Andragogic orientation in college teaching
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This document provides recommendations for improving educational practices with working adult students (WASs) based on andragogic principles. It suggests keeping course information relevant to students' work environments to build a sense of community. Instructors should apply their expertise to create real-world problem-solving activities and case studies, and design flexible projects that accommodate WAS time constraints. The document also offers didactic suggestions for higher education institutions, such as promoting active and engaging learning that considers student experience, and encouraging learner autonomy. Finally, it poses questions for andragogic instructors regarding technology tools, classroom dynamics with adult learners, and WAS leadership roles in projects.
Andragogic orientation in college teaching
- 1. Andragogic Orientation in College Teaching Recommendations to improve educational practice with WASs Keep information updated and useful for the working environment where WASs are currently employed at. This gives them a sense of belonging to the group, the course; we are creating a community of learning. Apply your professional knowledge to create problem-solving activities and case studies for learners. Many WASs have to deal with situations every single day of their professional life. Traditional learners can also experience these tasks to see how they would behave in this hypothetical scenarios and confront their ideas to the ones coming from WASs. Design projects that take into account the time limitations that many WASs have due to their many obligations. Allow them to have a flexible schedule but not overloaded with lots of readings; executive summaries can be of better use for them or the provision of mindmaps. Make sure to use of platform tools (in Blackboard, Moodle, or similar) to have information accessible for learners from day 1 onwards. A virtual classroom where information can be downloaded is ideal and quite practical for many WASs and traditional learners. Let them always have a saying on lectures, projects, or any other learning task to make it really meaningful for all of them. With their ideas a learning activity can become a great experience for all class members including the instructor. Didactic suggestions for higher education institutions In spite of the course outline, design and develop class sequences that promote meaningful, creative, engaging, and active learning where working experience is taken into account. Take into account the empirical but rich experience that WASs have and that can enrich the whole teaching/learning process. Traditional learners can
- 2. learn a lot from their more experienced peers. Encourage learner autonomy as part of the pillars where Andragogy bases itself. Moving beyond the class boundaries and experience what they know combined with the new tools provided to them can foster autonomous learning. Have learners sample the information and content to learn by means of problem-solving activities. Learners need to have their hands on real situations that can yield great learning and provide them with confidence to apply them at work. In this way, they are on the way of developing competences. Questions to explore as an Andragogic Instructor Why don’t we get to explore the use of learning tools within platforms such as Moodle and Blackboard that can be used to maximize WAS and traditional student learning? Having a good relationship with the IT personnel can be of great help to first train yourself and then to train your learners in the correct use of any new tool. In terms of classroom dynamics, how does classroom management change when we have the presence of adult learners? Or a symbiosis of WASs and traditional learners? Understanding the co-existence of them can be of great help for our teaching. Can WASs take the role of leaders in a classroom when dealing with projects, or is it better that they have another role in project development to have them share their empirical expertise with novice learners? Created by Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano