Comments on: Higher-education Myths

By: Susan Leslie

Susan Leslie — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 00:22:05 +0000

Clark – I’m so appreciative of knowing someone as respected as you is speaking out. I’m (almost) worn out trying to stop people from pigeonholing people into things like learning styles, personality styles, cultural and generational differences. I train people from pre-employment programs right up to university students and senior executives. The difference I find among them is motivation – and that’s my responsibility – to find a way to engage them.

Why are people (who should know better) so keen to find a quick solution by categorising and labelling people? What is the benefit in doing so? Where do you stop when you put people in a box? When do you start to teach them? People are complex beings – educators just need to accept that!

By: Don McIntosh

Don McIntosh — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 19:53:50 +0000

I share your cynicism about higher education and I would add that outside of education departments (and even there sometimes), most faculty know little about learning. Pray and spray worked for them so it must be good for everyone and they continue to do it probably for another 500 years.

By: Clark

Clark — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 23:17:00 +0000

In reply to Bob Elmore.

Bob, the boundaries are not well-established; they vary amongst different proposers of generations and are rather arbitrary (does it make sense that according to the Pell version, Venus and Serena Williams are from different generations?), and empirically aren’t significant differences in what they value. Also, are different mechanisms of communication (text, email, voice, …) from ‘generations’ or cultural constraints? I suggest it’s more who you communicate with (I text with my daughter, email certain folks, use Slack for others). I have yet to see the empirical evidence of a significant difference, and it seems like an easy form of discrimination: bucketing people by when they’re born rather than their individual characteristics. Age and experience seem to be better explanations than ‘generations’.

By: Bob Elmore

Bob Elmore — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 20:50:04 +0000

Clark, I agree and I have spoken out against learning styles for years, even as many of my graduate students continued to believe in them.

However, regarding generational differences, people from different generations may have developed different styles of communication. This does not change the fundamental concepts of learning but it may be a factor to be considered.