Andragogy Reflection: Malcom Knowles

1045 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Outlining online education and traditional education

Andragogy Personal Reflection
Introduction
Malcolm Knowles introduced the term andragogy to the field of educational research in 1968, and he ultimately identified six underlying assumptions about adult learners (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner, 2007, p. 84). While it may seem obvious now that adult learners have different needs and motivations, it had not been previously delineated or identified as such. The phrase ‘non-traditional student’ has long been used to describe adults who return to an educational setting after they have been out of high school for a few, or many years. A non-traditional student is often one who has not entered college immediately following high school graduation, might have dependents, is financially independent, is working full or part-time, and who, in many cases, is highly motivated to pursue an education with a very specific goal in mind (Palatnick, n.d.). This group of adult learners comprises the subject of andragogy.
Traditional Learning Environment
The phrase traditional learning generally refers to an on-ground, face-to-face classroom setting, with a teacher lecturing from the front of the room. When I attended graduate school, 25 years after graduating from college, my program included weekend-intensive sessions once a month, held at a local college campus. We stayed in the dorms and met throughout the weekend to complete a large portion of one graduate course, which was followed by at-home assignments. One course was taught by a professor who lectured exclusively as his method of teaching. There was little interaction, and no media used. The class met for three hours on Friday evening, six hours on Saturday, and three hours on Sunday morning, for a total of 12 hours of lectures in...

... middle of paper ...

...ppened precisely because the group was comprised of adult learners who were self-directed, highly motivated, with broad experience and skills, ready to work and anxious to learn. We met all criteria identified in Knowles’ assumptions about adult learners simply because that is what we were, and his assumptions accurately describe the characteristics of this group.

Works Cited

Hoffman, B., Ed. (2011). Andragogy. Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Retrieved from: http://eet.sdsu.edu/eetwiki/index.php/Andragogy
Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Palatnick, F. (n.d.). Definition of non-traditional students: A paradigm change. Retrieved from: http://www.evolllution.com/opinions/definition-of-non-traditional-students-a-paradigm-change/

Show More
Related

  • The Social and Historical Context of Judith Guest‘s Ordinary People

    1744 Words  | 4 Pages

    Merriam, S.B., Caffarella, R.S. &Baumgartner (2007) Learning in Adulthood: A comprehensive guide, san Francisco, CA:Jossey-Bass

    Read More

  • Adult Students: Recruitment and Retention

    2011 Words  | 5 Pages

    Adult students' participation and persistence in educational activities ranging from adult literacy to doctoral programs is a complex phenomenon involving an array of factors. Adults are often affected by situational factors beyond their control—job, health problems, financial problems, legal problems, personal or family problems (Belzer 1998). Likewise, dispositional factors such as expectations, self-esteem, level of family support, and past educational experience, can be barriers to participation (Hubble 2000). Institutional factors such as red tape, program fees, scheduling, and procedures can either help or hinder participation (Quigley 1998). In fact, adult students who drop out are often actually "stopping out"—that is, interrupting their studies but planning to return (Frank and Gaye 1997)—or attending other institutions (Hoffman and Elias 1999).

    Read More

  • Non Traditional College Students

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to current estimates approximately 75 percent of college students are now nontraditional students – older than 25, attending school part time, and having delayed entry or reentry into college for a variety of personal reasons. Post secondary education is needed by such students to develop their careers and to acquire new skills and knowledge in a global society where they are likely to have longer life spans than did workers in the past. This trend is not restricted to North America; it is a worldwide phenomenon.

    Read More

  • What Is Diabetes Education?

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    Adults are self-motivated. They learn best by building on what they already know and when they are actively engaged (Lindeman, 2010). The approach of adult education revolves around non-vocational ideals and is based on experience rather than subjects (Lindeman, 2010). It helps adults gain knowledge about their powers, capacities, and limitations (Funnell et al, 2012).

