Abstract
This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Millennials are the most prevalent generation of medical learners today. These individuals have a unique outlook on education and have different preferences and expectations than their predecessors. The majority of our learners belong to the Millennial Generation, while most faculty belongs to the Baby Boomer or Generation X cohorts. Millennial learners have distinct perspectives on their learning needs that differ with their faculty's perspectives on teaching and learning. These learning differences may contribute to intergenerational conflict. In order to be successful teachers, it is important to educate ourselves on these generational differences and cater to the needs of the learners. Heutagogy is a self-determined approach of learning, which appears to suit the millennial learners. Derived from the word " Heureskein" which means to discover, the term heutagogy was coined to describe self-learning, independent of formal teaching. This adds yet another learning theory to the established fields of pedagogy (child learning) and andragogy (adult learning). Heutagogy acknowledges that learner do immensely valuable work for themselves by filling in the gaps of their formal education through discovery and reflection. Heutagogy offers models of learning that are (1) self-determined, (2) peer-led, and (3) non-linear. These characteristics map onto social media applications and the democratization of knowledge and information. Heutagogical approach is an extension of the traditional andragogical and adult learning frameworks through its emphasis on meta learning, or learning how to learn. This article presents the paradigm shift of educational strategies from pedagogy to andragogy to heutagogy and focuses on the ground principles governing heutagogy. It also describes an innovative case study where principles of heutagogy were applied to train dental students using Facebook.
Highlights
Creating competent and capable learners are critical to life in the rapidly changing educational system
The major challenge for educators is that majority of our learners belong to the Millennial Generation, while most faculty belongs to the Baby Boomer or Generation X cohorts (Mohr NM, Moreno-Walton L, Mills AM, Brunett PH & Promes SB 2011) . (Chart 1)
Heutagogy is a self-determined approach of learning, which suits and caters to the needs of the millennial generation (Eckleberry-Hunt J & Tucciarone J 2011)
Summary
Creating competent and capable learners are critical to life in the rapidly changing educational system. Millennials are the individuals born from 1981 to 2000 This generation of students have shorter attention span and prefer interactive and collaborative learning. They prefer autonomy and are very comfortable with technology. Core workplace values for this generation includes online social media connectedness, teamwork, free expression, creativity, work life balance and use of technology. The major challenge for educators is that majority of our learners belong to the Millennial Generation, while most faculty belongs to the Baby Boomer or Generation X cohorts (Mohr NM, Moreno-Walton L, Mills AM, Brunett PH & Promes SB 2011) . The major challenge for educators is that majority of our learners belong to the Millennial Generation, while most faculty belongs to the Baby Boomer or Generation X cohorts (Mohr NM, Moreno-Walton L, Mills AM, Brunett PH & Promes SB 2011) . (Chart 1)
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