Androgogy Reflection: Understanding Adult Learning Essays

Andragogy recognises that adults demand to learn things that are relevant to them, and relevant to their life experiences rather than assuming they know nothing (Atherton, 2005). Hence as time progressed ‘A’ became less dependant on me and was able to self direct his learning , in turn increasing his confidence and enhancing his community experience by spending time with other disciplines to enable him to achieve the university set competences.

Online degrees are becoming an ever more trendy method to receive a college education and many students are switching to online education due to the quality of material, ease, and the level of flexibility in distance education programs. Recently, the internet has developed into a reliable capital of information for college seekers. Everything from applying for financial assistance to taking a course can be done online. Now, a student can even obtain online degrees from one of many schools offering online education as a practical choice to a traditional classroom education. There’s a load of information regarding online education, and distance education is becoming increasingly popular for students everywhere.

We can see from Knowles (1983) identified six assumptions about adult learning, our students in a military environment and in the “third age” meet most if not all of these criteria. If this is true of our military learners then as delivers we need to be aware of the “Charter for Andragogy “ Mezirow (1981) which set out what we teachers of adults need to be aware of to teach our learners.

Nowadays, education becomes one of the important things in human life. Most people are aware of the necessity of a higher education. In this present day with the technology there are more options to obtain education. Besides attending traditional schools, people can get an online education. Although there is a similarity between online education and traditional education, the differences between them are more noteworthy.

Knowles, M. S. (1980). The modern practice of adult education from pedagogy to andragogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Cambridge Adult Education.

Through this course I expect to become familiar with the online learning format. I have never taken online courses previously so I plan to learn the skills necessary for me to become a successful online scholar.

The adult learning theory Also known as andragogy is the concept of Adult learning as a science in the field of education. Created by Malcolm Knowles , the theory is comprised of four different concepts. A fifth concept was later added by Knowles. within these different concepts, Knowles set forth compilation of expectations for educators within the Adult Education community. Firstly, he suggests setting a corporative climate in the classroom for learning. (Knowles, 1984, p.76) An assessment of the learners needs and a compilation of objectives and educational activities to help learner reach needs

The world of adult learning was changed by Knowles’ (1973) when he identified four assumptions about andragogy, meaning “the art and science of helping adults learn” (Knowles, 1970, p. 42). These assumptions are: self-concept; experience; readiness; and orientation. Knowles later added two more assumptions; the critical need to know, and motivation (Knowles, Holton & Swanson, 2015; Knowles, 1980). Knowles’ second assumption, experience, plays a significant role for individuals to create, retain and transfer knowledge based upon prior knowledge and skill, (Argote, McEvily & Reagans, 2003, p. 575). I will search for evidence on how the elements of Knowles’ theory align with the knowledge retention and engagement.

The six principles of andragogy should be applied to how the curriculum for adult learning is created. Providing lessons that adults enjoy and can relate to is what will draw in students to the class. Also, it will be very beneficial to not only the adults, but the school as well. A study by a private liberal arts college was held and using a pre test-post test-control-group design, andragogy was tested against traditional instruction type teaching. After conducting the research it was concluded that there was no significant differences between the two different types of teaching.

Adult learning is the acquisition of knowledge by adults. Theories on adult learning have been discoursed and analyzed thoroughly by different people, with the aim of trying to define it and optimize it. The two articles I have read describe adult learning, discuss its characteristics and explain various approaches and means of optimization of this subject.

(Compare and contrast at least 2 theories). *Explain how to integrate these principles in changing your

My impression of adult education has changed immensely. First and foremost, the first lesson learned that teaching adults are a separate, intensive, and long debated process. Portions of certain theories learned illustrated below. I have extended knowledge about Meizrow (Transformational Learning) and Knowles (Andragogy). The six key features of Adult Learners are:

Various online degree programs are becoming more readily available to students providing additional opportunities, lower costs, and more interaction. Research is beginning to shift from accessing information from a library to using a smart phone,

There is a usual but important cliché for a teacher´s career: a teacher has to be a life-long learner to be an effective teacher. Research on effective teaching over the past two decades has proved that effective practice is related to questioning, reflection and continuous professional development. Reflective practice can be a satisfying experience for a teacher evolution. It covers self-analysis, questioning one owns methods, assumptions about learning, theories as well as one´s attitudes and behaviour as a facilitator and communicator, in short making a deep analysis of the actions. Reflecting on teaching includes the teacher´s thoughts on the successfulness of the lesson planning and the implementation used to teach. Within the time progression the teacher´s reflection should be more precise and he or she could

Online teaching is defined as any educational activity that requires a student to complete some learning or assessment activity via a personal computer and a connection to a network (Murdoch University Academic Council 1999). This network connection is usually to the Internet (Demirdjian 2002). It is a seen by the Murdoch University Academic Council as a teaching and learning technology, not a method of study (2002), but this depends on how it is to be used and by whom. For example, distance education student using online teaching would be more inclined to see it as a study method than a QUT student who uses online teaching to download and print lecture notes to attend a lecture on campus.