Educating the Professional Millennial Student: What is the Perfect “Blend”?

In today's academic climate, there are numerous delivery format alternatives available when conceptualizing a graduate program. Practitioners must consider many aspects when designing programs and courses. One of the most important factors to consider is how class courses can integrate elements of various formats to best teach the objectives of each course in the most engaging way. Other features to consider and understand are the demographics and characteristics of the typical student that is admitted into these programs and further, to understand how they best learn. More and more programs are integrating elements of distance education in an effort to keep pace with an increasingly competitive graduate education environment.

Engaging this type of delivery allows colleges to not only reach more students, but also to meet the demands of those students. The choices consist for the most part of traditional face-to-face style learning, larger class sizes within large lecture halls with video broadcast to other sites, completely online formats, or blended formats of all of the aforementioned delivery methods. This article will study one particular application that utilizes all of these elements.

As a case example, the Nova Southeastern University College of Pharmacy (NSU-COP) can be scrutinized to determine if the design and instructional delivery methods utilized in this program are the best for its student population. The program will be closely examined to determine advantages and disadvantages from both the student's perspective and the faculty's perspective and will discuss potential ways that the method can be improved upon and what the implications are for the future of the program.

NSU is well known for its use of cutting edge technology and innovative teaching methods. Nova has been a pioneer in leading higher education out of the brick and mortar mindset into the use of less traditional instructional delivery methods. The College of Pharmacy at Nova is one of the programs offered within the university that infuses technology with traditional learning styles to create a blended method that is being emulated by other Pharmacy programs across the country. The NSU-COP offers a doctorate of pharmacy (PharmD) as well as a doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program with a concentration in pharmaceutical science.

There are three locations within the NSU sites: Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Ponce, Puerto Rico; and the Palm Beach Student Education Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Each of these sites has on-site faculty and staff. The instructional delivery method consists of a blend of several methods. The first method employed is live, face-to-face lecture. A professor presents the lecture to a live audience at one of the sites, and then is broadcast via streaming video to the additional two sites simultaneously. A facilitator (a PharmD faculty member) is available at the off-site locations to answer questions and provide support. Several introductory courses are taught via a second method utilizing an online platform that allows for discussion, feedback, and testing (Nova Southeastern University College of Pharmacy, 2011). Finally the practical labs and several electives are offered at each location in a traditional, face-to-face format. This arrangement allows learners to interact with the faculty and fellow students at all sites. State-of-the-art technology is employed at all times as each classroom desk within the lecture halls offer a built in electrical outlet for laptops and an integral push-to-talk microphone. Having this incorporates the use of the latest technology coupled with a live professor that teaches the concepts, engages the students and encourages collaboration. Each year the curriculum is reviewed to assure that the program is making use of the most efficient delivery methods as well as the most effective curriculum design to insure that all students are being taught all that is required to be successful as pharmacy professionals in the field. The program of study consists of a mix of didactic coursework blended with experiential clinical practice coursework.

The professional program grooms the student for leadership and proficiency at each step of the program. The governing body that gives the NSU-COP accreditation is the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). One of the findings in the most recent report released in 2011 was that in order for colleges to maintain their accreditation there are some areas that must be improved upon, and other areas that must be enhanced to afford active learning for students.

It was concluded that active learning strategies

The NSU-COP must continue to create strategies that are learning centered. The first part of this process is to understand the student population. Who are they and how do they learn? What is the greatest configuration of learning that this population will respond to? Understanding these concepts and methods will help educators in today's colleges and universities as well as guide them into the future enabling them to teach within the guidelines of the curriculum and effective delivery methods. Finally, addressing the teaching processes that do not work for the majority should be addressed and redesigned to reach optimal comprehension levels. Completing these steps will lead to a successful program for what awaits us on the horizon once the pieces to the puzzle are in place.

First of all, what is the student population? Who is the typical NSU-COP student? The mean age of an NSU College of Pharmacy student is 24 years old (B. Lyda, personal communication, September 29, 2011). This age falls within the generation category commonly referred to as the “Millennial.” What are the characteristics of the typical Millennial student?

