Adult Learning Theory/Model

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Adult Learning Theory/Model
INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS
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Learning Learning Theories

• Although learning has been defined in a variety
  ways, most definitions include the concepts of
  behavioral change and experience. And has been of
  interest to philosophers, psychologists,
  educators, and politicians for centuries.
• The notion of change still underlies most
  definitions of learning, although it has been
  modified to include the potential for change.
• Likewise, the idea that having an experience of
  some sort, rather than learning as a function of
  maturation, is important. Thus learning can be
  defined as
• a process by which behavior changes as a result
  of experience

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Learning Learning Theories

• Learning as a PROCESS (rather than an end
  product) focuses on what happens when the
  learning takes place.
• Explanations of what happens are called learning
  theories, and it is these theories that are
  subject of this Adult Learning topic.
• Since there are dozens of learning theories and
  volumes written describing them, this course
  chooses 4 orientations to learning that represent
  learning theories in adulthood.

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Learning Learning Theories

• 4 learning orientations
• Behaviorist
• Cognitivist
• Humanist
• Social learning

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Learning Learning Theories

• The 4 orientations are based on different
  assumptions about nature of learning, the
  strategies one might use to enhance learning will
  depend on ones orientation.

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Learning Learning Theories
Aspect Behaviorist Cognitivist Humanist Social Learning
Learning theories View of the learning process Locus of learning Thorndike, Pavlov, Watson, Guthrie, Hull, Thoman, Skinner Change in behavior Stimuli in external environment Koffka, Kohler, Lewin, Piaget, Ausubul, Bruner, Gagne Internal mental process (including insight, information, processing, memory, perception) Internal cognitive structuring Maslow, Rogers A personal act to fulfill potential Affective and cognitive needs Bandura, Rotter Interaction with and observation of others in a social context Interaction of person, behavior, and environment
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Learning Learning Theories
Aspect Behaviorist Cognitivist Humanist Social Learning
Purpose of education Teachers role Manifestation in adult learning Produce behavioral change in desired direction Arranges environment to elicit desired response Behavioral objectives Competency-based education Skill development training Develop capacity and skills to learn better Structures content of learning activity Cognitive development Intelligence, learning, and memory as function of age Learning how to learn Become self-actualized, autonomous Facilitates development of whole person Andragogy Self-directed learning Model new roles and behavior Models and guides new roles and behavior Socialization Social roles Mentoring Locus of control
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Learning Learning Theories

• In brief
• Behaviorists define learning as a change in
  behavior. The focus of their research is overt
  behavior, which is a measurable response to
  stimuli in the environment. The role of teacher
  is to arrange the contingencies of reinforcement
  in the learning environment so that the desired
  behavior will occur. Findings from behavioral
  learning theories can be seen in training and
  vocational adult education

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Learning Learning Theories

• In brief
• Researchers working from a cognitivist
  perspective focus not on external behavior but on
  internal mental processes. Cognitivists are
  interested in how the mind makes sense out of
  stimuli in the environment how information is
  processed, stored, and retrieved. This
  orientation is especially evident in the study of
  adult learning from a developmental perspective.
  The major concerns are how aging affects an
  adults ability to process and retrieve
  information and how it affects and adults
  internal mental structures.

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Learning Learning Theories

• In brief
• Humanistic emphasizes on human nature, human
  potential, human emotions and affect. Theorists
  in this tradition believe that learning involves
  more than cognitive processes and overt behavior.
  It is a function of motivation and involves
  choice and responsibility. Much of adult learning
  theory, especially the concepts of andragogy and
  SDL, are grounded in humanistic assumptions.

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Learning Learning Theories

• In brief
• The perspective of social learning differs from
  the other three in its focus on the social
  setting in which learning occurs. From this
  perspective learning occurs through the
  observation of people in ones immediate
  environment. Furthermore, learning is a function
  of the interaction of the person, the
  environment, and the behavior. Variations in
  behavior under the same circumstances can be
  explained by idiosyncratic personality traits and
  their unique interaction with environmental
  stimuli. Social learning theories contribute to
  adult learning by highlighting the importance of
  social context and explicating the processes of
  modeling and mentoring.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Introduction
• There is a dilemma of no single theory of adult
  learning that includes all types of learning.
• A phenomenon as complex as adult learning will
  probably never be adequately explained by a
  single theory.
• But many theories useful in improving our
  understanding of adults as learners.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Introduction
• This section reviews seven different
  theory-building efforts in adult learning.
• Knowless andragogy
• Crosss CAL (Characteristics of adults as
  learners) model
• McCluskys theory of margin
• Knoxs proficiency theory
• Jarviss model of the learning process
• Mezirows perspective transformation
• Freires conscientization

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Introduction
• How well the 7 theories explain adult learning?
• Is the theory comprehensive, includes all types
  of learning?
• How practical the theory is?
• How universal its application might be?

