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QUESTIONS:

~In your new book, Teaching Today's College Students, you talk about the changing student demographics on college campuses. As we read the current literature, we can't help but notice that many writers and educators wring their hands and lament about today's students—particularly the Millennials. You don't seem to take that view. Would you talk about that?  

First let me say that I can empathize with the frustrations of those teachers who are trying to reach the “millennials” every day in their classes. It was only when I started to understand who these students are and how their life experiences shaped their attitudes and behavior that I was able to see them in a new light and change my approaches in dealing with them.

Although colleges are now hiring younger teachers as the baby-boomers retire, our nation’s colleges and universities are still largely made up of baby-boomer professors. While age diversity is apparent among the student population, particularly at the community college sector, the largest age-group of students are the millennials because of the demographic groundswell of these traditional college-age students. 

So the challenge becomes, “How do we narrow both the cultural gap and the digital gap between the baby-boomer teachers and the millennial students?” The cultural divide involves different attitudes toward studying and work. Rather than knocking our “teacher-heads” against the wall to mold students into what we were like as students, we need to learn how to engage them with the course material, how to motivate them to succeed academically, and how to foster critical thinking skills. I am not advocating the notion that we abdicate helping our students to assimilate into the world of academia but we need to first reach them where they are.

Millennials have been referred to as “digital natives” since they came into the world “wired” and now many are even “wireless.” They see the rest of us as “immigrants’ to the world of technology and often disparage our lack of technological savvy. Today’s faculty ought to be open to training in technology so that they can incorporate the best that technology has to offer into their courses. That may include having course syllabi and materials on a faculty Web page. It might include Power Point presentations or being able to bring video clips from the Internet into the classroom or even being able to master the “smart board.” So many things are possible, including hybrid courses that involve both the classroom and an online component. However, in my opinion, it is still possible for a college teacher to be effective in the classroom without using technology. The “old-fashioned” lecture/discussion can be engaging, interactive, and very productive. As long as we don’t lose sight of the fact that technology is their world and we become more accepting of this fact, I think we will be able to relate to this “Net Gen”—as millennials have also been called.

~Today's classrooms have various generations in one class. Is this a unique difficulty in course planning at this point in time?

It is true that there is a mix of generations in our college classrooms; this is particularly true for the community college sector. I have had students in the same classroom ranging in ages from the traditional 18 to 22 year-olds through several decades including students in their 80s. This requires some ingenuity on the part of the teacher so that everyone feels included. The teacher who has a wide repertoire of pedagogical strategies to employ has an advantage. Teachers need to be aware of the references they make in class, sometimes noting the time frame, bringing younger students up to speed in terms of historical references and having younger students explain their worlds to older students. Doing collaborative learning in small groups works best with heterogeneous groupings in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, and age. I have found multi-generational classes to be challenging, yet at the same time, they are rich in opportunities for learning from one another. In my experience, older students in class always enrich the class discussion since they have so much life experience to draw from.

~In both of your books you emphasize building a welcoming and inclusive community in the classroom, which I'm sure most teachers would love to have. However, with demands for covering set material so common today, can't community building take time away from teaching content?

Covering the course syllabus was always one of my paramount objectives, particularly in my early years of teaching. I was always feeling “behind” as I tried to cover all the material. And, as I learned more about the nuances of all the topics I was covering in psychology and all the changes in my discipline, I tried to “talk faster.” 

It was through some readings I did by other educators confronting the same dilemma that I opened up to the idea that “covering” the material was not nearly as important as having students “uncover” the material. I could get through the syllabus, but were my students learning all that I was teaching? Was lecturing “at” my students the best way for them to grasp the material and even more importantly, retain it? Given the “shelf-life” of the content, was it more important for me to teach my students how to learn, how to find material, how to discern whether the source of the material was credible, and how to communicate both orally and in writing what they were discovering?

I suppose all the evidence about the importance of active learning and the development of critical thinking skills started to sink in and influence my attitude towards “imparting knowledge.” That old phrase sticks with me—is the most effective teacher the “sage on the stage” or the “guide on the side?” 

~In recent years there has been a growth in teaching enhancement centers in all types of higher education—and seemingly much enthusiasm for this movement. What have you seen as the result of these efforts?

I believe that the development of Centers for Learning and Teaching (CELT) and Centers for Excellence in Teaching and Learning are greatly contributing to the dialogue on learning and effective teaching. Usually, these centers are headed by the most dedicated and enthusiastic teachers and every institution needs leaders like these to create grass-roots movements on college campuses that keep the discussion alive and thriving. These centers are often the sources of much of the professional development that takes place and they have the potential to revitalize faculties by what I see as a “ripple effect.” A core of teachers usually gets involved and then their enthusiasm spreads among their colleagues. These centers often promote evidence-based decision making in terms of what promotes student success. Of course, student success should be the number one goal of every institution of higher education.

~Finally, what sort of advice would you give new faculty members about their chosen profession?

The first thing I would say is that teaching is an art form. What I mean by this is similar to what Erich Fromm said about love in his famous book, The Art of Loving. One of the take-home messages of that book is that to become a loving person takes a great deal of practice and development. Similarly, I believe that our task as teachers is to strive towards mastering the art of teaching, recognizing that as we develop, we will never reach our destiny. Mastering the art of teaching requires being open to an on-going journey. 

Secondly, I would tell new faculty members that they are embarking on a journey that has the potential to change people’s lives positively and profoundly. Thirdly, I would remind them of Maya Angelou’s words because to me they speak to the “affective” dimension of teaching. In order for students to learn in our classes, they need to feel safe, welcome, and included. Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

~Thank you, Angela, for sharing with us. If anyone has particular questions for Angela, please send them to customerservice@atwoodpublishing.com and we will forward them to her.