Is Spoon-Feeding College Students a Bad Thing?

I have been teaching college students online for 15.5 years and every semester I have witnessed a significant change in my students.

It seems like more spoon-feeding is expected as it relates to the delivery of instruction and support.

Perhaps, it is because so much info and entertainment are “on-demand” so students expect everything to be at their fingertips. Maybe it is because as parents, some of us make life a little too easy for our children.

Regardless of the many theories, we might propose to explain this phenomenon, eventually, we have to accept who and how our learners are and create conducive learning environments for them that keep us level-headed and happy.

Spoon-feeding is a natural stage in a child’s development, right?

Well, here are five effective strategies to implement with undergraduate students:

S Suggest preparatory steps that build background knowledge like watching a video.

P Provide an instructional video that reviews the assignment, rubric, and includes a high-quality sample.

O Organize helpful resources for different components of the assignment in a designated folder.

O Offer online appointment scheduling for video and phone conferences.

N Normalize the act of asking questions by creating a Q & A forum on the Discussion Board or within the module.

See? Spoon-feeding is good for your students as long as through the process, they eventually grow to feed themselves.

Have you noticed that today’s students are cut from a different cloth than just 5-10 years ago?

How have you adjusted your delivery and support to accommodate the change?