Adult Learning
1. Andragogy: what is it?
2. The Six Core Assumptions of the Adult
Learner
3. Review Assumptions
4. Resources
What is andragogy? What’s so
special about how adults learn?
• andragogy is the art and science of helping adults to
learn
• emphasis is on the learner
• the voluntary nature is cornerstone
• a relatively new field
• previously, little research and writing about adult
learning
• focus has shifted
Andragogy vs.
Pedagogy
• pedagogy is the art and science of teaching children
• teacher directed
• pedagogy emphasis on the subject
• basis of the American educational system
Malcolm Knowles/Adult Learning
• father of andragogy
• adult learning vs. andragogy
• provides a framework
• creates a context
• the individual vs. generalizations
Core Assumptions of the Adult Learner
1. The Need to Know
2. The Learner’s Self Concept/Self Directed
Learning
3. The Role of the Learner’s Experience
4. Readiness to Learn
5. Orientation to Learning
6. Motivation
The Need to Know
•
adults need to know
undertake to learn it
why they need to learn something before they
 How
 What
 Why
What can I do?






needs assessment
clear & realistic preview of the program
topics
clearly defined roles
expected outcomes
daily schedule
The Learner’s Self Concept:
• adults want to be responsible for their own
decisions and actions
• adults want to take ownership for their learning
but……
• structured learning environment = back to school
The Learner’s Self Concept:
treat me like an adult….
SOMETIMES!
• self-directed learning is situational dependent
The Learner’s Self Concept:
What can I do?
 clarify expectations
 provide more choices and involvement
 instructional style
 collaborative learning environment
 learner sets his/her own goals & objectives
 provide feedback
 welcome mistakes
The Learner’s Experience
• adults bring great and varied life experiences & knowledge
to their learning
• experience is who they are
• reject my experience = reject me
• strongly established feelings & memories of past learning
The Learner’s Experience
all prior experience affects learning
help
• like a puzzle piece
• positive consequences
hindrance
• it’s filtered
• negative consequences
When Experience Helps:
relate information to prior knowledge
•
analogies
• mnemonics (ABCD, acronyms), enumeration
• recall experience
How Experience Hinders:
As we accumulate experience, we tend to develop
mental habits, biases & presuppositions that tend
to close our minds to new ideas, fresh
perspectives & alternative ways of thinking.
(Knowles, 2005, p.66)
•information that conflicts with prior knowledge is learned more slowly
•resistance
•restructuring
The Learner’s Experience
What can I do?
 provide access to info prior to learning
 anchor
 individualize instructional strategies
 tap into experience
 group discussions
 peer activities
 simulation exercises
 provide familiar context
Readiness to Learn:
adults become ready to learn those things they need to
know in order to cope
• specific learning needs are generated by real life events
• learning experiences need to coincide with where the
adult is at that point in their life
• adults have fundamentally different needs for assistance
(direction vs. support)
Readiness to Learn:
Implications:
 survey the learners for realistic & practical needs before, during &
after the program
 realistic situations or simulated situations
 tailor the support/direction given based on individual needs
 create a relaxed & informal atmosphere
 facilitator/instructor responsible for affective environment
Orientation to Learning and Problem Solving
W.I.F.M.
• “How does what I’m learning apply to my
life?”
• “I want to apply this RIGHT NOW!”
• “Let me figure it out.”
• “Let me set my own goals.”
Orientation to Learning
and
Problem Solving
What can I do?
 learner sets own goals
 provide learning opportunities that allow for problem
solving
 allow for immediate application of learning
 learning needs to be contextual and focus on
experiential learning
 encourage reflection
 allow the learner to evaluate their own progress
Motivation
• primarily internal
• excited to learn anything that helps them
understand or improve
• prefer learning that helps them solve
problems or interests them
• show me the improvement!
Motivation
Motivation to learn is the sum of 4 factors:
1. Success
2. Volition
3. Value
4. Enjoyment
Motivation
What can I do?
 provide choices when possible
 create a safe environment
 feedback
 make the learning authentic & experiential
 allow the learner to influence timing and pace
 provide access to relevant resources
 clearly state objectives at the beginning of the learning session
 allow the learner to evaluate their own progress
Review-
6 Core Assumptions of the Adult Learner:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Why learn?
I’m a responsible learner…?
Experience-yes please!
“It’s my life, it’s now or never….”
Let me figure it out.
Show me the improvement!
RESOURCES
• The Adult Learner. Malcolm S. Knowles, Elwood F. Holton III,
Richard A. Swanson 2005
• Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach: The Power of Dialogue in
Educating Adults. Jane Vella, 2003
• Beyond Instruction. William J. Rothwell, Peter S. Cookson, 1997
• Classroom Instruction That Works. Robert J. Marzano, Debra J.
Pickering, Jane E. Pollock, 2001
• From Telling to Teaching. Joye A. Norris, 2003
• How to Teach so Students Remember. Marilee Sprenger, 2005
RESOURCES
•
http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/50/07645598/0764559850.pdf
•
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JOTS/Summer-Fall-2000/holmes.html
•
http://www.mtecp.org/pdfs/30%20Characteristics%20of%20Adult%20Learn
ers%20docx.pdf
•
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-knowl.htm
•
http://www.qotfc.edu.au (The Clinical Educator’s Resource Kit)
•
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/tlc/tutor%20training/ANDRAGOGY.HTM
(Andragogy: Appreciating the Characteristics of the Adult Learner)
•
30 Things We Know For Sure About Adult Learning. Rob & Susan Zemke
Innovation Abstracts Vol VI, No 8, March 9, 1984
•
Principles of Adult Learning. Stephen Lieb, VISION, Fall 1991