ERIC Number: EJ1234123
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Oct
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1527-9316
EISSN: N/A
'If They Don't Care, I Don't Care': Millennial and Generation Z Students and the Impact of Faculty Caring
Miller, Amy Chasteen; Mills, Brooklyn
Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, v19 n4 p78-89 Oct 2019
This article draws on a qualitative study of 31 Millennial and Generation Z students to examine the meaning of teacher "caring" in a higher education context. Prior research clearly documents the importance of caring to student engagement, although much of that scholarship focuses on secondary schooling. Research also examines the changing demographics of higher education and new expectations brought to college classrooms by Millennials and others. In this article, we connect the existing research on caring and on generational differences to explore how traditional-aged undergraduates define caring and the degree to which that impacts their willingness to learn. Our findings indicate that students value approachability and relatability as traits in a caring professor; we also find that in-class pedagogical practices can dramatically demonstrate care or lack thereof. Our research suggests that the student success agenda in higher education must take in-class teaching practices seriously in order to impact students' engagement and motivation to learn.
Descriptors: College Faculty, Teacher Student Relationship, Caring, Generational Differences, Student Attitudes, Young Adults, Undergraduate Students, Difficulty Level, History Instruction, STEM Education, Student Motivation, Teacher Behavior, Research Universities, First Generation College Students, Teacher Effectiveness, Academic Achievement
Indiana University. 755 West Michigan Street UL 1180D, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Tel: 317-274-5647; Fax: 317-278-2360; e-mail: josotl@iupui.edu; Web site: http://www.iupui.edu/~josotl
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A