A Teaching-Learning Dilemma 1. As a faculty in a College of Health Sciences, you are assigned to teach a three credit-hour introductory course entitled “Understanding the U.S. Healthcare System.” The goal of this course is to introduce beginning students who have enrolled in a variety of healthcare disciplines, such as nursing, radiologic science, and medical technology, to the health care delivery system. In addition, requiring students from various disciplines to work together in this introductory course provides each of them with an opportunity to clarify the roles and responsibilities of all members of the healthcare team and recognize positive ways various disciplines might work together to care for patients. Along with differences in the choice of healthcare disciplines, the class will be made up of individuals of various ages and backgrounds. Such diversity brings a richness to the classroom that pays dividends as students move into classes relevant to their career choices. Despite your eagerness to use this diversity for in-depth learning, you fear that having students of different generations will affect their perceptions of the other students, the classroom, and strategies for learning. How can you meet the learning needs of all the students regardless of their age? Review relevant literature that addresses the desired curriculum change. 2. Since 1960, the life span of the U.S. population has increased significantly (Medina, et.al ., 2020), resulting in many choosing to work past the typical retirement age. In addition, the current volatile work environment has sent individuals of all ages back to school to take advantage of new opportunities in health care. As a result, health professions education has become multigenerational among both faculty and students. findings can be helpful as you plan ways to meet the learning needs of students in your classroom. The exact years that divide each generation are hardly scientific, but for the last 25 years, a framework has been developed to discuss multigenerational interaction. The foundational idea underpinning this framework is that major events occurring during the time that each group is growing up will have a major impact on the characteristics of individuals within the group. These characteristics then result in similar perceptions and behaviors of individual members of the group. Over time these behaviors become instantly recognizable stereotypes, used to describe these groups in popular culture and social media. Beginning about 25 years ago, researchers in organizational psychology began to explore the potential advantages, disadvantages, and conflicts among different generations working together in education and employment. These Although the framework includes the Silent Generation (Traditionalist), individuals born between 1920 and 1945, we will focus on the next four categories of ages for the purpose of this discussion. These groups are most likely to be represented in the current faculty and student populations. Table A outlines the typical characteristics and environmental influences that may impact their responses to learning.
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