condition of being human is that we have to understand the meaning of our experience. For some, any uncritically assimilated explanation by an authority figure will suffice. But in contemporary societies we must learn to make our own interpretations rather than act on the purposes, beliefs, judgments, and feelings of others. Facilitating such understandings is the cardinal goal of adult education. Transformative learning develops autonomous thinking. (Mezirow 1997, p. 5)
As an educator, there is always room for reflection and growth. Being in this class has provided an opportunity for both. From my knowledge gained in this class I believe that I have become smarter and have learned how to implement different tool into my teaching as well as general life as a teacher. Of the topics discussed in this class, commitment to students, avoiding burnout and reflective practices had the biggest impact on my professional growth.