Trends in current students learning-unknown unknowns!

Never in the history of academics there has been such a wave of uncertainty, unpredictability, unrest, and unforeseeable challenges in learning methods adopted by academic departments. The traditional big barrier between instructor and students is becoming arbitrary. At one end instructors are experimenting all the modern tools and gadgets on the other end the students are responding with such a prominent variability making the statistical methods unreliable. Instructors are trying a plethora of modern available learning methods within a very short period of time and are equally met with a challenging students’ learning styles. The current teaching environment with millennial, generation x and z are further complicating the equation. We at Chicago State University College of Pharmacy surveyed both instructors and students over the last four years. Our hypothesis was that the academic stability and standardization has lost its value with frequent and untimely use of tsunami of new learning methods. Data was analyzed from two major departments of College of Pharmacy including basic sciences and clinical practice. This includes data of students from year one pharmacy to year four pharmacy. Our results suggest that instructors are becoming impulsive in changing their teaching methods without giving each method a deserved testing time and evaluation period. Likewise the students are becoming more self-directed, and are taking their learning in their own hands. This see-saw type of educational environment is taking root in academic settings and adding to frustrations and burnouts, both for Instructors as well as the students. We suggest that the instructors should bring the changes in their teaching styles in a slow, perpetual and steady way. Funds from CTRE Chicago State University to Nadeem Fazal and to Bahar Graefen from Fulbright Association.