Positive Adult Learning Environments
Effective Instruction of Adults in Continuing Education Programs
Jan 27, 2009
As many adults return to school to continue their education or pursue changes in their career, positive learning environments are key to success. There are many educational organizations that provide continuing education programs, however, not all are equal in the approach to teaching adult students.
The number of adults continuing their education is beginning to surpass the number of students who enter education programs directly after high school graduation. The reasons for adults returning to school are numerous: preparing for promotions, updating employment skills, changing careers, lifelong learning to obtain new knowledge, etc.
When adults seek information about continuing education programs, they need to ensure they investigate the way information is presented to students in class. Is the information presented in the traditional lecture, take notes, and test process? Or is the information presented in such a manner that adult students are actively engaged in the learning process?
Another area to focus on is the way they assess adult student understanding. Traditional multiple choice and true/false tests do not adequately assess the level of understanding by adults. How to Evaluate Continuing Education Programs provides strategies for evaluating assessment techniques of continuing education programs.
Characteristics of Adult Learners
The following provides the characteristics of adults learners and useful for evaluating a continuing education program’s methods and techniques for teaching adult students.
- Autonomous and Self-Directed – do program courses allow adult students to work on projects that reflect their interest, allowing responsibility for presentations and group leadership by students? In this case the course instructors are facilitators of learning and are not all knowing purveyors of knowledge. Adult students learn how to obtain and use new knowledge, rather than simply memorize facts.
- Prior Knowledge and Experiences (PKE) – do program course instructors draw upon adult student PKE in relevant learning experiences? Theories and concepts related to PKE add value to the learning experience, along with helping students internalize new information.
- Achieving Educational Goals – do program courses help adult students achieve their education goals? Review courses in the program to ensure they meet short and long term goals. Often educational organizations add filler courses in programs to meet degree credit requirements. Make continuing education programs show how they meet educational goals and not the other way around, do not settle for unsatisfactory alternatives.
- Practical Courses – do courses provide practical useful information for improving job performance or changing a career? Extraneous knowledge is useful for trivia games; however, all course information must be directly related to achieving educational goals and objectives.
- Respect – are adult students allowed to participate in class discussions and treated as equals? Acknowledging that adult students come to class with a wealth of knowledge is critical to respect. Being treated like a blank slate is disrespectful to adults, and leads to dissatisfaction and the feeling of wasting time and money.
Retention and Transference of New Knowledge
Adult students need freedom to apply and use new information in situations related to their job and PKE. Continuing education programs must provide appropriate settings in which adult students solve problems and practice for developing an understanding of what they learned.
Transference of new information to current or future situations is critical to retention of new knowledge learned in continuing education programs. For example, students:
- associated new information with prior knowledge and experiences (PKE).
- learned new information directly connected to student applications of knowledge through instructor facilitation.
- transferred new knowledge to their job or new career objectives.
For adults to achieve success in continuing education programs, they must ensure a program meets their educational goals and objectives. Courses in programs must allow an adult student to fully participate in the learning process. Adult students must understand what they learning, why they are learning it, and how they can apply it to their personal situations.
A reputable and good continuing education program takes these factors into consideration. Remember all programs are not equal and need to be evaluated prior to enrolling. Choosing the Right Continuing Education Program provides a self-reflection process to help select the best program for you.
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