As the data in Table 1 suggests, the Millennial student is vastly different from his or her predecessor. These students have never known a world without cell phones or the Internet. They have fast-paced expectations in terms of communication, feedback and interaction. They have an insatiable appetite for technology and utilize all the latest in technogadgetry. Meeting the demands of these students by keeping them fully engaged in the learning of material through many avenues can be difficult. How do they best learn?

They are tremendously technologically savvy. Most of them boast more knowledge in terms of technology, computers, iPads, and smart phones than do the professors teaching them. They also thrive in a collaborative, team-oriented environment. The Millennial student values mentorship, structure and stability, and collaborative learning. This generation also places a great deal of emphasis on being socially connected and digitally competent. How are challenges the challenges to engage these students met?

Based on the characteristics of the Millennial student, the course design or classroom application that these students would most benefit from would be a learning centered syllabus that lays the framework for clear instructions and expectations. The course must also offer frequent feedback in many forms, especially with the use of technology. Instructors must also offer collaborative, interactive learning, opportunities for social learning activities, a variety of technology in instruction and assignments, and simulated case work through concepts such as “Think, Pair, Share” (Lyman, 1981).

NSU's College of Pharmacy distance based students are offered additional opportunities to learn besides just passively sitting and staring at several video-conference screens. One of the learning tools is a collaborative “in class” verbal exposition of applied knowledge called, “Think, Pair, Share” (Lyman, 1981). Third year pharmacy student Merin Enos explained it as an opportunity for students to be trained to have “quick recall” and to be able to think on their feet (or seat). The professor offers a case study and reads it aloud to everyone. Then, a question about the case is posed and the students will “think” individually about the issue at hand. After a few minutes, the students will pair up with a partner and when called on, one of them will “share” it with the other three sites. “All of my peers enjoy this process because it makes some us realize that maybe we thought our answers would have been wrong when in actuality we were correct and vice versa. I hope we are able to do more of this next semester” (M. Enos, personal communication, November 11, 2011).

There are as many advantages as there are disadvantages when it comes to teaching and learning within the format of distance education. Both the faculty member and the student experience the same issues in this learning design, including the opportunity to create a professional network of life long friends, frustrations with technology glitches, and dedication and commitment, but of course their perspectives are very different.

One of the biggest advantages that students receive by utilizing the College of Pharmacy distance educated program is the number of peers that the students become acquainted with on their home campus as well as at the other two sites. The network of peers that is created by the students in the 4-year program creates many opportunities such as participating in student organizations, learning cultural diversity on and off campus, discovering endless careers that exist in the pharmacy field and the chance to meet lifelong friends who have the same educational and career goals as they do.

Third year pharmacy student Genevieve Hale reflected on the few times that technology [compressed video and videoconferencing] did not work in her classes but she attributed those problems to South Florida storms. “There have been a few instances where the students are ready for class in Palm Beach and the site goes down in Davie. Our instructors back-up plan is to use another form of technology called Tegrity (a video recording system that records the live lecture, for the student to review later) but sometimes that doesn't work either” (G. Hale, personal communication, November 8, 2011). The authors surmise that the Millennial generation has a much lower tolerance for technological glitches than the older (Boomer and Traditional) generation might; yet it is, for the most part, this very generation that is running the technology operations for the Millennials.

An advantage of distance education for students from the instructor's point of view is the ability to serve the students not only as a faculty member but also as an advisor, facilitator, and mentor. In the off-site campus of Palm Beach where all of the interviews were conducted, the facilitator in the class is also the student's instructor so that even when students are listening and learning from a video broadcast lecture being held in a distance site by another professor, an instructor can always be found in the back of the room. After class, the students can ask questions or opinions directly and face to face. The commitment and dedication of the professors is very clear in that students can typically walk in to the office of the College of Pharmacy and be welcomed with or without an appointment.

