Adult Learning
Adult Learning
Adult Learning
MBNC MBNC
SUBMITTED ON:
PRINCIPLES OF ADULT LEARNING
Introduction:
The adult education programme should mean not only the acquisition of literacy & numeracy,
but also functional development & social awareness with a view to cultivating the habit of
self education. Adult learning does not imply to only adults for literacy. In fact, it means to
educate total personality of the adult & adult literacy is of fundamental importance for the all
round development of the country.
1. General aims
2. Functional aims
1. General aims:
Developing a critical understanding of major contemporary problems & social
changes
Developing an aptitude for gaining new knowledge, qualifications, attitudes or forms
of behaviour.
Promoting increased awareness of the relationship between people of their physical &
cultural environment.
Creating understanding of respect for the diversity of customs & cultures.
2. Functional aims:
To provide functional literacy education for adults who have never had the advantage
of any formal education
To provide further education for different categories of completers of the formal
education system in order to improve their basic knowledge & skills.
To provide in service, on the job, vocational & professional training for the different
categories of workers & professional in order to improve their skills.
Adult education is an important branch of total education system. In India, it has two aspects:
1. Adult literacy: that is education to those adults who have been unfortunate to get any
schooling during their childhood.
2. Continuous education for adults: that is education which an individual receives on
part time basis while continuing in his occupation.
Types of education/ Setting for learning:
Coombs introduced three types of education setting which is known as Coombs Framework.
1. Formal education: sequences of learning that are socially organised, goal directed &
certified by a diploma or degree having currency in the public education system.
2. Non formal education: sequences of learning that are socially organized & goal
directed but is not certified b formal education credentials.
3. Informal education: serendipitous or self directed individual learning resulting from
daily experience.
Malcolm Shepherd Knowles (1913 1997) was an American educator well known for the use
of the term Andragogy as synonymous to the adult education. He has argued that adulthood
has arrived, when people behave in adult ways & believe themselves to be adults. It is the art
and science of adult learning, it is refers to any form of adult learning.
Adults need to be free to direct their own learning. If the learning engagement is classroom-
based, the facilitator must actively involve adult participants in the learning process.
Specifically, they have to be sure to act as facilitators, guiding participants to their own
knowledge rather than supplying them with all of the facts. They should allow the
participants to assume responsibility for their learning and engage them in discussions,
presentations and group-based tasks. If the learning engagement is an e-Learning course, the
course should be designed to allow participants to explore topics in greater detail and choose
from multiple learning activities.
Over their lives, adults have accumulated a wealth of life experiences and knowledge. This
may include family memories, work-related experiences, and previous education. Linking
new material in a course to learners existing knowledge and experience creates a powerful
and relevant learning experience. Relating theories and concepts to the participants and
recognizing the value of experience in learning are two important factors to keep in mind as
well.
Every day, the human brain takes in hundreds of thousands of sensory inputs. As the brain
processes these inputs, it begins to sort out information it deems relevant and important.
Relevancy increases the likelihood information will be retained. Adults must see a reason for
learning something and the learning must be applicable to their work or other responsibilities
in order for it to be valuable for them. Therefore, learning engagements must identify
objectives for adult participants before the course begins. By nature, most adults are practical
about their learning. Typically, they will focus on the aspects of a program most useful to
them in their work. Participants must know how the content will be useful to them.
Adults primarily participate in learning programs to achieve a particular goal. Therefore, they
appreciate an educational program that is organized and has clearly defined learning
objectives. These need to be communicated early in the course.
Adult learners want to be able to apply their learning to their work or personal life
immediately. Using examples to help them see the connection between classroom theories
and practical application; utilizing problem-solving activities as part of the learning
experience; and creating action plans together with learners are important concepts that
enable life application.
In todays fast-paced world, adults have to juggle demanding jobs, family responsibilities,
and community commitments. Even if they are highly motivated to learn, the pressures of life
often limit the time many adults can invest in learning. Therefore, in many cases, learning
must be available when it is convenient for the learner and delivered in manageable
chunks. These may come in the form of modularized e-Learning programs, podcasts, or
webcasts or may be strategically delivered through informal training initiatives.
A learning style refers to how a person learns, categorizes, and processes new content. Each
person may have multiple preferred learning styles. In training, each of these styles should be
considered when delivering content.
Adult learners need multi-sensory learning and teaching methodologies. We must ensure that
our learning interventions have appropriately proportioned delivery techniques that meet the
needs of audio, visual, reading/writing, kinaesthetic, dependent and independent learning
preferences.
10. Adult learners like to be respected.
Adults are more responsive to internal motivators like increased self esteem than external
motivators like high salary. These adults should be treated as equals in experience &
knowledge & allowed to voice their opinions freely in class. Respect can be demonstrated to
student by:
Taking interest
Acknowledging the wealth of experiences that the student brings to the placement;
Regarding them as a colleague who is equal in life experience
Encouraging expression of ideas, reasoning and feedback at every opportunity.
1. Social relationship: to make new friend, to meet a need for association & friendship.
2. External expectation: to comply with instructions from someone else, to fulfil the
expectations or recommendations of someone with formal authority.
3. Social welfare: to improve the ability to serve mankind, prepare for service to the
community & improve ability to participate in community work.
