Feedback: teacher clarity and millennials

About every semester lately I get a request from a couple students for greater clarity in what is expected in a writing assignment. I expect this because the course goals and objectives of composition classes call for abstract thinking and problem solving. The course calls for me to challenge students with assignments that require them to find solutions, make decisions and discover and determine their own point of view.

But is this a facilitative tension required of any learning, or is it something else? A business publication asserts:

Unlike new hires of previous generations, who may have benefited from training in diversity or technical matters, experts say, millennials need other types of training--in professional behavior, for example, or in basic writing, confidentiality issues, critical thinking, or how to give and receive constructive criticism (emphasis mine).

The publication - and business leaders in general - targets writing as a key skill that young people lack - and further lists some of the top objectives in composition classes. For further articles see my bookmarks on millennials. Not all research agrees. Is conventional wisdom correct that youth are less prepared in these skills than past students?

Furthermore, the issue of professional behavior came up in a recent NPR piece. The story quoted Laura Wand, a director of Marketing at Johnson Controls:

"Dude, dress up. This isn't the mall," she tells the crowd.

With her PowerPoint slides, Wand tries to impart some helpful advice from the real world.

"Multitasking is a myth," she says. "You got a great job. Turn off the cell phone. Stop texting."

The cell phone issue is a frequent topic among teachers.

Students who have never gotten constructive criticism - or who have never been allowed to fail - are less persistent, but there have always been students like that. I remember a student in 2009 who couldn't figure out the metaphor paper and then dropped out of class for a few weeks. He came back and explained that when he gets frustrated, he simply quits.

I feel like if any of my students aren't frustrated by an assignment - then it isn't challenging enough. Optimizing student learning may make me less popular. Higher Ed Morning reports that 45% of students are using online professor rating web sites - and that these sites say whether teachers are "easy grading." If this is a criteria by which students select teachers - how will it affect learning and how will it affect my evaluations?