One of the disadvantages of the professor teaching in an online video broadcast format is not having the ability to “read” face gestures. Since the camera is placed on the person teaching the class, scanning the room to observe student comprehension is impossible for a video broadcast. Catherine Harrington, professor in the College of Pharmacy at NSU remarked, “it is nearing impossible to see if my students are understanding what I am saying. It is then up to the facilitator who is in the distant site classroom to observe if the students are grasping what is being taught. That, to me, is a big disadvantage while instructing online” (C. Harrington, personal communication, November 10, 2011). Another drawback from the professor's point of view is the student who chooses not to participate in class discussions. This is usually the result of the student not being comfortable or perhaps too self-conscious speaking in to the microphone. In this program, when using the auditory tools, all three campuses participate. It is the instructor who is committed to a successful class who takes notice of the nonparticipatory student and encourages them to partake since this learning model relies on the students’ ability to cooperate, work, and learn together.

The flexibility of distance education is one of the many reasons that this format appeals to many. The College of Pharmacy does have a mandatory schedule and mandatory attendance for all classes but one of the advantages is that it saves the student from having to drive the 120 mile trip to the main campus in Davie, Florida. For many pharmacy students who may be managing marriage and children and who live in the Palm Beach area, the benefit of receiving “live lectures” from video technology in the Student Educational Center Lecture Halls provides an opportunity for future pharmacists to attend school in Palm Beach or in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that they would not otherwise have. Even though the sites are considered satellite campuses, pharmacy students are offered the same material as the Davie pharmacy students including computer and pharmacy labs, a Consumer Informatics Center with additional textbooks and professional journals, and the electronic library within the Health Professions Division.

Experiential learning cannot be effectively conducted online, so pharmacy students begin their rotations during their second year of school. The opportunities that students are given in the real world environment and the ability to apply the knowledge that they gained in school is then applied to practice experiences out in their community, local hospitals, and many pharmaceutical settings. “Having the ability to work outside of the classroom with my preceptors is an amazing experience. I also consider them my professors and they help guide me and teach me while we work side by side. The grades that I receive from them are just as important as the grades that I receive in school. By the time I graduate from Nova, I will have had 3 years of working out in the field—you can't ask for much more than that” (Hale, 2011).

The North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination is an exam “created by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy to help individual state boards of pharmacy assess an individual's competency and knowledge so that he or she may be given a license to practice” (National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, 2011). In order for students to excel in school and be prepared to “meet the needs and challenges of tomorrow's healthcare environment,” achieving competencies in the NSU-COP curriculum is critical. “We strive to establish ourselves as a leader in pharmacy education, at both the professional and graduate levels, by continually improving our educational programs, increasing our research involvement, and strengthening our service commitment” (Nova Southeastern University College of Pharmacy, 2011). Pharmacy students at all three campuses surpass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination state and national levels and these same test scores show that the off-site Pharmacy students actually perform better at the smaller campuses than their counterparts in Davie (Nova Southeastern University College of Pharmacy, 2011).

The road that lies ahead for practitioners in traditional institutions may be difficult to navigate as different teaching and learning formats are introduced in the new digital revolution. Those who insist on resisting innovation and change will be left behind. Embracing technology with the intention of creating the best environments for students to thrive in will be rewarding for all. Present day students known as Millenials will expect and demand to be taught in many embrace learning styles outside of the realm of the traditional classroom. Faculty will need to understand to how to “walk the walk” and “talk the talk” with technology if they plan on preparing a successful road for future pharmacists. The implications of these changes within the practice of education and specifically the professional programs are vast. There will be many challenges as well as opportunities for those who are willing to have an open mind. Unknown variables in life will always exist, but it is how well educators research and prepare for change that will make all the difference.

The blended delivery model presented in this article was intended to serve as a benchmark of technology integration. Other graduate and undergraduate programs can learn, adopt, and enhance their own format to serve the demands of their students. The implications of empowering our students with technology are numerous as its use is not “cookie cutter” and can be applied to most any program. Close attention should be paid to the active learning segment to engage students through collaborative learning since this has proven to be helpful in an increasingly technologically driven environment.

Harvard Graduate School offers educators a look in to the future with a 3-day seminar called The Future of Learning. They sum up their explanation of the future of learning in a nutshell. Their website reads:

The future that beckons today's student and entices tomorrow's will use a blend of traditional brick and mortar curriculum and design together with video broadcast and online options. This will provide the challenging concepts and opportunities for students to join forces and to become successful leaders in a competitive global society.