Identifying and teaching generation X pharmacy students

Objectives. To determine the degree to which first professional year students identify with Generation X characteristics and to compare recall performance following traditional lectures with that following lectures specially designed for Generation X students. Methods. Subjects were first professional year pharmacy students. Four lectures were used in the study: 2 using traditional instructional methods and 2 incorporating instructional techniques designed to appeal to the Generation X learner. Subjects subsequently completed learning assessments and scores were compared. A validated Generation X scale was used to assess the degree to which the characteristics of the participants reflected those characteristics that define Generation X. Results. The characteristics of the pharmacy students surveyed did not correlate strongly with Generation X characteristics. However, mean learning assessment scores indicated that the students learned more from the lectures especially designed for Generation X than from traditional lectures (P<0.001). Conclusions. Students performed better on recall assessments administered following instruction designed for Generation Xers than on assessments administered following traditional instruction. However, the Generation X Scale may not be applicable to this highly selected population.