Philosophy of Adult Education

Introduction

Instructional design encompasses the convergence of education and technology, creativity, and problem-solving. Reiser defines instructional design as “five categories of activities or practices: design, development, utilization or implementation, management; and evaluation” of instructional material, (2001). When beginning to learn more about the field and how I could transition my career, I attempted to build a portfolio but soon found that I was lacking an understanding of theory. While studying Instructional Technology and Design at the University of North Alabama, I have been able to learn and apply adult learning theory with technology and design theory to design more effective instruction.

Understanding how adults learn is critical when designing effective instruction. I now understand that “adults need to know why they need to learn something before undertaking to learn it,” need to have a “self-concept of being responsible for their own decisions,” and are “life-centered,” (Knowles et al., 2020). This guides my strategies of design by creating and allowing room for real-life application and autonomy within my learning content. A possible direction I could take this is scenario-based learning where a learner feels immersed in a realistic scenario that relates to them and what they experience in their life, studies, or job position. Allowing for more constructivist-centered learning allows the learner to have more autonomy over their learning in relation to their experiences.

Moore’s Learning Interactions

I believe that successful teachers and trainers use multiple methods of instruction with their learners. I design content with Moore’s three interactions in mind: learner to content, learner to teacher, and learner to learner (Moore, 1989). Moore argues that the integration of all types makes for the most meaningful learning. This is also supported by andragogy which is described as “moving from teaching to the facilitating of learning,” (Knowles, et al., 2020). The focus of instruction is most effective for adults when they have an active role in their learning goals. When designing e-learning for teaching and training, it is easy to prepare either learner-to-teacher or learner-to-content interactions without opportunities for other interactions, which lessens the impact of knowledge acquisition. This a critique of Moore, who states that “the main weakness of many distance education programs is their commitment to only one type of medium." (1989). Whenever possible, it is important that I include opportunities for learners to interact in all settings, allowing room for discussion and autonomy. This might look different in different scenarios: an e-learning course for corporate training might also include some hybrid options or live online meetings with breakout sessions, and a course in higher education can include room for discussion posts or group cloud-based documents.

The SECTIONS Process

When choosing what technology to use in teaching and training, it is important to consider a holistic approach to the how and why each media is chosen. I follow the SECTIONS framework designed by Bates when making these decisions: considering Students, Ease of Use, Costs, Teaching and media selection, Interaction, Organizational issues, Networking, Security and Privacy, and Deciding, (2015). I believe that considering my students and the ease of use of the technology are the two most important factors from the SECTIONS outline to primarily integrate into my decision making process. This consideration also ties in with the motivation principle of andragogy which states that one of the reasons adults lose motivation to learn is frequently blocked by “inaccessibility of opportunities and resources, time constraints, and programs that violate principles of adult learning,” (Knowles et al., 2020). Taking the time to consider what skills students already possess relating to media and how they are going to access that tool can greatly impact my design decisions. For example, knowing that my audience is older and not as familiar with using computers and the internet might cause me to simplify my curriculum or include some pre-training sections on how to use various parts of the computer to complete. I might not choose a drag-and-drop option for these learners. If I know that my audience is a younger demographic and a digital native, I might not include pre-training content and dive into the curriculum deeper or use more interactive methods in my design.

Conclusion

Incorporating research based theory in my understanding and practice of instructional design and adult learning theory has allowed me to better utilize theory to maximize learning. Having a solid foundation of design principles and andragogy allows me to construct learning environments that do not exceed the cognitive load of my target audience. Understanding who my target audience is and how their access and comfortability of technology impacts their learning also allows me to make better choices about the types of tools I employ in my instructional design. Understanding adult learning theory allows me to facilitate learning in a more humanistic way. I am a better facilitator of teaching and training when I use evidence-based practice to base my ideas and creativity on in my work.

Resources

Bates, A. W. (2015). Choosing and using media in education: the SECTIONS model. In Teaching in a Digital Age. (8.1 - 8.10).

Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2020). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (9th ed.). Routledge.

Moore, Michael. (1989).Three Types of Interaction. American Journal of Distance Education. 3. 1-7. 10.1080/08923648909526659.