| The Millennial generation, individuals born after 1982, has been thoroughly characterized and shown to be drastically different from previous generations. This characterization has created change in the way the college classroom is organized. Varieties of pedagogies that address the characterization of the Millennial generation exist and are being used. This quantitative, comparative study measured the faculty exposure to, use of, and the effect of enrichment on the perceived degree of effectiveness of Millennial theory-based pedagogics and Lecture-based pedagogies in the Appalachian College Association (ACA). After two solicitations, 150 participants took part in this study. The participants in this study were full-time, teaching faculty members at the ACA schools. Findings from the study indicate that more than half of the ACA faculty members have attended an ACA event that promotes Millennial theory-based pedagogies and that attendance at these events has a positive impact on the faculty member's use of Millennial theory-based pedagogy. However, when comparing the respondent's rankings of the perceived degree of effectiveness, Millennial theory-based pedagogy and Lecture-based pedagogies were seen as being equivalently effective, except in the cases of the encouragement of independent inquiry, problem solving, and active group participation. In addition, enriched faculty did show a slight increase in favorable ranking of Millennial theory-based pedagogy compared to lecture-based pedagogy. Because of this, it is recommended that the ACA continue to support faculty enrichment pertaining to success with Millennial pedagogics. In the future, research differentiating the effectiveness of the different types of Millennial theory-based pedagogies would be beneficial. |
