ABC Corporation has developed a new technology program, which is essential for the whole staff of the company. The time limit is six months, and one more essential condition is that the age range of the personnel varies from seventeen to seventy years. Taking these factors into account, we should analyze the basic factors that should serve as the basis for the educational program for adult learners.
To begin with, we should shed light on the term “andragogy”, which is going to be the cornerstone of the whole concept. Knowles defines andragogy as “the art and science of helping adults to learn” (1998, p.61). This is why the main differences between adult learning and conventional learning should be defined first of all. Mainly they are as follows: the adult learners possess experience and self-awareness that younger learners do not (Principles of Adult Learning, par. 1). What is more, the adult learning audience is diverse in comparison with usual learners of school age. Thus, in the process of training the adult student, certain factors should be taken into account and analyzed thoroughly: biological factor, psychological factor, socio-cultural factor, and cognitive factor.
In the first place, let us analyze the biological factor. It concerns the age range of the students, for it is very wide in this particular case: from 17 to 70 years. Thus, in the planning of the training “physical well-being, sensory acuity”, “effectiveness of physiological and physical responses in learning activities” should be taken into account (MacKeracher, 2004, p. 28). As the main sources of information are mostly visual and auditory ones, the following physiological changes should be analyzed when preparing the process of instruction: that near-point of vision moves father away and far-point of vision moves closer; a greater amount of illumination is needed for older learners; bright colors are preferable because color contrast perception changes with age and light colors, such as blue color are perceived worse. It is clear that the division of the learners into several groups according to age will be preferable.
In the process of the modeling of training of the adult learners psychological factors should acquire special attention. Adult learner usually has “an independent self-concept” which will direct his process of learning. This is why the process of training should be developed in a way that will give autonomy to the learners; the teacher should perform the function of a facilitator. Besides, adult learners have a different form of motivation, as they are motivated to learn “by internal factors rather than external” (Merriam, 2001, p.5). B. Yang states that adult learners need to know what to learn, why to learn and how to learn (2004, p. 845). This is why the motivation for learning should be created from the very outset and it should be maintained in the course of study. However, acquiring knowledge for the sake of knowledge may be characteristic for them as well. In order to make the learning process more effective, the instructor may also divide the audience into several sub-groups: the goal-oriented, that means those who use education to accomplish clear-cut objectives; the activity-oriented sub-group, for those who appear to come for the satisfaction of their social needs; and, finally, learning-oriented, that is those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge, as it was mentioned above (Jarvis and Griffin, 2003, p. 191).
Speaking about psychological factors, the division of students into the sub-groups according to their learning styles should also be applied. According to “Principles of Adult Learning” the learning process should be planned in accordance with the main sources of information. Here the diversity of learners according to their age is of minor importance, for people may be divided into visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners regardless of age (par. 4).
Analyzing sociocultural factors of adult education, the principle of prior experience should be taken into account (Knowles et al, 1998, p. 181). The background knowledge of the experienced employees may be of great use in the learning process. At this stage peer correction and work in groups may be successfully applied, where the leading role will be performed by the experienced employees, and the exchange of useful material will be organized along with the introduction of new material. An important detail of this specific case should be taken into account: that the training is aimed at the application of a new technological program. Obviously, technological self-efficacy should be taken into account here, as it is commonly known that computer literacy is typical and natural of young employees and may be an insuperable obstacle for the people belonging to the older generation. This nuance should be reflected in the algorithm of training.
The last factor, the cognitive factor is, actually, interconnected with the previous one analyzed. Smith and DeFrates-Densch stress the importance of cognitive complexity in the adult developmental perspective. They define it as a “higher form of reasoning that involves the ability to consider multiple perspectives and causal explanations for behaviors or events” (2008, p. 22). According to the research conducted by these scientists, older learners have low cognitive complexity, and younger learners are characterized by high cognitive complexity, and this is an important factor in the planning of the training process.
In conclusion, it should be mentioned that a complex analysis of the main factors of adult learning will ensure the successful application of the new training program within set time limits. Age diversity may be considered not only as a problem for successful training but merit as well if all features of age groups are taken into account. All factors: biological, psychological, sociocultural, and cognitive ones are extremely important in the planning of the adult learning process.
Reference
Jarvis, P., & Griffin, C. (2003). Adult and Continuing Education: Major Themes in Education, Volume 5. NY: Taylor & Francis.
Knowles, M.S., Horlton, E.F., and Swanson, R.A. (1998). The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. Houston: Gulf Professional Publishing.
MacKeracher, D. (2004). Making Sense of Adult Learning. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Merriam, S. B. (Ed.). (2001). The New Update on Adult Learning Theory: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Principles of Adult Learning & Instructional Systems Design. 2009. Web.
Smith, M.C., & DeFrates-Dench, N. (2008). Handbook of Research on Adult Learning and Development. NY: Taylor & Francis.
Yang, B. (2004). A critical evaluation of adult learning theories and implication for human resource development. 2009. Web.