Designing Engaging Instruction for the Adult Learners

2019 ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Karen Weller Swanson ◽  
Geri Collins
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Adult Learner ◽  
Student Participation ◽  
Open Learning Environments ◽  
Engaging Instruction ◽  
Self Authorship

Instructional design for the adult learner is a growing field of study in higher education. Engaging instruction for adult learners will be defined in this chapter in two ways: designing courses using the significant learning taxonomy, and a paradigm shift to support faculty to involve student participation. The discussion of engaging instruction will be presenting using several research-based foundations such as Baxter-Magolda's self-authorship, Palmer's open learning environments, and Fink's significant learning taxonomy.

Designing Engaging Instruction for the Adult Learners

2018 ◽  
pp. 1432-1440
Author(s):  
Karen Weller Swanson ◽  
Geri Collins
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Adult Learner ◽  
Student Participation ◽  
Open Learning Environments ◽  
Engaging Instruction ◽  
Self Authorship

Instructional design for the adult learner is a growing field of study in higher education. Engaging instruction for adult learners will be defined in this chapter in two ways: designing courses using the significant learning taxonomy, and a paradigm shift to support faculty to involve student participation. The discussion of engaging instruction will be presenting using several research-based foundations such as Baxter-Magolda's self-authorship, Palmer's open learning environments, and Fink's significant learning taxonomy.

Online Learning and Metacognition

2020 ◽  
pp. 310-331
Author(s):  
Geraldine Torrisi-Steele
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Great Emphasis ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Online Learning Environments ◽  
Metacognitive Scaffolding

Online learning experiences are becoming the norm for an increasing number of higher education students. Although there are clear advantages to online learning in terms of flexibility and access, many students struggle to succeed, especially in purely online learning environments. To a large extent student success in online learning environments is dependent on students' ability to self-regulate and ‘learn for themselves'- both abilities related to academic metacognition. Unfortunately, even at university, many students do not have well developed metacognition. It is therefore important to consider carefully metacognitive scaffolding in the design of online learning experiences. However, the models of instructional design commonly used in online learning tend not to place great emphasis on the importance of metacognitive scaffolding. The aim of the present chapter is therefore to increase awareness of metacognition, as one of the important considerations in the design of online learning environments that can help to maximize chances of student success. Towards this end, a framework of instructional design that is more sensitive to metacognition is developed.

Adult Learners

2019 ◽  
pp. 114-132
Author(s):  
David Deggs
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Real World ◽  
Adult Learner ◽  
Student Activism ◽  
Upper Class ◽  
Traditional Student ◽  
Societal Issues ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
The 1960S

Student activism is mostly thought of as an activity that engages and motivates the traditional-aged students in American higher education to action. The emergence of student activism in the 1960s occurred when enrollment in American higher education was still primarily limited to youth from middle- and upper-class families. The demographics of American higher education have shifted, and the adult learner or non-traditional student now represents a significant amount, if not the majority, of most campus populations. The adult learner brings unique perspective to the higher education classroom based upon their real-world experiences that directly impacts their values, beliefs, and ideas about societal issues. Adult learners in American higher education have the potential to change the ways, means, and longstanding outcomes related to activism in American higher education.

Developing Integrated Learning Environments for Improved Outcomes

2021 ◽  
pp. 107-122
Author(s):  
Sara Hillis Ousby ◽  
Sam Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Improved Outcomes ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Self Authorship

This chapter addresses the use of design thinking in created integrated learning environments where student learning is captured across curricular and co-curricular experiences. The chapter outlines the current context and trends in higher education that demonstrate the need for integrated learning environments and the need to assess experiential learning by centering students in the process. Centering students in the process of designing integrated learning environments empowers them on a path of self-authorship where students identify the goals of learning, how that learning will be documented, and how experiences scaffold to ensure students move from introduction to mastery of skills. The chapter concludes with examples from campuses that have created integrated environments where learning is documented and recorded, including examples of comprehensive learner records and a fully integrated bachelor's degree program.

