Adult learning

Adult learning

Learning is the process whereby individuals acquire knowledge, skills& attitudes through experience reflection study or instruction.

A Challenge

Please write a one sentence

definition of

“Adult Learners”.

Definition

• By definition of an adult is someone who has achieved the self concept of being responsible for their own life.

Historical Roots of Adult Learning Principles

• Since the 1970s, adult learning theory has offered a framework for educators and trainers whose job it is to train adults. Malcolm S. Knowles (1973) was among the first proponents of this approach. In his book, The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species, he resurrected the word "andragogy" a term popular in German education circles in the early 1800s, and used it to label his attempt to create a unified theory of adult learning. Knowles' contentions were based on four assumptions:

• 1. As they mature, adults tend to prefer self-direction. The role of the instructor is to engage in a process of inquiry, analysis, and decision-making with adult learners, rather than to transmit knowledge.

• 2. Adults' experiences are a rich resource for learning. Active participation in planned experiences—such as discussions or problem solving exercises, an analysis of those experiences, and their application to work or life situations—should be the core methodology for training adults. Adults learn and retain information more easily if they can relate it to their reservoir of past experiences

• 3 Adults are aware of specific learning needs generated by real-life events such as marriage, divorce, parenting, taking a new job, losing a job, and so on. Adult learners' needs and interests are the starting points and serve as guideposts for training activities.

• 4. Adults are competency-based learners, meaning that they want to learn a skill or acquire knowledge that they can apply pragmatically to their immediate circumstances. Life or work-related situations present a more appropriate framework for adult learning than academic or theoretical approaches.

Principles and issues of adult learning

Principles of learning have relevance for designing the content & format of training & development programmes. Some of the relevant principles are

1.Reinforcement: learnt material that leads to some kind of reward or reinforcement is more likely to be retained than material which leads to punishment or no reward.

2.Motivation: greater efficiency in learning occurs when the learner is motivated to learn i.e. learning satisfies some needs of the individual participant undergoing training.

3. Knowledge of results: providing information to the learners about the effectiveness of their learning is to provide knowledge of results. It is fundamental principle of learning that one correct response leads to increased effort expended on the next repetition.

4. Active practice: learning requires opportunity for repetition & practice. Repetition of mistake can lead to permanent negative learning. New concepts require repetition if they have to become a permanent part.

5. Whole verses part learning: this principles suggest that learning large self- contains units of a task is preferable to learning small segmented parts.

6. Transfer of training: material learnt during the training experience should have relevance for the job situation. Role playing is an effective procedure from the stand point of training what is learnt in training to actual job behavior.

None of these principles of learning are implied to be applicable to all situation circumstances. The basic issues underlying these principles could be better understood with the help of the hierarchy of human learning from simple to the most complex.

Hierarchy of learning1 signal learning Individual learns to make a general diffuse

response to signal (Pavlov's conditioned response).

2 stimulus-response (s-r) learning Person acquires a precise response to discriminated stimulus.

3 chaining Learner acquires a chain of 2 or more s-r connections

4 verbal association Individual learns chains that are

verbal. 5 multiple discrimination persona learns to make a variety of

identifying response to as many different stimulti,which resemble each other.

6 concept learning Learner acquires the ability to make a common response to class of stimuli differing from each other.

7 principle learning Person chains together 2 or more concepts to establish a process

8 problem solving Individual chains principles together in a kind of learning requiring the internal events usually called learning.

Adult Learning Theory

• How do adults learn?

Adults need to dosomething concreteor have anexperience

Adults observe, thinkabout what they havedone (or about theirexperience) and howthey reacted to it

He absorbs what he hasfelt and observed, comesup with a conceptualframework and relates itto his pastknowledge/experience

Tests and applies to actualwork or life situations. Ifhe can his learning islong-lasting. If he cannot,his learning is short-lived

Adult Learning Theory

Learning experience Observe and reflectExperimentand integrate Generalize and conceptualize

People learn faster and better when:

1. When they want to learn and know it is imp. to learn2. Believe that learning will help in real ways3. Are in supportive environment free from threat4. Are provided information in several different ways5. Learn by doing the task6. Have a chance to practice what they learned7. Given feedback on their performance8. Are praised when they do well9. Adult learning involves the ego so they need peersupport and to reduce fear of judgment during learning

Summary of principles of adult learning

• Adults need to be involved in the planningand evaluation of their instruction

• Experience, incl. mistakes, provide thebasis for learning activities

• Adults are more interested in learningsubjects that have immediate relevance totheir job or personal life

• Adult learning is problem-centered ratherthan content-oriented

Andragogy vs. Pedagogy

• Pedagogy is teacher-centered and subject-centered, while andragogy is student-centered.

