West, Cynthia2017-07-182017-07-182017-04https://hdl.handle.net/11299/188950University of Minnesota D.Ed. dissertation. April 2017. Major: Education, Curriculum and Instruction. Advisor: Joyce Strand. 1 computer file (PDF); xi, 161 pages.Abstract The purpose of this mixed method study was to examine the instructional preferences of millennial learners and how their instructional preferences affect their choice in post-secondary business programs. The instructional preferences of millennial learners are an important question for post-secondary business programs enrolling learners from diverse generational backgrounds. The generations represented in the post-secondary classroom are the baby boomer generation, generation X and the millennial generation. However, millennials are the largest student population currently entering post-secondary programs. The study included participants from three post-secondary business programs in the upper mid-west. The statistical tests used included descriptive analysis and frequencies; a two-tailed independent sample t-test; and Pearson correlation coefficients. This study also used phenomenological methodology to form descriptive themes from one-on-one interviews. The interview data was analyzed using the Hycner’s phenomenological research. The role of work experience appeared to impact a focused program choice and instructional preferences. The study provided evidence for the value and need for knowledge-based and interactive learning to meet the millennials’ educational goals. A theme identified in the phenomenological analysis of the interviews was the millennial generation cohort was not tightly defined. Millennial learners in post-secondary business degree programs, regardless of age, based instructional preferences primarily on varying amounts of work experience.enAdult LearnersExperiential LearningInteractive LearningKnowledge-based learningMillennialsPost-secondary programsThesis or Dissertation