Resources
Focusing on “Millennial culture,” identifies some of the key issues relating to teaching millennial learners. Summarizes need for relevant information; rationale for policies; relaxed environment; personal rapport; and research-based methods.
One challenge in teaching is designing a learning environment for students who span multiple generations. I’ll focus on this challenge in two blog posts. This first post will look more closely at “non-traditional” or “adult” learners as a demographic group, and suggest ways to support them in our classes. The second post will look at the so-called generational differences between students of different ages. Across both posts, I’ll include cautions for classifying students into neatly defined categories and suggest some strategies for supporting the learning of all students.
Interview with L. Lee Knefelkamp, a professor of psychology and education at Columbia University. Stresses the diversity of higher education learners, including adult learners. Emphasizes the notion of faculty as co-learners with students. Notes the importance of the work of K. Patricia Cross regarding adult learners.
Blog post at Faculty Focus. Highlights five elements to create a better learning environment for adult learners: treat them as adults; be aware of skills gap; consider technology gap; be efficient; and be creative.
Extensive workbook reviews differences in adult and child learners and discusses adult learning styles. Offers strategies on presentation, facilitation, course design, and course evaluation. Includes sample materials in appendices.
Provides biographical information on Malcolm Knowles, one of the pioneers in teaching adult learners. Discusses his contributions to adult learning theory and highlights desired adult learning outcomes. Outlines key differences in teaching adult learners and child learners.
This University of Illinois resource provides all an instructor needs to get started with role-playing as an online (synchronous or asynchronous) learning activity: description, examples, goals & objectives, lesson outline and procedures, and guidelines for assessment and managing accessibility/accommodations.
A short, practical introduction to using online social media tools (like Twitter) to facilitate role-playing in courses involving literature or history.
Responding to Nicholas Kristof's widely-read NYT piece lamenting the lack of civic engagement by professors, Robin provides URLs to a great many online "public intellectuals" in several fields. An excellent resource for instructors looking for existing models of "civic engagement."
Responding to Nicholas Kristof's widely-read NYT piece lamenting the lack of civic engagement by professors, Goldberg describes how academic institutions can punish civic engagement because it distracts from grant procurement or other institutional service.