Gen Y'ers
I find in a technical school that the gen y'ers are easily distracted during lecture. but during a hands on lab situation they are much more attentive.
Very true! I am also at a technical school, and they seem to have a very short attention span. But I also see that "shortness" in the hands-on part. After they do something once, most want to quit because of "I've got it" attitudes. Next day we start all over--they have forgotten what they thought they knew. Most of these folks seem to think that as long as I can access answers on-line, I don't need to remember anything! It tries my patience...
you are spot on i have been teaching at a tech school for a long time,and class time better be exciting or they will fall a sleep.once i get my point across then i can get them motivated because they do like the hands on better.but they only want to do the task once.
Steve,
sometimes increasing the intensity or challenge of a task can be a good way of keeping them engaged.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Steve,
I have also noticed the shortness of hands on activities. As you stated, most students do believe once they have completed a task once they are "experts", however I have reminded students that old saying "practice makes perfect" without much response or reaction. Have there been any tactics that you have used to combat this, or do you continue to deal with this attitude on a consistent basis?
I agree with the attention span statements. I also think it is great that people can access the information needed in most cases on line. The issue I see is lack of experience of the Gen Y leaves them not even knowing what they should be looking up and why. The short attention spand seems to lead to the lack of experience.
Mark,
yes, we have to emphasize the process or "journey" rather than only finding short cuts as this is how we develop the very important critical thinking skills.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
