Situated Learning in Adult Education Essay

Living Learning Communities facilitate learning, growth, and friendship. LLCs seek students who are dedicated and motivated. Personally, I am both; throughout high school, I have worked hard and studied hard. I maintained a high GPA while participating in theatre almost every day after school. Indeed, I was able to take rigorous Advanced Placement courses along with dual enrollment engineering course while helping to run my school’s theatre company, Lymlight Production. I plan to continue both this hard work while at USF. Thus, living in an LLC will help me meet my goals.

Students engage in experiential learning and co-curricular activities that take abstract ideas and anchor them in real-life problems. (Coye 20 [9])

When you picture a classroom, what do you think of? You more than likely picture a chalkboard, desks for all the students and teacher. A new way of teaching has developed that removes students from the stereotypical environment and places they in a new and engaging environment. This is experiential education.

The Adult Learning Theory is based on understanding how adults learn and how they respond to the program in general. Researchers have found three key methods on how adults learn: experiential learning, transformational learning, and non-Western and Indigenous ways of knowing and learning (CITE). In Experiential Learning, adults learn through the experiences they have lived. Transformational Learning, on the other hand, is a “process in which adult learners question their own lives and how they interact with the world in which they live in” (CITE). Thus meaning that adults learn through situations that challenge their own thoughts about something and makes them reevaluate their original thought process. Lastly, Non-Western and Indigenous ways of knowing and learning is a bit complicated in adult learning as it is hard to find ways to categorize it. Despite the difficulty, there are four reoccurring themes in Non-Western and Indigenous learning: Communal nature of learning, the oneness of learners with the natural world, the oral tradition of learning, and knowledge as holistic (CITE). Further elaboration on this type of adult learning reflects on understanding cultural differences and the value of

The assumptions of Knowles’ Adult Learning Theory, first proposed in 1980, have since become an accepted part of the framework when one considers how adults learn. It is difficult to argue with the fact that adults enter each new day with a background of previous experiences. In formal learning situations, an instructor can use the variety of life experiences brought in by students to build a learning

The two times I saw my Cooperating Teacher allow the students to engage with the material on their own, the students quickly became confused as they lacked the skills to manage their time, locate reference resources, use the technology needed, and reflect on their learning. Because students lacked these skills, they did not get everything out of the activities that they could have. My Cooperating Teacher addressed this problem by teaching students the skills needed for these situations which drastically improved the student 's ability to learn from these activates. Noting the success of this training, I have been trying to design my lesson plans and such so that I have a balance between real-world activities and skills education. Though I have not quite found that balance yet, I have improved.

Communities of practice emerged from Lave and Wenger’s (1991) work on participation as learning. Like Freire’s (1998) “banking model” critique of the classroom environment and pedagogical practices, Lave and Wenger (1991) viewed the patterns of teaching in which teachers transmit knowledge to more or less passive learners as problematic. Instead, they positioned learning as embedded in wider social and historical practices, which interact to generate valued practices within a given community. Lave and Wenger (1991) also introduced the concept of “situatedness” which informs the “relational character of knowledge and learning” (33). This concept nicely dovetails with indigenousIndigenous students’ values of the interconnectedness of all things and the importance of how a person ought to relate to the world. Additionally, how a person relates to his or her own mind is important. The Yup’ik worldview holds that thoughts are powerful entities that must be carefully reflected upon, managed, and expressed. This perspective finds resonance with Freire’s (1998) comment that “our being in the world is far more than just ‘being.’ It is a ‘presence,’ a ‘presence’ that is relational to the world and to others” (25). Similarly, the Yup’ik worldview supports one’s consciousness and awareness to personal conduct as it relates to the world around

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.

This action requires students to take the time to collaborate within their groups and learn what they will present. This practice will ensure that students retain what they have learned. All students bring a vast amount of life experiences in the classroom and it is up to the teacher to utilize their resources effectively while ensuring shared collaboration without risk. Using prior knowledge in conjunction with world experiences achieves higher learning more effectively.

First, all four faculty members agreed that an electronic media-rich toolkit is needed. All four faculty agreed that information related to adult learning theories was important to include in the toolkit and that the theory is relevant and applicable to the learners that are in the MSN program. Three out of the four faculty felt that including information related to student’s sense of community should be included. One faculty member commented that a sense of community is big in the literature and is important

The three main components of interactive pedagogy are learner, teacher and environment. The one embarking in the process of acquiring new knowledge by utilizing his own resources is known as the learner. He wishes to assimilate the new knowledge. The educator is the person who leads the way to the learner. He acts as a facilitator in this process of learning. The various physical locations, contexts and culture in which students acquire knowledge is called the learning environment. It includes both the outside-of-school locations, outdoor environment and the classroom itself. The interactions between the three stakeholders can take place in the various ways. Some of the ways could be students working with various objects individually or in groups to solve problems, and exploring spaces other than the classroom, pupils collaborating in pairs or small groups to make meaning of the lesson with the support of their teacher to obtain information and ask questions to support learning. In this way, interactive pedagogy can be termed as active pedagogy.

The developments of technology has changed the way which adult students may choose to obtain a college degree. Through the use of their computer, they may opt to attend an online only college or university. While it may not be apparent to the student, a lot of research has been conducted regarding the most effective way to teach adults and children based upon how they learn. An awareness in different teaching theories could make an adult student a better consumer when it comes to shopping for their best value in education. This paper will explore the theories of andragogy and pedagogy, along with their implications for online adult education.

Basically, this article by Malcolm Knowles is a conglomerate of all aspects of adult learning. It outlines aspects of adult learning, theories of adult learning, and expands on them. The main idea of this article is to create awareness on the existence of adult learning, and to help instructors of adult learning to know how to go about it successfully. Additionally, the article is of help to adult learners to enable them to learn the most they can (Knowles, 2007).

Learning is a process that is influenced significantly by the combination and interactions of three main areas of influence: agent, activity and world. A number of writers have used other descriptions for these influencing factors. In the succeeding discussion of computer-based learning environments, we have found it useful to describe learning using a framework of three mutually constitutive elements based on these factors which represent the actions and activities of the different elements in the learning process: the learner, the teacher and the learning materials [Herrington & Oliver, 1996].

Active engagement occurs in the classroom when a teacher makes the connection between teaching and learning through pedagogy. The choice of pedagogy must see fit with the content of the lesson which in return will assist the teacher in constructing a more meaningful and supportive learning environment where students’ are more willing to participate and be actively engaged. The most important skill in pedagogies is relating the learning experience to real world situations in which students’ can relate too (Churchill et al., 2011).