Online Learning and Metacognition

2016 ◽  
pp. 221-241
Author(s):  
Geraldine Torrisi-Steele
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Great Emphasis ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Online Learning Environments ◽  
Metacognitive Scaffolding

Online learning experiences are becoming the norm for an increasing number of higher education students. Although there are clear advantages to online learning in terms of flexibility and access, many students struggle to succeed, especially in purely online learning environments. To a large extent student success in online learning environments is dependent on students' ability to self-regulate and ‘learn for themselves'- both abilities related to academic metacognition. Unfortunately, even at university, many students do not have well developed metacognition. It is therefore important to consider carefully metacognitive scaffolding in the design of online learning experiences. However, the models of instructional design commonly used in online learning tend not to place great emphasis on the importance of metacognitive scaffolding. The aim of the present chapter is therefore to increase awareness of metacognition, as one of the important considerations in the design of online learning environments that can help to maximize chances of student success. Towards this end, a framework of instructional design that is more sensitive to metacognition is developed.

Introducing the Black Male Adult Learner Success Theory

2020 ◽  
pp. 074171362095960
Author(s):  
Ramon B. Goings
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Black Male ◽  
Adult Learner ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Male Adult ◽  
Scholar Identity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Learner Success

Given the preponderance of deficit-oriented discourse about Black men and adult learners in higher education, there have not been theoretical frameworks put forth to explain the success of Black male adult learners in higher education. Thus, this article describes the Black male adult learner success theory, which builds on Gilman Whiting’s scholar identity model and Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological system theory and was developed as a lens to examine the unique experiences of Black male adult learners in higher education and the impact of their various environments on their academic success. In response to the call for action from adult education scholars, this article introduces an asset-based theoretical approach for researchers to use when studying Black male adult learners. The article provides implications for using the Black male adult learner success theory for policy and practitioners. The article ends with providing future recommendations for research based on the theory.

THE IMPACT OF ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND INSTITUTIONAL TYPE ON ADULT LEARNER SERVICES

1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl J. Polson ◽  
Jan P. Eriksen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Administrative Support ◽  
Adult Learner ◽  
Student Population ◽  
Academic Advisors ◽  
Institutional Type ◽  
Education Today ◽  
The Impact

The study described examined the scope of existing services for adult learners enrolled in higher education today. Two analyses were performed, one to review the effect of institutional type on services provided and the second to understand the impact of perceived administrative support on efforts to serve this student population. The implications of the findings for academic advisors are addressed.

The Adult Learner in Higher Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 34-47
Author(s):  
Sumitra Balakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Adult Learner ◽  
Classroom Environments ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Behavioral Features ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Life Circumstances

Researchers and practitioners have come to understand adult learners as unique and different from child learners, and have developed different theoretical approaches, methodologies, and strategies attuned to their educational needs and life circumstances. This chapter examines the factors that impact the effectiveness of adult learning programs and classroom environments by using perspectives of education theorists. The needs of the adult learner, advantages of teaching adults, and principles that can be followed are explored with the help of Knowles' andragogy model. The importance of the classroom's eco-behavioral features—their physical and emotional environments—along with other factors that effectively facilitate the process of adult education are discussed. In this context, an adaptation of Astin's I-E-O's model is proposed to deepen the understanding of adult learning programs.

scholarly journals Adult MOOC Learners as Self-Directed: Perceptions of Motivation, Success, and Completion

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Loizzo ◽  
Peggy A. Ertmer ◽  
William R. Watson ◽  
Sunnie Lee Watson
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Adult Learner ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Directed Learning

Despite the increased attention given to MOOCs over the last four years, learners’ voices have been noticeably absent. This virtual ethnographic study was designed to examine the experiences of 12 adult learners with bachelors’ and masters’ degrees, enrolled in a four-week MOOC on the topic of human trafficking. Through the lenses of self-directed learning and self-determination theories, we were interested in investigating learners’ motivations for enrolling in the MOOC, their perceptions of success and completion, and barriers encountered while trying to complete the MOOC. Reasons for enrollment varied from personal enjoyment to professional development, and differing definitions emerged regarding completion or success in a MOOC. Implications of this study include a proposed conceptual framework of adult learner MOOC motivations and goals, which may inform the intentional instructional design of MOOCs to better meet adults’ self-directed learning needs. Results also pointed to the potential for social science MOOCs to promote activism and attitudinal and social change.

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