Millennial Students:
Insights from Generational
Theory and Learning Sciences
Dr. Michele DiPietro
Executive Director,
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Kennesaw State University
mdipietr@kennesaw.edu
http://www.kennesaw.edu/cetl
Motivation and Context
Characterizations of Millennial students
frequently focus on:
• Multi-tasking
• Technology
Less attention to:
• Cultural, parental and educational trends that
help shape Millennials
• How these trends may shape students’
intellectual development, epistemological beliefs
and metacognitive skills
Agenda
1. Brainstorm Millennial characteristics
2. Describe Generational theory
3. Seven traits of Millennials
•
Social, economic, parental and educational trends that
helped shape the Millennial generation.
4. React to the theory (Q&A)
5. Pose questions about implications for learning and
pedagogical strategies
Disclaimers
Not here for student-bashing
Not here to romanticize the students either
It’s not my theory!
• Don’t care if you agree or disagree with it 
(Howe & Strauss 1992, 2000, 2003; Strauss &
Howe 1997)
Brainstorming
Describe the Millennials…
In Class?
Out of Class?
One-Word Descriptors…..Quotes
A Little Generational Theory
Generation: a cohort group whose length
approximates the span of a phase of a life
and whose boundaries are fixed by peer
personality
Peer personality: a generational persona
recognized and determined by common
age, location, beliefs and behaviors and
perceived membership in a common
generation
Generational Theory (cont’d)
Generational cycle: 4 consecutive
generations, encompassing 2 social
moments
Social moment: an era, typically lasting about
a decade, when people perceive that
historical events are radically altering their
social environment
• Secular crises (outer-driven)
• Spiritual awakenings (inner-oriented)
Sequence of Cultural Cohorts
(Generations)
GI Generation (1901 - 1924)
Silent Generation (1925 - 1942)
Boomers (1943 - 1960)
Generation X (1960 - 1981)
Millennials (Generation Y; 1982 - 2004)
Homeland? (2005 - ?)
Generational Theory (cont’d)
Generation
Archetype
Dominance
Type
Era
Heralded
Silent
Artist
Recessive
Adaptive
Outer-driven
Boomer
Prophet
Dominant
Idealist
Awakening
Gen x
Nomad
Recessive
Reactive
Inner-driven
Millennials
Hero
Dominant
Civic
Crisis
The parental connection for Millennials
1940
1942
1950
1960
Boomers
1970
1980
1990
2000
1960
1961
1981
Xers
1982
Millennials
2004(?)
Generational Theory (cont’d)
In childhood (0 -20 yrs), when Millennials are being nurtured
and acquiring values, here’s where the other generations
are.
Phase of Life
Age
Generation
Social Role
Young adulthood
21 - 41
Gen X
Serve institutions and test
values
Midlife
42 - 62
Boomers
Manage institutions and apply
values
Elderhood
63 - 83
Silent
Lead institutions and transfer
values
Millennials Are the New Hero Generation
The Hero Lifecycle outline:
As newly born HEROES replace Nomads in childhood (age 0 - 20)
during an Unraveling, they are nurtured with increasing protection by
pessimistic adults in an insecure environment
As teamworking HEROES replace Nomdad in young adulthood (age 21
- 41) during a Crisis, the challenge the political failure of the elder-led
crusades, fueling a society-wide secular crisis
As powerful HEROES replace Nomads in midlife (age 42 - 62) during a
High, they establish an upbeat, constructive ethic of social discipline
As expansive HEROES replace Nomads in elderhood (age 63+) during
an Awakening, they orchestrate ever-grander secular constructions,
setting the stage for the spiritual goals of the young
Seven Core Traits of Millennials
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Special
Protected
Team-oriented
Trusting Optimists
Conventional
Achieving
Pressured
Millennials are (Viewed as) Special
Compared to caste away Gen-Xers whose
parents were more interested in self-discovery.
Reasons:
Family size, income
Parenting style
Child centric cultural shifts
“It takes a village to raise a child”
--Hillary Clinton
Cultural shifts in how children are viewed
Millennials are Protected
Millennials are Protected
Bike helmets
SIDS guidelines
Child proof pill bottles
Toy safety recalls
Megan’s Law
Flame retardant PJ
V-chips
Child abuse laws
Child car seats
School metal detectors
Poison hotlines
Sun block
Amber Alerts
Child protection products
Rubber padded playgrounds
Stranger danger campaigns
“I hardly think it’s appropriate for six-year-olds to be making
decisions about which [Pokémon] cards to trade.”
--a mother upset because her son’s school allowed him to trade
a valuable Tauros for a mere Dodrio, The Wall Street Journal
Millennials are Team-Oriented
Millennials are Team-Oriented
Experience:
•
•
•
•
Organized play groups
School uniforms
Collaborative learning experiences
Group dating
Go Team
“Less skilled payers will get more playing time…Parents
will cheer for all the kids at a game”
-- Rules of the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association
Millennials are Trusting Optimists
Trust
Optimism
• Trusting of parents, the
government.
• Respect authority
• Strong parental relationships
• Positive about the future
• Boast about their
generation’s power and
influence
“We’re superheroes. That’s what we’re supposed to
do–save cities, fight monsters.”
-Powerpuff Girls
Millennials are Conventional
More comfortable with parent’s values
Education that emphasizes basic human value, respect and
accountability (aspects of ZT)
See social rules as necessary (even though they may not like
them)
Represents a corrective response to trends launched in the
60s by boomers and propelled into the 70s and 80s by
Xers.
