I agree they like to know that you have made mistakes in your life too
Steven,
yes they do like to hear how this information has been applied.
Dr. Ryan Meers
"Entertain ME!" they've been entertained throughout their entire measly lives, it's all about the immediate gratification.
The reason for generation Y experiential learning is their early age expossure to mutiple media and educative programs that actually show them and explain them how things work. They are acustome to easy technology access, therefore experience is highly regarded as something not attainable through the multi media environment.
I believe Gen Y learners value experiential learning because it challenge them to discover the answer (rather than the answer being provided by the instructor). In doing so, the learners are engaged though active learning and realize they can become innovative with their responses. This offers immediate feedback and allows the students to experience self-worth.
Gen Y'ers value ecperieintial learning because it gives them the ability to contribute some of the previous life skills as well as previous experiences into the learning process. Experiential learning allows the student to use previously acquired talents and knowledge in the class. Gen Y'ers are a generation of doers rather than listeners and experiential learning allows the instructor the ability to incorporate the gen Y'ers abilities, and allows them to "do" rather than "listen" in a way that makes them feel more a part of the learning process than in traditional learning models.
This is how they have been raised, they need a variety of mehods to keep them interested in learning.
They are able to create a mental picture and place themselves in your shoes and relate to the information being discussed alot more easily, which will lead to a more desirable learning experiance.
They don't read the manual but they are very good in figuring out how to work gadgets
Patricia,
yes experiential learning seems to be a very effective tool for Gen Y.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Laudina,
yes there definitely seems to be an emphasis of "just let me get in there & try it."
Dr. Ryan Meers
I agree lloyd. I also think that because of the story that comes along, it helps keep their attention.
They Like the instant gratification of the experience.
By nature experientail learning affect the student in a variety of ways. It stresses nimesthetic and visual modes of learning which are prefered for Gen Y'ers vs. previous generations that were more adept at visual and aural modes of learning.
goes against what they were taught and allows them to see through trial and error.
Because generation y can use the instructor's experience to relate with their learning. That makes more common sense.
Because experiential learning can relate the learning material with real life situation that makes more common sense.
Jon-Paul,
I agree that this generation seems to respond best to experiential learning.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Experiential learning gives them an opportunity to have some ownership in their education
We have an evaluation at the end of each 3 week class. The students have an opportunity to write comments about their experience. The most positive comments come from students who have an instructor that is honest, caring and is having fun teaching the subject. The instructor has to meet the reuirements for the course (test and labs), but we want them to use their personal life / work experiences and their personality to make the class have value to the student. You can't keep this generation entertained and learning if you are not having fun yourself.
