the effects of implementing andragogical principles into...

Running Head: EFFECTS OF IMPLEMENTING ANDRAGOGY INTO TRAINING MODELS 1

The Effects of Implementing Andragogical Principles into Training Models

Alissa Kugler-Snarr

Northwest Christian University

EFFECTS OF IMPLEMENTING ANDRAGOGY INTO TRAINING MODELS 2

Abstract

Millions of adults receive training in their workplaces each year. Some are effective, some are

mandatory, and some are a waste of time. Andragogy, the study of how adults learn, has the

potential to make all trainings effective and motivational for employees. Managers and

employers desire outcomes such as increased motivation and enhanced job performance from

their employees. If introducing andragogical principles into training models provides such an

outcome, the implications of this research could be far reaching and encompass a majority of the

vocational field. The categories of new-hire training, employee motivation, and enhanced job

performance are areas that may be targeted by andragogical enhanced trainings. Management is

in the position to facilitate the integration of new knowledge and processes. They may also be

the reason why trainings are not effective. Introducing andragogical principles into training

models may yield impressive results to both employer and employee if implemented correctly.

This paper will review literature that evaluates principles of adult learning (andragogy), effective

implementation strategies, and ways that management may make optimize the results of trainings

delivered to employees.


Introduction

Andragogy, the study of how adults learn, has been a much debated subject as to whether

or not this is a true learning theory. Malcolm Knowles was the first to suggest “a new label in

thinking and technology” (Merriam, 2001) and was instrumental in establishing andragogy as a

learning theory, and as the best practice for adult education and training. There have been six

assumptions of andragogy identified: “(a) self-directedness, (b) need to know, (c) use of

experience in learning, (d) readiness to learn, (e) orientation to learning, and (f) internal

motivation” (Chan, 2010). Adults learn not only in the pursuit of additional education, but also

in the search for career advancement, a new job, learning new skills at their current job, or other

areas where andragogical principles may benefit them. Training, as defined by Campbell,

Dunnette, Lawler, & Weick, 1970, is “a planned learning experience designed to bring about

permanent change is an individual’s knowledge, attitude, or skills (Noe & Schmitt, p. 497, 1986).

This article will examine the implementation of andragogical principles into current training

models and its effectiveness on employee motivation and job performance. In order for adult

learners to receive the intended results of training, the six assumptions of andragogy must be

addressed. Maria & Gabriel (2011) reported four categories of vocational training programs that

“facilitate motivation” (p. 44), Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. A secondary

factor discussed will be the role management plays in making this implementation more or less

successful. Sookeun & Mills (2011) identified several areas where management has influence on

the effectiveness of trainings. Time commitment, ongoing training support, and expectation

congruency between employee and employer are examples of managerial influence. With the

proper support from management, training models focusing on andragogical elements can elicit

improved results from the training participants.


Literature Review

Andragogy

As previously mentioned, there are six assumptions of andragogy. In terms of training,

these six assumptions can be explained in the following ways; concept of learning is based on the

individual’s need, what they need to learn to do their job; the role of the learner’s experience is

addressed by providing a more experienced person to give on the job training, walking them

through the new steps; readiness to learn is emphasized by the learner’s motivation to understand

the material; the orientation to learning refers to the “problem” the learner is experiencing, in

relation to training, the problem is not knowing the skill, and trainers will be responding to that

problem that adults perceive as task-oriented; motivation will come from the learner’s desire to

know how to perform the new skills; the motivation will come from the need to know, adult

learners are curious, and naturally want to know this new information (Woodard, 2007). Forrest

& Peterson further identify foundational andragogical principles in the following ways; “learners

are aware of themselves and their needs and bring this knowledge to the educational activity;

learners bring a wealth of usable experience and knowledge to the educational activity; the need

to know develops from an internal need to better address roles and responsibilities the learner

faces” (p. 115). Forrest & Peterson (2006) state “modern management requires practical

implementation of skills learned, not regulation of principles. Without implementation, students

cannot adapt to the ever-changing workplace” (Chan, p. 28, 2010). Andragogy is a learning

theory that can be implemented to improve training models and help adults achieve the six

assumptions previously discussed. Ozuah highlights the key assumptions of andragogy in a

demonstration of how to address andragogical elements by stating that adults learn well when the

following conditions are met;


when they want or need to learn something; in a non-threatening environment; when their

individual learning styles needs are met; when their previous experience is valued and

utilized; when there are opportunities for them to have control over the learning process;

when there is active cognitive and psychomotor participation in the process; when

sufficient time is provided for assimilation of new information; when there is opportunity

to practice and apply what they have learned; when there is focus on relevant problems

and practical applications of concepts; when there is feedback to assess progress towards

their goals” (Ozuah, p. 85, 2005). Now that the elements of andragogy have been

discussed, look at the practical implications for incorporating those learning theories into

training models.

Implementation

The following chart exemplifies how andragogical elements may be implemented into a

training model and the questions that the designer of training models should ask, from the

perspective of the learner.