4. Personal advancement: to achieve higher status in job, secure professional
advancement & stay abreast of competitors.
5. Stimulation/ escape: to relieve boredom, provide a break in routine of home or work
& provide contrast to other exacting details of life.
6. Cognitive interest: to learn for the sake of learning, seek knowledge for its own sake
& to satisfy an inquiry mind.
3. Retention Students must retain information from classes in order to benefit from
the learning. The amount of retention will be directly affected by the degree of
original learning. Simply stated, if the participants did not learn the material well
initially, they will not retain it well either.
4. Transference the ability to use the information taught in the course but in a new
setting.
Positive transference: like positive reinforcement, occurs when the participants uses
the behavior taught in the course.
Negative transference: again like negative reinforcement, occurs when the
participants do not do what they are told not to do. This results in a positive (desired)
outcome.
2. Prioritizing needs:
After identifying the gaps in performance or learning needs there importance is assessed &
prioritized. This is an intuitive process. Some of the learning needs are appropriate to present
circumstances. Some will be too costly or too time consuming. Go through again & again &
select those which have clear aims & objectives & are achievable within time & money
constraints available. Then rank them in order of priority.
3. Need analysis:
It is finding ways to close the performance gap or meet the need. Type of problem identified
is a major determinant of learning method chosen, so there may not be one educational
solution for 111 identified needs. The analysis should be one along with trainee. He should be
encouraged to find experiences to address these gaps. Need analysis should also try to
identify who, how, where, when training might be best employed.
Actions which may be taken includes:
Feedback when has been shown or is doing the task regularly but still has a skill
deficiency
Further practices where trainee has little opportunity to practice a learned skill
Formal training for further study
Informal training
Summary:
Today we have discussed about adult learning. We have discussed about definition, aims,
needs, barriers & principles of adult learning described by different theorists. We have also
discussed about the role of instructor in adult learning & different assessment methods of
learning needs which includes identification of needs, prioritization of needs & analysis of
need. There are various methods to assess the need identification.
Conclusion:
Adult learning is the important part of education system. It does not mean for only bookish
knowledge but it aims at education of total personality of an adult with a view to make them
successful & socially useful member of the society. Keeping the principles of adult learning
in mind, the instructor is having the major role in assessment for learning needs & prioritizing
the learning needs.
Bibliography:
Books:
1. B.T. Basavanthappa, NURSING EDUCATION, 2nd edi;2009, Jaypee Brothers
Medical Publishers (P) Ltd. New Delhi, Pp-..
2. Pramilaa R, NURSING
COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY, 1st edi;2010, Jaypee
Brothers Medical Publishers(P) Ltd., Haryana, Pp- 233.
3. R Sudha, NURSING EDUCATION PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS , 1st edi;
2013, Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd. New Delhi, pp-222-225.
4. Shebeer P. Basheer. TEXTBOOK OF NURSING EDUCATION, 1st edi, 2015,
EMMESS Medical publishers, Banglore, pp-303-309.
Web references:
1. Greg Consulta, Principles of adult learning, slide no-4, 12, 14-18, available from-
https://www.slideshare.net/consgp/principles-of-adult-learning
2. Cabellero, Characteristics of adult learning, slide no-2-7, available from-
https://www.slideshare.net/dankimi/characteristics-of-adult-learning-principles
3. Sidhdheswar Angadi, Learning need analysis, slide no-7-9, available from-
https://www.slideshare.net/siddeshwarangadi/learning-need-analysis-for-nursing-
education
4. Daina Lytle, Learner needs assessment, slide no-2,3 & 15, available from-
https://www.slideshare.net/DianeLytle/learner-needs-assesments
5. Assessinh learning needs, available from-http://www.euromedinfo.eu/assessing-
learning-needs.html/
Journals:
Abstract article 3
Introduction: The purpose of teaching is to facilitate learning and to encourage the learners
to learn more effectively. The learning style is an individuals consistent way of perceiving,
processing and retaining new information. Educational researchers have shown an increasing
interest in the learning styles, the related instructional methods and the andrgogical teaching
techniques. This interest is spurred by a desire to help the students to become capable and
successful learners.
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the preferred learning styles of medical students
as well as their preferences of specific teaching-learning methods.
Method: A cross sectional study was conducted on 100 first semester medical students who
were enrolled at SMS & R, Sharda University, India. The VARK questionnaire, version 7.1
was used to categorize the learning preferences/modes as visual (V), auditory (A), read and
write (R) and kinaesthetic (K). The students were also asked to rank the various teaching
methodologies viz. lectures, tutorials, demonstrations and practicals/dissections from the
most preferred choice to the least preferred one.
Results: The majority (61%) of the students had multimodal VARK preferences. Among
them, 41%, 14% and 6% preferred the bimodal, trimodal and the quadrimodal ways of
information presentation. 39% of the respondents had one strong (unimodal) learning
preference. The most common unimodal preference was kinaesthetic, followed by visual,
auditory and read and write. The most preferred teaching methodology was
practical/dissection (39%) and tutorial was the least preferred one (12%).
Conclusion: One single approach to teaching does not work for every student or even for
most of the students. The educators awareness of the various learning styles of the students
and their efforts towards matching the teaching and learning styles may help in creating an
effective learning environment for all the students.