Rick ButlerCHEP

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… >>>

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?"… >>>

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… >>>

Hi Barry: I totally agree with that position (and yes, this thread has gone off tangent). When students want it bad enough, they will give themselves to it. Turning back toward the topic at hand, two-hour stretches of anything are rough at night, particularly after a full day's work and what not. The concern that I'm hearing is that "if we don't get the content out while the students are still awake, they will miss it". And while keeping the variety going and the class interesting, particularly when students are in the drone-zone is important, there is also the need… >>>

Hi Dianna: As I write this reply, I am sitting in the judo dojo at USA Judo, watching my kids train in the same gym where members of the US Olympic team train, with people who aspire to be on Team USA someday. As I watch them, thoughts come to my mind about motivation. We have the same issues with out night crews and there are basically two approaches here. One, they made a decision to attend college because they want something different - they want change. Change, though, often requires sacrifice. As an instructor, you have to encourage them… >>>