Jerold W. Apps' book, The Adult Learner On Campus, identifies some teaching principles that work.
|
|
Learn to know your students. |
This means more than learning their names. Knowing something about each adult's personal and work background, interests, and reasons for being in school adds an important dimension to the educational activity.
|
|
Whenever practical, use the students' experiences as class content. |
The older student's work and life experiences provide the beginning place for learning. Utilize this whenever you can.
|
|
Tie theory to practice. |
Returning students are not opposed to studying theory, but they are impatient to see how the theory works in practical application. Effective instructors go back and forth freely from the theoretical to the practical.
|
|
Provide a climate conducive to learning. |
Respect the learner and encourage active participation. Don't ridicule a response, no matter how off the mark it may be. Some adults are so anxiety-ridden about offering a wrong answer that they can spend an entire term without offering any response at all. in the real world, mistakes are inevitable. The privilege of being wrong on occasion is something we need to grant to students.
|
|
Offer a variety of techniques. |
This is considered a necessity in classes like Webster's which are offered in formats of four hours or longer. Overheads, videos, and computer-aided instruction can all be used effectively in the right circumstances. The chalkboard and flip charts are still useful in depicting concepts or outlining materials. Lecture is sometimes maligned as boring, but it is actually a very effective way to present course content when it is done well. The question is, "How much lecture?" Certainly more than two hours is excessive. Discussions, interactive small group modules, student presentations, audiovisuals, question-and-response time; all can be used with success. The key is to vary the techniques in an all-evening weekday or day-long weekend session, and to use those that are suited to the subject matter and to your own personality.
|
|
Provide feedback. |
Returning students want to know how they are doing. Grades on assignments are a form of feedback, of course. A casual "That paper was well done," can be a powerful motivator for the adult. Criticism, when needed, is valid feedback as well, but it needs to be supplemented with positive suggestions for improvement.
|
|
Help students acquire resources. |
Adult students are frequently not as knowledgeable about the library and other resources as the traditional students. In addition to identifying campus resources, encourage students to share their own materials with one another, such as pertinent journal articles, or items from their work that pertain to the concepts of the course.
|
|
Be available for student contacts. |
Apps' research shows that exemplary instructors create time for student contact in addition to the class session. This is as individual as each instructor's own schedule permits and is highly dependent upon the instructor's own professional commitments and distance from the campus location. It need not be extensive, but some contact time is needed, and how this is to be accomplished should be made known to the students.
Return to Faculty Website Homepage
