Are Students Conservatives (at least in class)?

That students are "old school" about what happens in the classroom is one interesting apparent finding in a large study done recently in Quebec. According to a survey of 15,000 undergraduate students and more than 2,500 instructors,

University students prefer the “old school” approach of an engaging lecture over the use of the latest technological bells and whistles in the classroom. That was a finding in a recent study of the perceptions of students and professors in Quebec on the use of information and communications technologies, or ICTs, in higher learning.

“Students are old school – they want lectures. They want to listen to a professor who’s engaging, who’s intellectually stimulating and who delivers the content to them,” says Vivek Venkatesh, associate dean of academic programs and development in the school of graduate studies at Concordia University. 

Dr. Venkatesh says this goes against much of what he hears at professional development workshops that stress interactive learning strategies, often using technology.

See a longer story here (with a link to the whole study).