As of late, our campus has attracted a lot of the, "first in the family to go to college", type of student. This environment gives us a challenge to attempt to "sell" them on the work and commitment they will need to be successful. Many times I find the support structure at home is not there to give them guidance and assistance that other groups receive.
Some of the motivating factors for adults to return to school are promotions, career changes, getting married, and having children. Basically, adult learners return to school to better themselves and prepare for a new phase in their lives.
Cara,
Thank you for this post. Most career college students have something very specific that motivates them to return to or start college beyond looking for a sense of accomplishment. Most often, it has to do with providing a better life and good example for someone else.
Jeffrey Schillinger
For my students most of their motivation is for education. Fulfilling a life long goal or dream. For many of them they are the first to go to college in their family. They have a since of pride and that they want to be successful. Graduation is also a great motivation for my students, a sense of accomplishment.
Teresita,
One of the most important things we can do for new students is to help them identify their learning style through objective instuments that are readily aailable at no charge on the Internet. The second thing we need to do is to develop our faculty members so that they design and facilitate learning expereinces that include something for every type of learner. A basic rule could be that students need to see it, say it, read it and feel it.
Jeffrey Schillinger
I teach Basic Concept in Mathematics. On the first day of class, I give them 3 to 5 Math problems basically on operation of numbers: in fraction form, decimal form, and percent form. I ask them to come to class with a solution to any 1 or 2 problems that they feel comfortable to solve, with assurance that the presentation is not graded, that anyone may have a wrong answer yet it is just alright emphasizing that we may not learn the right way if there is no wrong way. Some are eager to present while some do not want to get up from their chair. Nevertheless, after the presentation, I gather their written work.
During the presentation, I discovered that one or two of my male students work as pipe fitter and roofer, they applied the given fractions in measurement (inches), they compute it in their head but could not write the process of writing the computation on paper.
One of the ladies was a G-force technician in the Marines and she was very knowledgeable with percentage.
Some young students who were fresh high school graduates showed a formal process of working out an algorithm of the operations, some of the young and some of the more-adult students did not show any work at all.
After analyzing their work, I knew who needed emphasis on algorithm: a step-by-step process with rules justifying the laws of numbers involved in the operations.
A career college usually has the most diverse age-group of learners. Some of them know exactly their learning style, some of them do not. A student may say that he is visual but do not incorporate this skill in processing learning because of lack of structure and organization of the information to master a learning process.
Lisa,
Are there noticeable differences between students who are looking at art as the basis for a career change and those who are seeking knowledge for their own benefit?
Jeffrey Schillinger
In my field, the arts, adult learners most frequently return to school either for life enhancement or a career change. Many young people with artistic talent are discouraged from majoring in the arts because many parents believe this to be an impractical choice. Later in life, adult students realize they may have missed an opportunity to pursue an important life goal. They may have become aware of the increasing opportunity in the applied arts, or are seeking knowledge purely for their own benefit.
Thanks for this post, Caryn. What are some of the specific things you do to leverage these motivations in your instructional moments?
Jeffrey Schillinger
One thing that could motivate an adult learner to return to school is his or her response to Erikson's stage of generativity vs stagnation. In this stage the adult learner must decide if they are happy with their career choices and feel that they can help mentor younger colleagues, or if they feel stagnant, like they are meant to do more in life, and thus may return to school to seek out that new life meaning.
Seth,
Thank you for this post. What are one or two of the specific things you do to leverage these student traits in your classroom?
Jeffrey Schillinger
They often seem to want to model good behavior for their children.
From my experience, I have found that many adult learners return to school to advance in their career. I also see adult learners who have been force out of their current career and are faced with the option and opportunity to change career focus.
Cornelius,
Sometimes the degree is secondary to other concerns, such as retooling for a new career. The knowledge and opportunities outweigh the degree for a lot of adult students.
Jeffrey Schillinger
Daisey,
Thank for this post. A few schools have found ways to share the information you are collecting with other members of the staff sso that each student's motivations and challenges are availabl to other advisors and faculty members. Our college has the motivational reasons entered into the student information system so that we can pull reports on them.
What do you think of sharing ths information (with the student's knowledge)?
Jeffrey Schillinger
Adults return to school in order to fullfill their dreams of earning a degree. Earning a degree means different things to different people but ultimately it is to show that one has the discipline, commitment and dedication required to be academically successful. In addition, the earning power associated with holding a conferred degree is incrementally higher than not holding a degree.
This is the number one question that I ask on the first day of a new start in our program. I teach students in the Medical Assisting program at a local post-secondary school in California. I have the students answer this question in an essay form. I really want to know what motivates them. I want to know why they chose to attend our program. No matter how many times I use this tool to assess a students reading and writing comprehension, it always amazes me how much I get to learn about my students. They really open up and share some of their own personal stories with me. I usually tell them they can put their names on the paper, or make it anonymous, if they want to keep their information private. I am the only one that reads these papers. Sometimes, It breaks my heart to learn about all the difficulties some students have had to go through to get through life. Attending a post-secondary school, is a way for them to get out, get out of their difficult situations and make their lives better. I have a lot of single moms in my class as well. They want to make a better life for their children as well. So, you never know. We need to remember that are students are human and we need to be empathetic to their needs and be flexible.
NO real challenges at all. The dynamic duo worked side by side. THey were both pushing their own ideas. After class you can find both of them in the compter lab working on assignemnts. It was interesting to observe. THey were a pleasure to have in class.
Pietro,
Great story. We have a few of these family stories every once in a while as well. Does having a mother-daughter combination in class create any special challenges for you as a teacher?
Jeffrey Schillinger
