adult students
Being a younger instructor, I was struggling in the beginning to capture the attention of my adult students so they can take me seriously. I have taken on the roll of being the GUIDE and it has been wonderful. They respect me a thank me evryday for understanding them and being their cheerleader of sorts in the field.
My adult students have much "life" going on. They are juggling school, work, and family. When family is ill, most of the time we give an excused absents. Required overtime at work can at times produce an excused absents, but many other "life" disruptions do not qualify. Hard fast rules seem not to work well.
We have 5 hour classes four times a week, so we move very rapidly through a subject. Sometimes we must accommodate a student being consistently 15 minutes late due to work requirements. I need to find a way to indicate to students that that is not the norm, but an exception.
Very true. Most of the adult learners: Have a full time job and were have not been in school in a long time. In return they are tired and feel that they need to write down everything/capture all of the lecture materials. If they dont they get frustrated. There learning style is much different that a younger teenager. They tend to get overwhelmed with the material. Learning to teach the adult learner in a differnet style in a plus to an educator. You will always have a classroom that will be a melting pot of ages. Adapting a teaching style for the different ages is key so they retain information.
I have the same issue with my student and I start my class with a control style and then as the course progresses I try to guide and when additional help is needed i reach for the buddy style to make it more personal.
Pamela, great point. When using a word processing application, all programs save, edit, print, open, and close. If you teach the basics and how to use the internal help files of different programs to perform these functions you provide them a much more valuable skill set versus showing them how each different application performs these functions.
James Jackson
I try to give all my students the respect they deserve. We all have different backgrounds and life long experiences.The adult students are in my class to achieve a goal and improve thier lives.
I find that even though they are "adults", sometimes it feels as though we are dealing with children. The trick is to get them involved, keep their attention, and help them learn to learn. Many times these students were never taught how to learn, so they think they are expected to memorize everything. When they can't do this, they get discouraged. I find that if you can help them understand the fact that in most cases you don't have to know the answer, you have to know how to find the answer, this helps them immeasurably.
I teach computer concepts, and in this field things change almost hourly. If students can learn concepts that never change, and realize that knowing how to find answers to the changing technology, they will be able to become life long learners. This helps them to understand and keeps their interested in any topic. Which in the long run helps them to stay focused.
Felicia, even senior instructors struggle from time to time, it is all part of the continual learning process. Your still set will continue to grow over the years so remember to always be open to new ideas and new ways of delivering your message.
Regards,
James Jackson
