General Characteristics of Adult Learners

Excerpt from Planning instruction for Adult Learners, 2nd Edition by Patricia Cranton

Pages 27 - 28

Because they have chosen:• student has clear, specific goals

•Improve job skills•Get a raise

•New job•Expect instruction to be relevant

•Learn specific skill•Get questions addressed

•Little patience for the instructor’s idea of important

•Will be reluctant to get involved in activities not clearly applicable to their goals.

•Have busy lives and don’t want to waste time on things

•Best learning happens when you relate the learning to their experiences.

•Consider both work experience and everyday experience

• make connections with that experience

• school setting can seem threatening• may have a bad past experience with school

• create a supportive and understanding environment

• do not want to be treated like a child or told what to do

• have goals and want to find ways of doing things that is relevant to them

• have set preferences for working alone or in groups

• know how they want to learn (by listening, reading, or doing)

• for some it has been many years since being in school and they may be anxious and

uncomfortable.• for this group, self-directed learning will only

increase anxiety and uncomfort.• as instructor work towards gradually fostering

independence and self-direction

• Expand on base of knowledge• Help them to use in different circumstances• Requires energy, time, trust, and openness

• More light• More breaks to stretch

•Comfortable chairs• Larger print or visual aides

• Louder volume• May need more time for physical tasks`

Self Directed Learning

In self-directed learning (SDL), the individual takes the initiative and the responsibility for what occurs. Individuals select, manage, and assess their own learning activities, which can be pursued at any time, in any place, through any means, at any age. In schools, teachers can work toward SDL a stage at a time. *

* By: Maurice Gibbons http://www.selfdirectedlearning.com/

Spectrum of SDL

• Incidental Self-Directed Learning.The occasional introduction of SDL activities into courses or programs that are otherwise teacher-directed (e.g. individual projects).

• Teaching Students to Think Independently.Courses or programs that emphasize the personal pursuit of meaning through exploration, inquiry, problem solving and creative activity (e.g. debates or case studies).

• Self-Managed Learning.Courses or programs presented through learning guides that students complete independently.

• Self-Planned Learning.Courses or programs in which students pursue course outcomes through activities they design themselves.

• Self-Directed Learning.Courses or programs in which students choose the outcomes, design their own activities and pursue them in their own way.

By: Maurice Gibbons http://www.selfdirectedlearning.com/