Intergenerational Learning Styles, Instructional Design Strategy, and Learning Efficacy

Instructional designers must appeal to a variety of audience members both in terms of competency and preferred learning style. Though many factors may influence learning style, generational preferences may provide instructional designers a broad base of understanding undergirding strategic educational design choices. While it would be naive, and even inaccurate, to assume that Millennials constitute the only unique generational challenge for instructional designers, their sheer presence in organizations and their education expectations have changed the game—so to speak. Thus, in an attempt to clarify generational uniqueness, this chapter will explore general generational instructional trends while positioning instructional design as a necessary answer to 21st century learning efficacy challenges.