• Whoever adults are, they need to be taught by methods which acknowledge and respect the fact that they are adults and not children.

Pedagogy

The pedagogical model derived from the Greek words, ped meaning “child” and agogus meaning “leader” so pedagogy means “that art

and science of teaching children”.

The term “Andragogy” was coined by researchers of adult learning in order to contrast their beliefs about learning to the pedagogical model. Malcolm Knowles first introduced the concept in the US in 1968. The concept of andragogy implies self-directedness and an active student role, as well as solution-centered activities. It was derived from the Greek word “aner” (with the stem andr-) meaning “man, not boy.”

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHILDREN AND ADULTS AS LEARNERS

CHILDREN ADULTS

Rely on others to decide what is

important to be learned.

Decide for themselves what important to be learned.

Accept the important being

presented at face value.

Need to validate the information based on their beliefs and

experience.

Expect what they are learning to be

useful in their long-term future.

Expect what they are learning to be immediately useful

Have little or no experience upon which to draw – are relatively “clean slates.”

Have much experience upon which to draw – may have fixed viewpoints.

Little ability to serve as a knowledgeable resource to teacher or fellow classmates.

Significant ability to serve a knowledgeable resource to trainer and fellow learners

Programmed instruction: A pedagogical method

This is a result of extensive research & laboratory tests. It is one of the pedagogical methods, which is used for the trainees for various need in varying contexts. A lot of thrust is put on the communication.

This is a method whereby the trainee teaches himself by working through a series of steps all leading to carefully defined goals or objectives.

Who are involved ?

Programme writer or the programmer.

The hiring organization

The target population

Roles & objectives of PI The sequential steps are to be carefully designed by the

programmer looking at the training need, the detailed information about the subject like his ability to learn, his skill level, knowledge base etc.,

Positive features of PI1 it consists of skills, capacities & knowledge which is desirable by the

top mgt. for its employees to have, so that goals can be better achieved.

2 it consists of measurable changes in behaviour.

3 it is not abstract. It is used basically to impart skills of relevance on a job or work place.

Benefits of PI

• Reduced training time• Decentralization of training• Improved in morale & desire to learn• P &L basis for training• Promotion & public learning• Sufficient utilization of expensive equipments• Identifying the lost sales

Andragogy vs. Pedagogy

What Is Andragogy?

• Andragogy consists of learning strategies focused on teaching adults.

• It is often interpreted as the process of engaging adult learners in the structure of the learning experience.

• Andragogy, initially defined as "the art and science of helping adults learn,"

• The andragogic model asserts that five issues be considered and addressed in formal learning.

• They include (1) letting learners know why something is important to learn,

• (2) showing learners how to direct themselves through information, and

• (3) relating the topic to the learners' experiences. In addition,• (4) people will not learn until they are ready and motivated to learn.

Often this• (5) requires helping them overcome inhibitions, behaviors, and

beliefs about learning.

Andragogy vs. Pedagogy

Theory of Adult Education

• The term Andragogy was originally used by Alexander Kapp (a German educator) in 1833, and was developed into a theory of adult education by the American educator, Malcolm Knowles.

Malcolm Knowles

Theory of Adult Education

• Knowles' theory can be stated as four simple postulates:– Adults need to be involved in the planning and

evaluation of their instruction.– Experience (including mistakes) provides the

basis for learning activities.

Malcolm Knowles

Theory of Adult Education– Adults are most interested in learning subjects

that have immediate relevance to their job or personal life.

– Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented (Orientation to learning).

Andragogy is based on four crucial assumptions about the characteristics of adult learners that are different from the assumptions about child learners.

•   As persons mature, their self concept moves from being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directing human being

• they accumulate a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning

• their readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of their social roles, and

• their time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy of application.

Andorgogy can be defined as an organized effort to assist adults to learn in a way that enhances their capacity to function as self directed learners. To do this the trainer should;

- Assist the learners to define their learning needs- Design learning events to suit an individual learner’s entry behaviour- Help the learner to understand how to use learning resources- Emphasize experimental & participative training methods- Facilitate problem posing, solving & participative training methods- Progressively decrees the learner’s dependency on the trainer- Assist learner’s to assume increasing responsibility for planning

their own learning- Reinforce the self-concept of the learner to encourage

achievements of objectives- Encourage the use of formative assessment techniques including

free exchange of feedback

Leaning curve

The learning curve can represent a short training session to enable person to achieve a modest increase in performance or it can represent a long period for professional development. In all except the most simple learning situations ,it is useful to consider design through several building blocks or learning units, each providing opportunities for progressive learning towards a satisfactory standard performance.