Table 1: CERS- Course Effort Survey Revised Model (Maria & Gabriel p. 45, 2011)

Attention

1. Makes me feel enthusiastic about subject

2. Content captures my attention

3. Makes the subject matter seem important

4. Shows how the content relates to things I already know

5. Uses humor during instruction

6. Makes me feel curious about the subject matter

7. Does unusual or surprising things that are interesting

8. Using an interesting teaching technique

9. Curiosity is often stimulated by the questions asked or the

problems given

Relevance

1. Information I learn will be useful to me

2. Allows time of practical application of the content

3. Benefit from the knowledge acquired in the class

4. Actively participate in the class

5. Positive role models be presented to me in class

6. Is flexible to meet my needs in contents and assignments

7. Personal benefit of the course are made clear to me

8. Challenge level is about right

9. Have some input or choice in content and assignments

10. Get the chance to work other people in the class

11. Content relates to my expectations and goals

12. Personally benefit from what I learn in the class


Confidence

1. Helps me feel comfortable that I do well

2. Makes me feel I have the ability to succeed

3. Builds my self-esteem

4. Whether or not I succeed is up to me

5. Creates a relaxed classroom atmosphere

6. Requirements for success are made clear to me

7. Frequent opportunities to succeed

8. Helps me to believe I can succeed if I try hard enough

9. Get enough timely feedback to know how well I am

doing

10. Instructor models and demonstrates proper skills during

instruction

11. Non-threatening

12. Designed so that everyone can succeed

Satisfaction

1. Gives me a lot of satisfaction

2. Can set and achieve high standards of excellence

3. Fair recognition compared to other students

4. Instructor’s evaluation of my work match how well I think I

have done

5. Helps me to accomplish my own personal goals

6. Feel satisfied with how the class is run

7. Get enough recognition for my work through feedback

8. Amount of work I have to do is appropriate

9. Feel satisfied with what I learn

This recommendation is based on the ARCS model; Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and

Satisfaction, the four categories that “facilitate motivation” (Maria & Gabriel, p. 44 2011).

These findings are reflected in the study conducted by Alsofyani, bin Aris, Eynon, & Abdul

Majid (2012). They found that incorporating adult learning principles into trainings increases the

adaptability, retention, and overall understanding of the information. Their recommendations for

addressing principles of adult learning are

Previous experience of faculty in face-to-face classes; selecting a training topic related to

design and development of blended online course to create a useful training; using

TPACK to design the training for social science faculty to create a relevant training;

using short training to enhance the practicality; using presentation-demonstration-practice

and feedback to provide rich training experiences; using SBOT to create a safe

environment; instructor-led training, presentation slides, demonstration, design-based


template and WIM to provide support and guidance; providing constructive feedback at

the end of each training session to confirm, correct or inform participants (p. 22)

Noe and Schmitt advocate four categories in which to measurement training effectiveness. A

reaction criterion considers the opinion of the training participants, with responses collected via

survey after the training. This data is useful in deciding if the training will be used again, or if

adjustments need to be made in teaching new skills. If the responses indicate a negative reaction,

this survey is not meeting the needs of the participants and andragogical elements were not used

correctly. Learning criteria involves the learner’s understanding of the information, and relate to

the andragogical element of learner’s experience. If the learning criterion was not met, either the

base skill (knowledge) was not initiated, or the training simply failed to add practical knowledge

for the learner. Behavior criteria are evaluated from survey data. This relates to “task-oriented”

learned behaviors. If the participants do not feel that the new knowledge will be useful in their

real-life, practical situations, the new, expected behavior is useful, as it is not applicable. The

final evaluation criterion recommended by Noe and Schmitt is performance based criterion. As

exemplified by discussion of andragogical practice, adults prefer to learn information that is

practical and useful to their lives. Adults are motivated to perform well, they strive to succeed.

If a training model is able to deliver that, it should be resulted in their performance evaluations.

Performance assessments may be conducted by employers, trainers, or researchers. The most

important element of this criterion is that adult learners are made aware of their performance.

Feedback from management initiates motivation in adult learners.

Management’s Role

In order to facilitate the highest success of training models, there must be support from

management. Saunders identified five features of change in vocational settings; “change is a


process, not an event; change is made by individuals first, then by organizations, change is a

personal experience and evokes emotional and behavioral responses based on individual

thoughts and feelings; change takes times” (p. 186, 2012). If management can support these

elements in the implementation process of new protocol and procedure, the success will likely

have a higher success rate. To assist in the transition between procedures, management may

consider utilizing the Instructional Intelligence program. Management must provide time and be

patient for staff to accept and adapt to the changes. They must implement andragogical elements

of constructive and supportive feedback and must also provide ongoing coaching to staff.

Individual personalities and identities need to be recognized and addressed if there are issues that

arise, as the change begins with the person before is goes organizationally wide. The planning

stages are crucial, and must be devised for each level of the organization, not the organization as

a whole. Saunders refers to this as “innovation configurations, which describe the various forms

of an innovation that educators adopt during implementation” (p. 190, 2012). These suggestions

to management are similar to those posed by Byun and Mills. One additional component

recommended is that management ensures enough time for the training; conducting training

without enough time to practice the new skills decreases the success rate of the training. Another

recommendation is that adequate follow-up is provided to staff so that assistance may be

provided as the staff work through the changes. There are several opportunities to integrate

andragogical elements in the form of self-directedness, use of experience in learning, readiness

to learn, and internal motivation. The training needs to address the elements of the job that

employees relate to, and also how they can do their jobs better, initiating motivation and job

satisfaction.

Conclusion


Training adults properly can provide an increase in individual motivation and job

performance when andragogical elements are imbedded into the model. This can improve

satisfaction for both employee and employer. If the six assumptions of andragogy, self-

directedness, need to know, experience of learning, learning readiness, orientation to learning,

and internal motivation are addressed, the benefits to all parties involved become clear. This is

important as employees and employers invest a lot of time and energy into their working lives.

Research in this area can be applied to many different vocations, and have implications for

increased training effectiveness.


References

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