“Hormones racing at the speed of light
But that don’t mean it got to be tonight”
--Christina Aguilera, Genie in a Bottle
Millennials are Achieving
Achievement
• Educational experiences focused on standardized
achievement
– Implications for intellectual development
– Obsessive preoccupation with performance
• Mediocrity is met with tutoring, coaching, special
instruction
“A14-year-old [Natalia Toro] who studied the elusive subatomic
particles called neutrinos won the prestigious Intel Science
Talent Search…the youngest winner in the history of the 58year-old event.
--Associated Press
Millennials are Pressured
Pressured:
•
•
•
•
High expectations from perfectionist parents
High stakes consequences from standardized focus
Highly scheduled lives
Zero tolerance
Giles: This is the SATs, Buffy. Not connect the dots. Please pay
attention. A low score can seriously harm your chances of
getting into college.
Buffy: Gee, thanks. That takes the pressure right off.
--Buffy the Vampire Slayer
What About Parents?
Helicopter Parents
Video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5lkllhlzqY
Other Realities
Additional Characteristics
Represent the largest cultural cohort
Are the most racially/ethnically diverse cohort
• 1 in 5 has at least 1 non-native born parent
Native technologists
Close relationships with parents (most admired) and
grandparents (most trusted)
• Consulted and included in important decisions
Healthier and wealthier as a group, but…
• New struggles - ADD, ADHD, mental health, asthma,
obesity
Value volunteer work
Relationship with Authority
•
•
•
•
Silent:
Boomers:
Xers:
Millennials:
(Bonner et al. 2011)
Hierarchical, Deference
Love/Hate
Unimpressed
Equals
Millennial Theory Recap
Seven Core Traits
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Special
Protected
Team-oriented
Achievement-oriented
Pressured
Confident
Conventional
Questions: Do you buy their analysis?
What parts of Millennial theory resonate with your
experience of your students?
What parts sound less supported/overgeneralized?
•
•
•
Is it ever warranted to generalize to a whole generation?
Are there groups of students who don’t fit the theory in
your experience?
What about the characterization of parents?
What does this have to do with learning?
• Do Millennials learn differently?
• How does this tie in with the learning sciences?
Recap of the Seven Learning Principles
1. Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.
2. How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and
apply what they know.
3. Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they
do to learn.
4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills,
practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they
have learned.
5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances
the quality of students’ learning.
6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social,
emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact
learning.
7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor
and adjust their approaches to learning.
Do the seven generational traits facilitate or
complicate the learning process for Millennial
students?
Special
Protected
Team Oriented
Trusting Optimists
Conventional
Achieving
Pressured
Metacognition
Development
and Climate
Practice and
Feedback
Mastery
Motivation
Knowledge
Organization
Prior
Knowledge
Implications for learning
A.
Feedback
B.
Independence
C.
Risk-taking, failure and creativity
D.
Intellectual development and epistemological
beliefs
E.
Metacognitive skills / Multitasking
A. Feedback
Habituated to positive reinforcement
• What gets praised? Effort, Product, Ability?
Can be very different from the kind of constructive
feedback necessary for learning
B. Independence
Close relationship with parents
May fail to seek guidance from appropriate
sources
Parental interference
Little experience in independently dealing
with:
•
•
•
•
challenges or difficulty
solving problems
making decisions
managing time / life
C. Risk-taking
Focus on performance and credentialing rather
than learning
• less intrinsic motivation
Failure as something to avoid at all costs
• little experience with failure
• difficulty met with a team of tutors, coaches,
specialists, etc.
• Innovation and creativity carry higher risk of failure
D. Intellectual development and
epistemological beliefs
Less developed understanding of knowledge
Less sophisticated view of the role of instructor
Uncomfortable with ambiguity
Fact-driven experience acts as default strategy
Difficulty in seeing context, the big picture or the
role of evidence
E. Metacognitive skills
Multitasking history
Fact-driven educational experience
Little opportunity to practice higher-level
cognitive functions, such as planning,
monitoring, evaluation, and reflection
Discussion
What teaching strategies do the interaction of the
Millennial traits and learning principles suggest?
Generative Principles
Intellectual development and epistemological
beliefs
• Make uncertainty safe
• Resist a single right answer
• Demonstrate that personal opinion alone is
insufficient
• Probe for evidence
• Identify and challenge inaccurate beliefs about
knowledge
• Set expectations about instructor’s role in the
learning process
• Set realistic expectations about the role of effort,
practice and ability
Generative Principles
Metacognitive skills
• Give assignments that focus on strategies, planning or
methods of preparation rather than implementation
• Provide checklist, rubrics or other heuristics to monitor
progress
• Provide opportunities for self-assessment
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/priorknowledge/selfassessments%20.html
• Provide opportunities for reflection
• Use “Wrappers:”
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/examwrappers/
Generative Principles
Risk-taking / fear of failure / creativity
• Model how you deal with problems, difficulties or
challenges.
• If risk-taking and creativity are desired, make them
explicit learning objectives
– Reward them
• Help student think about “failure” in a formative way
Generative Principles
Independence
• Institutions can educate parents about independence
and set appropriate expectations
• Leverage parental concern into a collaborative
partnership to develop independent adults
• Use FERPA to manage parental interference
• Institutions can provide broader life skills workshops
(time management, conflict resolutions, etc)
• Set appropriate expectations among students
regarding personal responsibility
More Information
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Anxiety and How to Stop It. Free Press: New York.
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Belenky, M., Clinchy, B., Goldberger, N., and Tarule, J. (1986) Women’s
Ways of Knowing: The Development, of Self, Voice, and Mind. Basic
Books.
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More Information
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More Information
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