Richard T. Sweeney, university librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, conducts workshop with panel of William Paterson students

Multitasking, customization, collaboration, and experiential learning are among the buzz words that describe the behaviors of the current college freshman population, those born between 1979 to 1994, and tagged the millennial generation, or millennials for short, and identified by Richard T. Sweeney, university librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, during a workshop for faculty and staff on September 2 in the University Commons Ballroom.

William Paterson students (left to right) Jess Pepe, Louie de la Fuente, and Mariam Ashraf participate in panel discussion

Sweeney’s workshop, “The Millennial Generation Goes to College: A Focus Group Presentation and Panel,” included the participation of 14 millennial William Paterson University students. His current research focuses on this group and how their behaviors and expectations will change education in the future."

“They want things to be interactive,” Sweeneny says. “They express their opinions in a customized way. They have a different sense of community, and want face-to-face education, and to be engaged and involved in the classroom. They’re impatient and want to do things fast."

Sweeney adds that these changes in their consumer behavior indicates that they have other ways to learn.

“They rely on the Internet for information, belong to social networking sites, and are reading less than those in other generations.”

"As the first wave of millennials began to enter college a decade ago, we were faced with the challenges of dealing with a new and unique population of learners, says Pixie Ferris, associate professor of communication and director of the University’s Center for Teaching Excellence. “Challenges of effective teaching become increasingly urgent as the number of students entering colleges nationally reached a historic peak this year. Richard Sweeney has extensively researched the behaviors and learning characteristics of Millenials, and we can use this material to modify our own teaching to improve Millenials' learning. The Center for Teaching Excellence will be pursuing this issue over the 2008-2009 academic year."

The students who participated in the panel discussion were: Elizabeth Foster, Patricia Hunt, Andrea Clark, Lucia Cuomo, Rachael Mierzwa, Christopher Weiss, Christina DeFresco, Anthony Meade, Marissa Zublasky, Kristin Dean, John Strevens, Jess Pepe, Louie de la Fuente, and Mariam Ashraf.