When students walk into Larry Ankenbrand’s classroom, he requires one thing.

“I make them smile,” he said.

The 73-year old physical education professor said age has nothing to do with attitude and enthusiasm in the classroom.

“Teaching is better than retirement,” he said. “If you can’t make it fun, you’d ought to find another profession.”

According to Eastern’s planning and institutional studies, the average professor’s age is 53. For 18-year-old freshmen, that’s a difference of 35 years-3 _ decades that these students never experienced.

An article recently published by Beloit College states that these freshmen have never lived in a world where Osama Bin Laden did not head Al-Qaida or Bill Gates was not worth at least $1 billion.

And sometimes, this age gap between professors and students is noticeable.

“There are always those professors that are standing, staring at the VCR for 10 minutes before a student stands up and hits the input button,” said Anthony Girardi, a senior history with international studies major.

For students who grew up on Microsoft and CDs, technology at Eastern might seem simple or outdated, but many professors are notorious for having problems.

“I had one professor here who couldn’t use an overhead projector,” said Alexa Crossman, a sophomore pre-pharmacy major. “It would be like 20 minutes into the lab and we wouldn’t get anything done.”

But Ankenbrand says new technology cannot stop people who love to teach.

“I don’t really think anybody’s technologically savvy with everything we have nowadays,” he joked. “But I use all the technology we have.”

Ankenbrand said he focuses on getting his students to socialize and participate in class.

“I want them to understand that social learning is really as important as cognitive learning,” he said.

This year, he is making each student get to know six classmates. He gives his class different handouts each day about subjects such as “enthusiasm,” “attitude,” “smiling” and “hints on how to get a good grade in this class.”

The students seem to enjoy his approach. On the Web site ratemyprofessors.com, he has a grade of 4.8 out of 5.

For his Adapted Physical Education classes, his students learn to work with disabled people. For one exercise, he has students walk with canes, use a wheelchair or wear a blindfold to help them imagine what it is like to be disabled.

Donna Coonce, professor of family and consumer sciences, uses similar techniques. For her classes, she will bring in pregnant and breastfeeding mothers who will share real-life experiences with students – something they cannot always learn in books.

“I know they don’t only want to listen to me,” she said. “I tell them right up front I’m from a different generation.”

Students on ratemyprofessor.com gave Coonce a 4.7 out of 5 and mentioned viewing the 42-year-old as both a fun professor and a friend.

Coonce said it is probably the way she talks to students that make them like her.

“I try to encourage them that they can be anything they want to be,” she said. “I don’t like limitations. And I also have a lot of respect for students. I respect their opinions.”

Many students said that it was attitude and not age that made them closer with their professors.

“I really like one of my older professors,” said Ann Marie Green, a freshman psychology major. “He’s one of my favorites.He’s laid back, and I probably go to him more than any of my other professors to ask questions.”

Cheryl Warner, an education professor, agreed that age did not matter. “Your style of teaching determines how well your students will be able to relate to you,” she said, “not your age.”

Younger students can relate to Warner when she brings popular items and topics into the classroom, and she teaches her students to do the same thing once they become teachers.

“I tell my students.to always keep in mind the interests of their future high school students, such as driving, relationships, careers, sports, etc,” she said.

She can relate to her students because she can put herself in their shoes.

“I still view myself as a student,” Warner said. “As a teacher educator, even when all of your degrees are complete, you should never be done learning new things to bring into your courses.”

Elementary Education teacher Cheryl L. Goebel show some of her students examples of how to use everyday items to make educational games on Wednesday afternoon in Buzzard hall. Goebel received a rating of 4.4 out of 5 on ratemyprofessors.com. Jay Grabiec/

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