Adult Learners: how their attitude influence the instruction methods
Facilitating effective learning becomes exclusively challenging when we deal with the adult learners. An adult educator may find his learners coming from varying backgrounds at different ages, each one an individual with his/her own personal strengths, anxieties and hopes. Recognition of this individualism is very important while designing and delivering a course. In other words, the course materials and the instruction methods should be developed or altered to match the attitudes and aptitudes that the adults bring into a classroom. The consequence, otherwise, will be devastating in terms of higher dropping rate leading to a complete failure in achieving the learning objectives. One of the most common characteristics of the adult learners is that they are considerably knowledgeable and experienced in relation to the learning materials. Therefore, it is really important that the delivery methods allow them to share and implement their previous knowledge to the new learning materials. The adults are usually focused on their purpose and, as a result, are always inquisitive about the usefulness of taking a course in their existing or future professional development. In my class at present, I have always found the adults more involved when I allow them to pull in examples from their own experiences and share with the rests. In case of narrating the usefulness of the course I always try to find someone from the former students who discusses the benefits that he/she is reaping now in his/her profession. Another property of the adults that I always admire while designing my course is their sense of responsibility. Most of them, with few exceptions, are quite accustomed to setting their own goals and deciding the course of actions. This is why I always opt for a learner-centred classroom where I try to find out how the students want me to run the course. To be precise, I allow them to participate in deciding the schedules for exams, homework submission or tutorial classes. I also acknowledge the fact that their academic life will be frequently interrupted by their works or family responsibilities. That is why I prefer long class hours where I keep less homework for them and allow more classwork and group-based projects. Another fact that I found effective to be considered is that the most of my current students were not involved in formal education for many years. So their learning occurred, so far, by solving practical problems ‘by doing’. Keeping this in mind I always try to make them involved in practical learning wherever possible. All these years of teaching I have learned that it is always good to know your audience before you plan to do something for them. The more you know them the better you serve them. |
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