An illustration shows two learning units, training course and on the job training. A course has been designed to meet the general needs of people. The course can be run at a training institution over a fixed period.

A course is unlikely to help people achieve a high standard of performance. Due to limited skills there is risk that the performance will deteriorate thereby negating the value of the training. So, instead of the learning curve continuing to rise to show an increasing standard of performance, it might falls as trainees forget of information & lose their skills.

Figure shows that a second learning unit is designed to ensure that a trainee’s performance can be maintained or improved. That this is by means of on the job training. This will done under the supervision to ensure effective

of learning.

The learning curve continues beyond the unit designed for on the job training. This is because many tasks are highly productive & a person will probably continue to learn & gain more experience long after their formal training is completed.

Adult learning principles

1 learning can be described as a relatively permanent change in behaviour resulting from instruction or stimulation from external sources. Learning takes place as a result of perception which is the ability to observe the outside world through the senses. We perceive when we

-recognize objects,sounds,etc.,

-discriminate b/w facts, right & wrong, success & failures

-relate similar objects with one another, parts to the whole etc.,

-select what is of interest to us

2 designing and implementing the training programme: it is worthwhile to examine the basic principles of learning & see how these principles could be out into practice while designing the course. For better understanding of the principles of learning we shall enumerate them under the following heads:

-the learning process

-the training process

-requirements on the part of trainer

-the environment of learning & training

-the environment of the work org.

3 learning process

the training should meet the training needs of the learner. He should be convinced that after training he will be in position to apply the lessons learn to his practical work situations. Then alone he will be motivated to make the best use of the programme.

4 The training process

The learning must be sequential. Appropriate training material must be prepared & arranged in proper sequence & order.

• Presentation & demonstrations help in this process.• Repetition fixes what has been learnt.• Time must be provided for practicing the learning.• Variety of training methods must be used to suit the

material• Suitable feedback must be given to the trainees

5 Requirements on the part of the trainee• Acceptance on the part of the trainee that all persons

can learn.• The trainee must be aware of present inadequacies.• There must be mental readiness or set towards learning.• The trainee should have mental & physical capacity &

intelligence.• Trainee must be motivated to learn.

Intrinsic motivation: interest or challenge in the learning own expectations to succeed in learning & achieving in the field o f work.

Extrinsic motivation: reward or punishment scheme.

6 Characteristics of the adult learner• Learner has the self concept of a self directing person. The

trainer must accept it.• Life experiences are important to an adult.• There is no decline in intelligence with increasing years but

older people make a more errors.

7 requirements on the part of the trainer• The trainer must accept all persons irrespective of their

age can learn.• The trainer should know his audience & learn more about

the learners.• He should motivate his trainees.• He should help the trainee to learn from daily experiences.

8 the environment of learning & training• The basics physiological needs of trainees must be

attended to.• Seating arrangements of chairs & tables should be

comfortable. Chalkboard, charts etc., must be ensured for all participants.

• An informal & friendly climate should be developed in the classroom.

• The training situations must not be different from the organizational setting. The learning, atmosphere etc., should be relevant to the work setting.

• The dynamics of group behaviors must be attended to.

9 Environment of the work organization• The work org. should be supportive to implement the

ideas of the returning trainees.• Resistance on the part of colleagues & subordinates to

change is a barrier to learn.

Learning styles

Learning styles refer to the preferred way individual processes information. Unlike individuals differ in abilities, styles describe a person’s mode of thinking, remembering, problem solving etc., some of the styles are

1 Field independence vs. field dependence: a field independent person approaches the environment in an analytical way & able to distinguish figures as discrete from their backgrounds.

A filed dependent person approaches the environment in a global way & experiences the events in an undifferentiated way.

2 Leveling vs. sharpening: individual variations in remembering that pertain to the distinctiveness of memories.

3 Reflection vs. impulsivity: individual consistencies in the speed & adequacy with which alternative hypothesis are formed.

4 Serialist vs. holist: serialist prefer to learn in a sequential fashion, whereas holist prefer to learn in a hierarchical manner. (top down)

Learning Styles:

• Are simple but different approaches or ways of learning.