    Read More

  • America 's Most Overrated Product : The Bachelor 's Degree

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this article Nemko is illuminating the issues that our modern society is facing involving higher education. Students are starting off college with bare minimum requirements for next level learning and feeling disappointed when they are not succeeding in their courses. The author acknowledges that the courses being taken by students are sometimes not beneficial to life after college. Nemko states, “A 2006 study supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that 50 percent of college seniors scored below ‘proficient’ levels on a test that required them to do such basic tasks…”(525). Students are specializing in areas of learning to in turn be denied to working in that field and stuck with unnecessary skills. “Many college graduates are forced to take some very nonprofessional positions, such as driving a truck or tending bar”( ...

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography For The Cost Of College

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    This report looks at college from the prospective of adults who have not attended college but are considering obtaining a degree. The research results give several statistics related to adults wishing to continue their education and the main concerns that they face in doing so. They mentioned many of the factors that influence adults’ decisions to pursue a post-secondary education and how they will pursue that education. Facts presented in this report show that many people wish that they could further their education. This report will allow me to broaden my viewpoint by not only viewing college’s worth to students recently graduated from high school but also to older adults seeking to return to college.

    Read More

  • What is Andragogy? Malcom Knowles

    2289 Words  | 5 Pages

    Mirriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A

    Read More

  • Andragogy: Adult Learning Theory

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    Knowles, M., Holton, E., & Swanson, R. (2011). The adult learner. (7th ed.). Burlington, MA: Taylor and Francis.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Malcolm Knowles's Theory Of Adult Learning

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    One theorist that is relevant to this study is Malcolm Knowles’s theory of adult learning. Though Malcom Knowles may not be the first one to introduce adult learning, he was the one that introduced andragogy in North America. (McEwen and Wills 2014). Andragogy means adult learning. The core concept of Knowles’s Adult learning theory is to create a learning environment or awareness for adults to understand why they learn .Knowles developed six main assumptions of adult learners. Those assumptions are the need to know, self- concept, experience, readiness to learn, orientation to learning and motivation. (McEwen and Wills, 2014)

    Read More

  • transition services

    1381 Words  | 3 Pages

    The completion of high school is the beginning of adult life. Entitlement to public education ends, and young people and their families are faced with many options and decisions about the future. The most common choices for the future are pursuing vocational training or further academic education, getting a job, and living independently.

    Read More

  • Helicopter Parents

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    The next generation of young adults is not being taught the important life skills needed to thrive in today’s world. Adults who have never had to challenge themselves are not going up the ladder of success. Dr. Whelan, a sociologist who has taught at many universities, has three books, and several notable achievements wrote the article, “Helping first year students help them...

    Read More

  • Andragogy Reflection: Malcom Knowles

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    Andragogy, made famous in the United States by Malcom Knowles in 1967, is the art and science of teaching adult learners as opposed to pedagogy which is the art and science of teaching but not distinguishing what age group (Rachel, 2002). Knowles implemented andragogy through the use of a learning contract, in which learning objectives, strategies and resources, achievement, and methods for evaluation are all determined by both the learner and instructor (2002).

    Read More

  • Adult Learning Theory

    362 Words  | 1 Pages

    Billings, & Halstead, 2017.The curriculum preparation for adult learning is constructed in such a way to enhance individual learning through effective strategies. In the loud-cloud system of GCU commonly build on adult learners to involve in critical analysis to strengthen

    Read More

  • Andragogy Reflection Paper

    1791 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within the andragogical model described by Knowles, Holton, and Swanson (2015), adults need learning experiences that are different than those found in the pedagogical model. Instead of waiting for experiences that are directed and controlled by a teacher, adults need to have a clear rationale and understanding for the learning, feel past experiences are valuable, and have a developed internal system for motivation in order to help a learning experience be successful. The connection and orientation to the learning task, the readiness to learn, and self-concept are other important ideas to adult learning.

    Read More

  • Reflection Of Adult Learning

    1459 Words  | 3 Pages

    As we know, human being keep learning though all their lives, Sometimes I am thinking how we adult learning. In this book, I found them--some related concepts about adult learning and ways to Self-Direct Learning(SDL). Before reading this book. I already knew what is the adult learner is. In China, students who are over 18 years old are the adult in General Principles Of the Civil Law. In some perspectives, University education can be called adult education. It is new for me to learn this knowledge, so I chose the first eight chapters of the textbook.

    Read More

More about Andragogy Reflection: Malcom Knowles

Open Document