We are currently teaching (or shall I say ‘dealing’) with Generation Y students are those born between 1983 and 1997 (Parez, 2008), also known as the Millennials.
Such are the characteristics the current generation of students possess, taken from Skene, Cluett and Hogan(2007).
Positive
Optimism, familiar with technology, multi-tasking, high expectations, diversity, accepts authority
Less Positive
Peer team oriented, poorly developed critical skills, poor understanding of academic ethics, reliance on web for info, lowest satisfaction of all generations with student experience, decision-making without thought of consequences
Notice that I have highlighted 2 points which I strongly agree with the authors. Like it is said, everything is balanced, like the Chinese “Yin and Yang” concept. The good of being familiar with technology, in this case refers mostly to IT (think of the majority of people having MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter accounts), would lead to over reliance on the internet for information.
This post is a research to show what you can get by doing research for internet.
Let’s try to experiment by researching on Theory X (an old and well-known theory on employee management)
First source
- People have an inherent dislike for work and will avoid it whenever possible.
- People must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened with punishment in order to get them to achieve the organizational objectives.
- People prefer to be directed, do not want responsibility, and have little or no ambition.
- People seek security above all else.
Second source
- The average person dislikes work and will avoid it he/she can.
- Therefore most people must be forced with the threat of punishment to work towards organisational objectives.
- The average person prefers to be directed; to avoid responsibility; is relatively unambitious, and wants security above all else.
Third source
Basically McGregor thought that some people who fit Theory X were:
- Lazy
- Unambitious
- Have a Strong dislike of work
- And need to be controlled through punishment
Are excerpts from the three sources similar to each other and any one can be taken to represent correctly McGregor’s Theory X?
Conclusion, if one need to research 10 books to get a theory correct, one must double the amount if websources are used, in addition to being analytical and applying evaluation skills in order to judge the value of material based on personal values and opinions.