Types of learning styles:

1.Visual learners

2.Auditory learners

3.Tactile/ Kinetics - moving, doing & touching

Kolb's experiential learning theory (learning styles) model

• Kolb's learning theory sets out four distinct learning styles (or preferences), which are based on a four-stage learning cycle. since it offers both a way to understand individual people's different learning styles, and also an explanation of a cycle of experiential learning that applies to us all.

Kolb's model t works on two levels - a four-stage cycle:

• Concrete Experience - (CE) • Reflective Observation - (RO) • Abstract Conceptualization - (AC) • Active Experimentation - (AE)

• Kolb provides one of the most useful (but contestable) descriptive models available of the adult learning process, inspired by the work of Kurt Lewin.

This suggests that there are four stages in learning which follow from each other: Concrete Experience is followed by Reflection on that experience on a personal basis.

This may then be followed by the derivation of general rules describing the experience, or the application of known theories to it (Abstract Conceptualization), and hence to the construction of ways of modifying the next occurrence of the experience (Active Experimentation), leading in turn to the next Concrete Experience.

All this may happen in a flash, or over days, weeks or months, depending on the topic, and there may be a "wheels within wheels" process at the same time.

• Kolb includes this 'cycle of learning' as a central principle his experiential learning theory, typically expressed as four-stage cycle of learning, in which 'immediate or concrete experiences' provide a basis for 'observations and reflections'. These 'observations and reflections' are assimilated and distilled into 'abstract concepts' producing new implications for action which can be 'actively tested' in turn creating new experiences.

Experiential Learning Styles

• Honey and Mumford (1982) have built a typology of Learning Styles around this sequence, identifying individual preferences for each stage (Activist, Reflector, Theorist, Pragmatist respectively), Kolb also has a test instrument (the Learning Style Inventory) but has carried it further by relating the process also to forms of knowledge.

• Learning styles mean that:  At a minor level there is a need for adjustment between

learner and teacher: sometimes their preferences are complementary, sometimes antagonistic, (aggressive) and of course sometimes collusive if they both tend to go for the same stages in the cycle.

At a major level, neglect of some stages can prove to be a major obstacle to learning. 

Forms of Knowledge and the Learning Cycle

The four quadrants of the cycle are associated with four different forms of knowledge, in Kolb's view. Each of these forms is paired with its diagonal opposite.

four-type of learning styles • Diverging (CE/RO) • Assimilating (AC/RO) • Converging (AC/AE) • Accommodating (CE/AE)

• convergent knowledge brings to bear a number of facts or principles on a single topic: problems have "right" and "wrong" answers convergent learners tended to be more highly valued in school, because most assessment approaches focus on convergent skills. Examples

include applied maths, engineering.

• Divergent knowledge on the other hand, is (very broadly) more about creativity — it is about the generation of a number of accounts of experience. It is generated between Concrete Experience and Reflective Observation.

• Kolb Learning Style theory 4 learning styles:– Diverging: perceive info concretely and process it

reflectively• Use both interpersonal interaction and info gathering• Can view a situation from many divergent perspectives

and brainstorm alternatives• Ask “why” questions, like working in groups• Often found in humanities, arts, service careers

– Assimilating: perceive info abstractly and process it reflectively (analytical learners)

• Can assimilate data into a meaningful unit• Ask “what if” questions (what if I change this)• Prefer readings, lectures, traditional classrooms• In math, basic science, educational research

– Converging: perceive info abstractly and process it actively

• Combine analytical thinking with doing• Ask “how” questions (“how does this work?”)• Like lab work, simulations, instructor as a coach,prefer to work alone• In applied science, technology careers

– Accommodating: perceive info concretely and process it actively

• Use both interpersonal interaction with doing• Ask “what if” (what happens if I change this?)• Like to learn hands on, but prefer to work in a group• Marketing, sales, business management, some teachers

diagrams of Kolb's learning styles

• Kolb explains that different people naturally prefer a certain single different learning style. Various factors influence a person's preferred style:

• notably in his experiential learning theory model (ELT) Kolb defined three stages of a person's development, and suggests that our propensity to reconcile and successfully integrate the four different learning styles improves as we mature through our development stages. The development stages that Kolb identified are:

• Acquisition - birth to adolescence - development of basic abilities and 'cognitive structures'

• Specialization - schooling, early work and personal experiences of adulthood - the development of a particular 'specialized learning style' shaped by 'social, educational, and organizational socialization'

• Integration - mid-career through to later life - expression of non-dominant learning style in work and personal life.