Tag: students
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Understanding Today’s Students, 5
Part 5 (and Last) in the Series: Implications for Our Teaching Read Part 4 “Trying to connect to this generation is not the same as selling out to them.”1 One of my greatest frustrations with discussions of this generation of college students is the way some talk about their protected childhood and its consequences (see…
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Understanding Today’s Students, 4
Part 4 in the Series: Implications for Our Teaching Read Part 3 “They may comfortably become passive consumers of their education…. It is our responsibility as faculty to not let this happen.”1 Because of some of the characteristics of iGen students (see Parts 1, 2, and 3), some of our work as teachers is both…
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Understanding Today’s Students, 3
Part 3 in the Series: Implications for Our Teaching Read Part 2 Yesterday, I described some overarching experiences and the resulting traits found in this generation of college students called iGen. Today, I’m going to consider what learning might look like for these students. From Learning by Consuming & Reproducing to Learning by Applying &…
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Understanding Today’s Students, 2
Part 2 in the Series: Implications for Our Teaching Read Part 1 Technology as part of life “Growing up in an always-connected cloud-based environment of data, friends, and entertainment is what distinguishes [them] from generations before them.”1 For students in the iGen generation, technology has been simply part of their daily lives. More specifically, the…
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Understanding Today’s Students, 1
Part 1 in a Series Originally, I set out to write a few paragraphs in an email responding to colleagues’ comments about struggling to understand the current generation of college students. But I now have too much to say, and I don’t want to simplify more than necessary. That email has now grown into a…
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In Case of Emergency
Before flying, we’re told to locate our nearest emergency exits. If we’re sitting in the emergency row, we must verbally agree to the responsibility of working the doors and helping our fellow passengers if necessary. Similarly, now that storm season has arrived in the South,* we’ve all prepared our “safe place,” the basement or an…
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It’s About Our Students
Today is my last day of class, and I feel a little antsy, even a little edgy. I already have a stack of materials to grade, and I’ll be getting another stack today, and then another during our final exam period. I have deadlines related to other work activities. And my spring-exploded yard is calling…
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After the Honeymoon
My class is still in the “honeymoon phase,” those carefree weeks in the beginning of the semester when students and instructor alike enjoy each other’s company and insights, before any major papers or exams complicate the dynamic. Smaller, low-stakes assessments have given me a chance to provide early feedback and have documented the their good thinking…
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Support for Stressed Students
The new semester started yesterday here at Vanderbilt. My students were bright-eyed and enthusiastic, though I know they were experiencing those first-day uncertainties about their new classes, professors, and classmates. Soon enough, these early jitters will turn to a more significant set of stresses as assignments come due, exams are scheduled, graduation approaches, and life…
Nancy L. Chick 