From Angst to Zest: Empowering the Non-Traditional Student

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From Angst to Zest Empowering the
Non-Traditional Student

• American Library Association
• Library Instruction Roundtable
• June 27, 2004

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• Angst
• Feeling of anxiety
• or apprehension
• often accompanied
• by depression
• Zest
• Spirited enjoyment gusto keen, hearty pleasure
  or appreciation

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The Goal

• Helping returning adults to get from feeling
  anxious and apprehensive about being a student to
  enjoying and appreciating the experience

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Typical Non-Traditional Student

• Over 25
• Part time
• Commuter
• Adult responsibilities
• Often female
• Increasingly person of color or immigrant

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Returning

• Returning to school after time off - Irene
• Returning to the workforce - Angie
• Returning to interaction with others - Claire

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Useful Life of Knowledge
80
Lifespan
30
40
50
70
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Social change
Ancient Rome
21st Century
Renaissance
20th Century
18th-19th Centuries
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Definition - Learning

• Internal changes that occur in our consciousness
• Acquisition of knowledge, skill, or attitudes

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Definition - Education

• Those activities, events and conditions that
  encourage learning, whether deliberate or
  unintentional.
• (Apps)

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Purposes of Adult Education

• 1. Grow and develop
• 2. Solve practical problems
• 3. Increase work opportunities
• 4. Meet organizational needs
• 5. Examine community society issues
• (Caffarella)

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Typology of Adult Education

• Formal
• Non Formal
• Informal (or self directed)
• (Coombs, Prosser, Ahmed)

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Learner Decides
What to Learn How to Learn
Formal No No
Non-Formal Yes No
Informal Yes Yes

• (Mocker and Spear, 1982)

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Theory of Andragogy

• Art and science of
• helping adults learn
• (Lindemann, Knowles)

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Andragogical Assumptions

• Dependence Self direction
• Experience Experience
• Developmental tasks Readiness
• Future Immediate application
• Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

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Andragogical Model

• Diagnose learning needs
• Formulate objectives
• Design pattern of learning experiences
• Evaluate results

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Implications for Practice

• Adults must be involved in their own learning
• Adults bring life experience and want to utilize
  and build upon it
• Adults want to have some choice in the direction
  of their own learning
• Adults want to be able to apply what they are
  learning to real life situations

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Grows Staged Self-Directed Learning Model

• HIGH willing and able

MODERATE willing but unable
INTERMEDIATE - willing and somewhat able
LOW lack motivation and knowledge
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Theory of Margin - ML/P

• Margin of Life Load divided by Power
• Load family, work, community responsibilities
  (ext.) and aspirations, desires, expectations
  (int.)
• Power ability, , skills, support
• Need available margin to engage in learning
• (McClusky)

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Sources of Angst

• Situational
• Cost (includes child care)
• Time constraints too busy
• Lack of course relevance
• Personal problems lack of a support system

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Sources of Angst

• Dispositional
• Lack of confidence lack of voice
• Lack of personal priority lack of interest

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More Angst

• Also correlate with
• Socio Economic Status
• Pre-adulthood experiences
• Parents educational experience

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Summing It Up

• Like title of Sharon Drapers book, a lot of
  non-traditional students feel
• Not quite burned out, but crispy around the edges

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Stages of Development

• Biological
• Psychological
• Cognitive
• Socio-cultural

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Impact of Aging

• Adults 25-45 learn at nearly same rate and same
  manner as they would at 20
• Performance tasks deteriorate verbal tasks do not

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Biological Aging

• Loss of close vision and hearing
• Declining reaction time (fewer, lighter brain
  cells)
• Disease loss of mobility, pain, fatigue

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Senior Adults

• Some decline in functioning between 60 and early
  70s
• Few studies of healthy adults beyond 70
• Test results differ if factor of speed is removed

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Multiple Intelligences
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Sociocultural Factors

• Social roles and timing of life events
• Socially constructed notions of race, gender,
  ethnicity, and sexual orientation

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Social Roles

• Parent
• Spouse
• Worker
• Child
• Friend
• Role changes call for new skills
• Roles and age define appropriate behavior

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Typical Learning Styles

• Euro-American
• Field independent
• Analytical (parts to whole)
• Non-affective
• Abstract contextually sterile problem solving

• Non-Western
• Field dependent
• Relational and holistic (whole to parts)
• Affective
• Contextually rich problem solving

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Implications for Practice

• Use collaborative interaction a cooperative
  communication style
• Recognize feelings are a critical part
• Recognize learners wrestle with identity
• Encourage learners to find, fashion and use their
  authentic voice
• Help learners share their changing sense of self
• (Caffarella)

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Challenge of Online Learning

• Blend technology, learning theory, and strategy
  to create social presence
• Keep in mind
• Variability in learning styles
• External motivation for isolated students
• Building community
• Working in collaboration
• Fostering communications among learners.

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According to Rogers

• Learning rests not upon the teaching skills of
  the
• leader, not upon scholarly knowledge of the
  field,
• not upon curricular planning, not upon use of
• audiovisual aids, not upon the programmed
  learning
• used, not upon lectures and presentations, not
  upon
• an abundance of books, though each of these might
  
• one time or another be utilized as an important
• resource.
• No, the facilitation of significant learning
  rests upon
• certain attitudinal qualities that exist in the
  personal
• relationship between the facilitator and the
  learner.