The Second Emotional Challenge Faced By Adult Learner

In American society, higher education has become the standard and all over the country young people are being told just how important and necessary this extended learning is. The question is: why? Mark Edmundson, author of “Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?”, tackles this question with full-force in his essay about making the most of your college learning. Within the essay, Edmundson’s purpose is to inspire a new way of thinking for students just beginning their college education. He gives the readers a personal account of self-discovery amidst the depravity of academics, and emphasizes that this is one of the most important parts of the college experience.

Kevin Davis’ essay Does Coming to College Mean Becoming Someone New? uses his personal story as well as research to highlight the changes new college students must make in order to grow into successful students. Davis explains that students must choose to grow in order for their college careers to be truly successful. Davis’ use of kairos as well as logical, ethical and emotional appeals organizes his essay into an effective one. The writer structures his essay in an exceptional way that leads the reader to analyze his uses of kairos, logos, ethos, and pathos.

In an effort to determine how adults learn, experts examine and evaluate studies that have been done that involve the adult learner. The more that experts understand how the learner processes information, the better the understanding will be on how to structure their learning environment. Research is continually changing in this area, and educators know there are differences in how each adult learner attains information. In the two articles, “Adult Learning Theory for the Twenty-First Century” by Sharan B. Merriam, and “Adult Learning Theory: Applications to Non-Traditional College Students” by Kenner and Weinerman, different theories are discussed.

College. One word that has people’s minds run like crazy. Panic is one emotion that starts to settle in for high school seniors when second semester rolls by when they realize they are suppose to figure out their future soon. Not only is it a stressful time for the seniors, but also for the parents. Alina Tugend, an experienced journalist, wrote an essay called, “Vocation or Exploration? Pondering the Purpose of College.” Tugend’s goal of this article is to inform the audience of college students and their parents that college is continuously changing its aspect which leads us to different options when approaching college. This is why making the right choices after graduating high school is challenging. She pinpoints great examples throughout the essay and uses a good amount of ethos, logos, but did not have a

College is an opportunity to truly discover who you are. Often enough, you hear people saying “You should really major in this field, I think you would really enjoy this career.” or, “Do you think you really want to study that? Have you thought about what you will be doing ten years from now?” filling your mind with self doubt, uncertainty, and the anxiousness of not knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life. Mark Edmundson wrote an article titled, Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?, published in Oxford American addressing college students and their families how the most important thing college students should focus on is personal growth. When students take their courses seriously their engagement can help finding out who they really are and which future career will lead not necessarily to great financial success, but to a career and life that is very satisfying. Edmundson wants to inspire his audience and have them take what he is saying seriously. Edmundson uses satirical informal language and hypothetical situations to effectively persuade college students to focus on their personal growth in order to create a life and career that is deeply fulfilling.

In today’s society, there is a stigma that one needs a college education to be successful. Due to these overwhelming societal pressures, college students encounter numerous challenges. Two authors who explore these challenges are William Zinsser in his article “College Pressures” and Eric Greiten in his book “The Heart and the Fist”. Both Zinsser and Greitens consider the everyday struggles that college students face. While discussing the same topics, the authors use different writing styles and techniques to illustrate the same idea.

College has traditionally been a path that one follows right out of high school. Over the past few decades, there has been a spike in enrollment of older adult women returning to college. The article “Starting from Ground Zero:” Constraints and Experiences of Adult Women Returning to College discusses this trend and studies the experiences of women returning to college as adult students. Researchers found that these returning female students face unique challenges and require supports from society, families and academia. Each student walks their own path and overcomes the roadblocks that they face to achieve success.

College students represent a unique culture that have a multitude of needs that differ from other populations. College for many individuals is an opportunity to express their individualism and experience personal freedom. For many, this is the first time they are away from a structured home life and they are now able to make their own decisions. Now autonomous, they are free from punishment and reprimand from their parents because they are away from home and their actions are hidden by distance. This is an exciting time for the student as they are confronted with many new scenarios. Students are faced with finding new groups to be a part of and discovering ones’ identity becomes a new

College campuses are swarming with “new adults”, most of whom are still in their teens and are often living on their own for the very first time. They are learning how to make decisions for themselves and are figuring out who they want to become. College is designed to help them in this process. It allows them to mature and grow through experiences and trial and error. High stress, threat to one’s previous identity through failures, and

Being an undergraduate as an adult is strange. It’s at once unnerving and inspiring. It’s not a unilateral experience, but there are commonalities between adult students; there are a lot of them.

Adult students are simply people over the age of 25, who have elected to return to port-secondary education. They differentiate from your typical students in the facts that adult students, all things considered, have increased life responsibilities and face unique challenges. This research project explores the negatives, the positives what adult students face when returning to post-secondary education, and certain solutions. I analyzed recent research that deals with adult education and I included those results along with the results from a study I conducted in 2016, part two of this paper explains in detail the research I preformed.

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 basic skills, responsibilities, and expectations associated with students today are as varied as the students themselves. Chapter 13 in our text points out that that the majority of college students are white and come from the middle class. However, there is an increase in the number of minority students. The ages of college students may vary widely as well, since more than one third of them are over the age of 25 (Hussar & Bailey, 2009). The number of older students reflects a significant change in the college population. Many more students who graduate high school are waiting to attend college instead of attending college directly after high school, which had traditionally been the norm. This means that older students are returning to college after having a variety of different experiences in the world, and they are bringing with them different skill levels. Also, they are returning for a number of reasons, which in turns

Residing in a college community gives freshman's the opportunity to experience independence and freedom, and the chance to find one’s self. Up until secondary school, family and friends have been one's emotionally supportive network, their direction and their good examples. When the time comes around to go to an advanced education establishment, an entire new arrangement of thoughts and individuals are incorporated into the photo. Conforming to new situations and crowds while getting ready for the future can be an overwhelming test. Finding one's personal identity can be greatly obstructing. One must have a strong comprehension of who they are and have a strong inner courage, to have the ability to face the new difficulties at their college/ university and surrounding places. For some individuals “Constructing a strong identity represents a core developmental task during the transition to adulthood.” (Luyckx) This process usually includes getting to be more autonomous, dividing from family, and characterizing one's own uniqueness. The average

The first time as an adult learning or I thought it was adult learning was when I was in my mid-thirties. Here I am again many years later back at it again. This time is totally different than the prior years. I was a part-time student, married, working and raising our children. My major was Criminal Justice and I took classes on campus. At that time the adjustment to going back to college didn’t seem difficult to me at all. It almost gave me the feeling of being back in a high school setting. I was able to settle right in even though the majority of my classmates were straight out of high school. This was so different for many in so many ways, I felt like I had a true purpose for being there. I had set educational goals for myself so that I may be more productive in my life skills. When I was in high school I warranted to be there but college was my choice, I wanted more fulfilled educational in my life. I knew that academically enhancing my education was an achievement that I needed to accomplish. I didn’t know at that time that there were different types of adult learners, different strategies, styles, categories or models for adult learners. I was under the assumption that you went to class, listened to the instructor, complete your assignments before the dead line and get a grade. This is the same method I proceeded in high school.