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Introduction
• Adult learning theory can be divided into three
  categories
• those anchored in adult learners characteristics
• those based on an adults life situation
• those that focus on changes in consciousness

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Theories based on adult characteristics
• Andragogy (refer topic 2 andragogy s critical
  assumptions) all of which are characteristics
  of adult learners, has given them a badge of
  identity
• CAL model offers a tentative framework to
  accommodate current knowledge about what we know
  about adult as learners.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Theories based on adult characteristics
• CAL
• Consists of 2 classes of variables personal
  characteristics and situational characteristics.
  Personal characteristics include physical,
  psychological, and sociocultural dimensions
  (reflect growth and development from childhood
  into adult life). Situational characteristics
  focus on variables unique to adult participants
  e.g. part-time vs full-time learning and
  voluntary vs compulsory participation.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Theories based on adult characteristics
• CAL
• Cross believes that her model incorporates
  completed research on aging, stage and phase
  developmental studies, participation, learning
  projects, motivation, and so on.
• The model can also be used to stimulate research
  by thinking across and between categories. It
  might be asked, e.g. whether there is a
  relationship between stage of ego development
  and voluntary participation in learning.
• Rather than suggesting implications for practice,
  as Knowless andragogy does, CAL offers a
  framework for thinking about what and how adults
  learn.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Theories based on an adults life situation
• McCluskys theory of margin, Knoxs proficiency
  theory, and Jarviss model of the learning
  process.
• McCluskys - balance between the amount of
  energy needed and the amount available. E.g.
  ratio between the load of life and the power
  of life. We can control both by modifying either
  power or load.
• May seem to apply more readily to formal learning
  situations informal learning can occur under
  conditions of stress or, in McCluskys terms,
  when load is greater than power.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Theories based on an adults life situation
• Knoxs proficiency theory
• Proficiency is defined as the capability to
  perform satisfactorily if given the opportunity,
  and this performance involves some combination of
  attitude, knowledge, and skill.
• Explain adult motivation and achievement in both
  learning activities and life roles.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Theories based on an adults life situation
• Jarvis
• all learning begins with experience.
• Some experiences, however, are repeated with such
  frequency that they are taken for granted and do
  not lead to learning, e.g. driving a car,
  household routines.
• Throughout life, people are moving from social
  situation to social situation sometimes in
  conscious awareness but on other occasions in a
  taken-for-granted manner.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Theories based on changes in consciousness
• Have a stronger cognitive focus in that they deal
  with the mental construction of experience and
  inner meanings
• Mezirows perspective of transformation is the
  process of becoming critically aware of how and
  why our presuppositions have come to constrain
  the way we perceive, understand, and feel about
  our world of reformulating these assumptions to
  permit a more inclusive, discriminating,
  permeable, and integrative perspective and
  making decisions or otherwise acting upon these
  new understandings.
• E.g. critically reflecting upon our lives,
  becoming aware of why we attach the meanings we
  do to reality, especially to our roles and
  relationships (not just adding to what we already
  know).

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Theories based on changes in consciousness
• Freires theory is more precisely a theory of
  education (of which learning is an important
  component) in contrast to Mezirows focus on
  learning process itself.
• Increasing awareness of ones situation involves
  moving from the lowest level of consciousness,
  where there is no comprehension of how forces
  shape ones life, to the highest level of
  critical consciousness.
• E.g. Analysis of problems, Self awareness, and
  self reflection

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Synthesis 1
• Four of the theories (those of Knowles, Cross,
  Knox, and McClusky) reveal more about the
  learners characteristics, his or her life
  situation, and the desired outcomes of learning
  than they do about learning).

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Synthesis 2
• Three focus on the process of learning itself
  Jarviss, Mezirows and Freires but only one,
  Mezirows perspective transformation, claims to
  explain learning that is unique to adults.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Synthesis 3
• While most of these theories address
  implications for practice, only Knowles
  andragogy has been widely applied in practice.

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Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning

• Synthesis 4
• From the 7 theories, 4 components of adult
  learning can be extracted
• self-direction or autonomy as a characteristic or
  goal of adult learning
• Breadth and depth of life experiences as content
  or triggers to learning
• Reflection or self-conscious monitoring of
  changes taking place
• Action or some other expression of the learning
  that has occurred