Get Your Students Hired
It is So true that Adult Learners need to feel secure and to be able to have some control. Otherwise they will decide to just Not show up. Amazingly enough, some adult learners tend to be a lot more insecure than younger students.
Dorothea, what a great example of student autonomy. Knowing your students and which techniques may work and which ones would be less successful go a long way towards experiencing successful outcomes of your teaching and learning goals. Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
My students are required to participate in clinical work studies, which mean that they have to perform hands-on activities. To motivate my students, I allow different groups of students to create a performance sheet that all students will use daily. By following this process, students feel they are in control of their ‘own’ assignments which were created by them. It's a win-win student instructor activity. There is no stress. Students are more involved and motivated to complete activity assignments. Students like learning from each other.
Warren, the great things about veterans is they take instruction well and are easily motivated. Seven years in the Navy and an additional five years as a military contractor once I went back to civilian work exposed me to a large number of military personnel. They are accustomed to taking on new challenges but feel most comfortable when they can directly be told how what they are learning will apply to their new role in their new career. Focus some time on the mentoring aspect and reminding them that the time they volunteer their time to better learn their craft is valuable in a resume and counts directly as job experience. Jumping in with both feet is not that scary for most military personnel as they do it all the time.
James Jackson
I teach a lot of veterans who have seen combat. They are somewhat insecure with not only getting back into the civilian world but back into school where they are now learning something that will put them into a world they left before serving. Since I teach the culinary arts I can get them to relate to what they're learning by encouraging them to practice what they're learning by cooking for family and friends and telling me about their success' and responses from family/friends. Since I have also worked with Career Services I can direct our veterans in the right path for their future. Working with veterans has been a great new challenge that I look forward to everyday. Any suggestions on how I can further help veterans would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Alessandra, good to draw upon your own experiences but also can be a bit of a trap. Everyone is not the same so be careful not to focus too much on what motivated you during your formal education and focus more on understanding the motivations of your current students. Just 10 years ago when someone began a new career they expected to remain within that career for a long time. Today the average employee we need to consider multiple career changes and dozens of jobs as things have changed. Different fields will also impact student motivations so we as instructors need to keep our senses focused on change and how best to prepare students to deal with these changing times.
James Jackson
I was an adult learner when I started college. Therefore, I can empathize with the topic. While I was taking day and night classes things were extremely different. I had difficulties, during the day and felt very unsecured with the young populations that was attending college with the purpose of socializing and to have fun. I had a career, a purpose to what I was doing in college.
Therefore I had to modify my purpose and stay focus in other to build my security.
Alex Tavares
Michael, well stated. This is why it is important to lead by example and work towards building trust within the classroom. This includes trust that students have with their peers and with the instructor.
James Jackson
Gregory, well stated. One size does not fit all in higher education. The best of the best instructors take the time to get to know their students and become good at evaluation of character and identification of gap skills that can be the basis of behavioral changes. The more we as instructors know about our students the more empowered we are to solicit changes in their outcomes.
James Jackson
I believe that security in the class room is a great thing; however I think that adult learners have a fear of failure and not fitting in do to being out of the class room for extended periods of time. For some learners this is a career change and the unknown is terrifying to them. As instructors it’s our duty to coach them on how to succeed.
Very true James, "maturity" and the word "adult" do not mean the same thing. Some young students can exhibt adult behavior while I have seen older students behave in a lessor manner.
Much depends on their background (or environment they were raised in)as far as security goes. There are those that have more confidence in their ability than others. Young learners can have a high confidence factor due to their life expereince more so than an older adult. As an instructor we have to know that everyones situation is different.
IDA, what are some of the techniques you use to lower the level of anxiety within your own students? Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
Lucia, the word adult can be misleading at times. Age is not always a good indicator of adulthood and we as instructors are as likely to have 35 year old adolescents in our classroom as we are 25 year old adults. The more we know about our students and where they are on the maturity scale the better we can guide their educational experience and inspire them to stick with their education until they are complete.
James Jackson