TheEduca)onalProcess

BARBARAHUTTON

Howwillweprovideasuppor)ve,distancelearningenvironmentfor

ourstudents?

FactorsInfluencingaLearner’sDecisiontoDrop-OutorPersistinHigherEduca;onDistanceLearning

HannahStreet,MississippiStateUniversity

Howdoadultslearnbest?

MalcolmKnowles-apioneerinthefieldofadult

learning-iden)fiedcharacteris)csofadultlearners:

1.  Adultsareautonomousandself-directed

2.  Theybringlifeexperienceandknowledgetothe

learningenvironment

3.  Theyaregoaldirected4.  Theyarerelevancyoriented

1.Autonomousandself-

directedTheyprefertobeac)velyinvolved

intheirownlearning,andin

direc)ngtheirownlearninggoals.

•  Engagestudentsinac)vi)es/tasks

thatenablethemtoconstructand

createknowledgeandnotsimply

reproduceit.

•  Engagetheminac)vi)es/tasksthat

causethemtoworkwiththetopic–

ratherthanmerelyreadingaboutit.

•  Looksforopportuni)eswhere

studentscanmakechoicesand

directtheirownlearning(e.g.set

theirowngoals;decidehowto

completeatask).

Whatthismeansforeducators:Adultlearnersare:

Bringlifeexperiencesandknowledge:Anadultleanerwillhavepastexperiences,knowledge,opinionsandlearningthattheybringtotheplacement.Thisincludespreviousworkexperience,familyresponsibili)esandpreviouseduca)onandacademicknowledge.Theyneedtoconnecttheirplacementexperiencestotheirexis)ngknowledgeandexperiencebase.Asaneducatoryoucanhelpthestudenttodrawouttheknowledgeandexperiencethatisrelevanttotheprac)cearea,andassistthemtorelatethetheoriesandconceptsacquiredinuniversitytotheircurrentprac)ce.

2. Adults bring life experiences

and knowledge:

They have a wealth of

experiences, knowledge,

opinions and learning that they

bring to the learning programme,

e.g. previous work experience,

family responsibilities, knowledge

of the market, and previous

education and academic

knowledge.

Adultlearnersare:

Whatthismeansforeducators:

•  Provideopportuni)esforstudentstosharetheirpriorknowledgeandexperiences.

•  Encouragereflec)on,comparingwhattheyknowwithwhattheyarelearning.

•  Workfromthe:

•  personaltoanaly)cal

•  basictomorecomplex

•  knowntounknown

•  concretetoabstract

3. Adults are goal-oriented:

They are motivated to learn when

they can see the need to acquire

knowledge to address a real life

problem or situation.

•  Developclearlyiden)fiedlearningoutcomes.

•  Developtasksandac)vi)esrelatedtothese.

•  Encourage4Cs–cri)cal.,construc)ve,crea)ve,consciouslearning

Adultlearnersare:

Whatthismeansforeducators:

Theno;onof‘unlearning’

Adultexperiencemakessomekindoflearningeasyandopensdoorstonewinforma)onbecausewecanusethis

experienceasthe‘hook’onwhichwecan‘hang’/understandandinternalisenewinforma)on.

TogetpastthesebarrierstolearningwefirstneedtoUNLEARNinternalisedbehaviourpa]ernsandrelearn

newpa]erns/developanewsetofskillsorcompetencies.O^enwetalkaboutthisintermsof

reflec)onandawarenessorconscien)sa)on.

Butsome)mesadultexperiencegetsinthewayandbecomesabarriertolearningespeciallywhenwefirstencountersomethingnewandoutsideourexperience.

Wetrytotackleitusingthesamehabits,rules,percep)onsorconstruc)onswehavealwaysusedandit

doesn’tfit.

4.Relevancyoriented:

Adultlearnerslearnbestwhenthey

canrelatethelearningtasktotheir

owngoalsandtowhattheywant

toachieve.

Whatthismeansforeducators:Adultlearnersare:

•  Providesomechoiceifpossible,for

example,inaprojecttoworkon,ina

topic,aproblemtosolve,an

assignmenttodo,etc.

•  Givemaximumopportunitytoput

newknowledgeandskillinto

prac)ce/toapplytheorytoreallife

experienceandseangs.

Bloom’staxonomy

•  Bloom’stradi)onaltaxonomywhichwaspublishedsome)meinthemiddleofthelastcentury.

•  Itwasrevisedin2001andwaslabelledBloom’sRevisedTaxonomy.

•  Therevisionisabitdifferentfromtheoriginaloneinthatitreplacesnounswithverbsandplacesemphasisontheprocessofcrea)ngbypuangitonthetopofthethinkingcon)nuum.

•  SincetheemergenceoftheRevisedTaxonomy,severaleducatorshavebeenaddingtoitexpandingitsscopeandmakingitevenmorecomprehensiblebyintegra)ngtechnologycomponentintoit.

Source:h]ps://digitallearningandteaching.wordpress.com/category/blooms-taxonomy-2/

Source:h]p://www.schrockguide.net/

AndrewChurcheshas‘married’therevisedtaxonomyandtechnology;amarriagewhichresultedin“digitalBloomsTaxonomy”.