Young Students vs. Adult Students
I often find myself having to struggle with the younger students and adult students being at odds with one another. The Adult students are always looking down on the 18-20 year olds as immature kids and the young students are always treating the adult students as they are too old to be in school.
I am trying to come up with an activity for each of the groups to interact and see how much they really can learn from one another and how being in a class with such a diverse mix of students will only help them even more. Has anyone had any experience with anything like this? Any advice?
Hi Sandra,
Something that I have used with success is the assigning of each group, younger students and older students, to work with each other to solve a common problem or complete an activity. I do pairing so they have to depend upon each other to complete the project. I also make it competitive so their "team" has to work together to so they can "win" the contest. They become loyal to each other very quickly and start to forget about their differences. I also change the parings to get them to work with a wider variety of individuals throughout the course phase.
Gary
Sandra,
I have found my self in your shoes before, I think the most important thing as a educator to remember is the little me little you idea. The way I introduce this to my students is to be sitting at one of the student group tables with the students and not in front of the class, I think that standing if front of the class is a little intimidating at times.
Any way as far as an activity one thing I use a lot is a SNOW BALL fight sound non traditional doesn't it. Well break your class into groups of three or four students and have them write review question or question they want to know more information about on a piece of paper and then have them ball it up. Have the students TOSS the papers in the air and what ever paper the students picks up they have to answer that question, Any question not answered or explained well this is wear you would come into the picture as a class discussion or end of the day wrap up.
If you try this you may want to structure the groups with people of different ages this way it will force the old students to mingle with the young students. I hope this works for you and if you try it let me know how it goes. Good Luck and happy educating.
Thanks,
Raymond
Raymond,
Thank you so much for the advice. It does sound like a very creative and fun way for the students to interact with one another while at the same time there is th opportunity for them to gain more knowledge on the subject.
I will definitely have to give it a try and I will let you know how it turns out! Thank you again!
Sandra
I use to have this same problem with age diversity. I now have created a collaboration group with the older students mixed in with the younger ones.
I also pick 2 group leaders for each new class,one older and one younger. This gets the two groups working together and gives the leaders a sense of responsibility. The leaders are in charge of getting information to the group and making sure everyone is on the same page. It seems to be working out pretty good.
They are able to collaborate ideas and feed off of each others life experiences and knowledge.
Cynthia Cruz
Hi Cynthia,
Excellent suggestion for this continuing learning situation. I use the same approach and have found it to work very well.
When I have the groups compete against each other in reviewing for tests and other such formats they quickly forget age differences because they want to work together to "win" as a team.
Gary
The team concept in a competitive situation works great to encourage students of varying ages to work together.
I always talk about how age diversity is the reality in most work settings and I have the older students share real world scenarios on how age diversity helps them on the job.
Hi Charles,
Well said. Mixing the students that offers the opportunity for them to understand the different needs of different career stage individuals is a good teaching strategy. This way all can see how others are approaching the learning setting as well as to how they will see the career setting.
Gary
Mixing the older and younger students in the group sessions or projects seems to work well for me.
Hi Ken,
Through this mixing you are able to get both age groups to see where each other is coming from. This is what they will face in the workplace so it is good to get them used to diversity in the classroom.
Gary
Charles,
I also have had great success with the team concept in a competitive situation.
Changing up teams, varying the competitions to highlight different strengths fostering mentoring by older students and respect for experience of older students by younger are some of the keys I believe.
I do agree with the teamwork to a point. Mainly for the fact that it can backfire at times. I prefer to add to that strategy just by stating the fact that "Age makes no difference whatsoever in this field of career choice. No one is concerned with your age just your certifications, abilities, and qualifications." Teamwork is always going to be a key factor in anything you do in a work environment whether you actually get along or not./
I have used the team concept and for the most part it works well.
There are some instances where the adult learner is fustrated with the `imaturity of the young student and the ability to focus on there work
Hi Ray,
You are right about some of the challenges of working with student groups. Sometimes the frustration voiced by the more mature students is good in that once your students enter the workplace they will be working with all age individuals. Everyone needs to develop some skill at working with the diverse workers around them if they are going to be successful.
Gary
I have found this to be the case on many occasions as well. As a parent of elementary school age children, I try to teach my kids about tolerance, acceptance, and understanding of other students. Now as a relatively new instructor, I find myself trying to teach my students the same values. I normally address it on the first day during my introduction to the course. Working with other people will be part of the job, like it or not and it will not always be your best friend that you're working with. I have them work in new groups every week also. This helps avoid problems and forces them to learn how to work with others.
Hi Stacey,
Good model for mixing your students up and putting them into different groups. How do you assign your students to groups? Are your students accepting of the change to new groups every so often? Both of these issues can cause a bit of concern on the part of students but is easily resolved when approached in a supportive and comfortable way.
Gary
This is always a challenge. I teach at two schools, one adjunct and one FT. I have typically had a mix of young vs. old. Mixing them into groups and focusing on team work seems to help significantly. This puts everyone in a position to adapt by creating a team, developing ideas about the team structure, what is acceptable (norms), and finally performing as a team.
Subsequent group presentations to the class help them bond because they are all in the same boat in front of the class. They work together to achieve the desired result, a good grade. In the end, working together is what it is all about in the workplace.
Hi Scot,
You are doing a great job of helping different generational students learn how to work with others. This is a area that they will need expertise in if they are going to be successful in the workplace. The more skills they can develop in doing this the better prepared they will be when out in the work world.
Gary
