Back to School: Baby Boomers Weigh In on Their Gen Z Classmates
Pete Burkholder
July 20, 2026
It’s an age-old question of seasoned educators: Is it me who’s changed, or is it my students?
It’s an age-old question of seasoned educators: Is it me who’s changed, or is it my students?
I’ve been a college professor for over 40 years. As a cognitive psychologist, I’ve spent my career studying learning and memory and as a teacher, I’ve integrated my research knowledge with my practical teaching experience. When I took my last position at Samford University in
In modern classrooms, where students have diminishing attention spans, some freeze when called upon, and others seem to unravel at the slightest sign of critical feedback, old methods of teaching are caving under the weight of a new, trending reality. Across higher education, faculty are
Our students do not need yet another reverent speech about literature’s profound importance, especially from English professors like me. They need examples, models of what people actually do with books.
A senior colleague mentioned to me recently that he had spent the early part of his career overcoming the idea that “teaching is telling,” a common and pernicious misconception, especially among new teachers. The phrase refers to the belief that the key to effective teaching
At the end of a course, students complete many things. They submit final papers, deliver presentations, and take exams. We calculate grades. From a faculty perspective, the course is finished.
“But time to think? If you’re not driving a hundred miles an hour, at a clip where you can’t think of anything else but the danger, then you’re playing some game or sitting in some room where you can’t argue with the four-wall televisor .
As individuals, we all come from diverse backgrounds that fundamentally shape our perspectives, perceptions of others, and self-understanding. It is the aggregate of these lived experiences that forms the vantage point from which students enter our classrooms. As professors, our instructional methods and positional authority
When I was an undergraduate at the University of Texas, all students were required to take two courses in US history. The courses were US History Before the Civil War and US History Since the Civil War. I took the first course from a historian
Cramming is an alluring but risky study strategy. Let me explain. By the time students get to college, they probably have a lot of experience cramming for exams and likely have a good record of success using it as a study strategy. By cramming, I
