Characteristics of Adult Learners

 
Adapted from, UCBHCA: Training of Facilitators Manual. Retrieved July 15, 2016, from http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/uk/d/Jh0414e/5.1.html

http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/lifelonglearning/workplace/articles/characteristics/

This article, written by Dorothy D. Billington for the Johns Hopkins School of Education, is interesting because it focuses on both the characteristics of adult learners and the characteristics of an effective learning environment. Through a four year study of sixty men and women between the ages of 37 and 48 who had entered in to doctoral programs Billington creates,  "The seven key factors found in learning programs that stimulated adult development" (par. 5 Billington, 1996).

Of the seven factors that Billington lists I gravitate to the first, and the third as environments that I could easily create in my classroom. It is the fifth factor "Optimal pacing is challenging people just beyond their present level of ability. If challenged too far beyond, people give up. If challenged too little, they become bored and learn little" (par. 10, Billington, 1996), that I think I might find most challenging. Since adult learners are not only driven by individual needs but also their experiences, I think that trying to create a course that is challenging enough but not too challenging for every individual student will take a lot of careful planning. I also think that it could be a great opportunity to build in team building exercises at the beginning of a course to help me and the students get to know each other and really find out what everyone's expectations, limitations and strengths are. Or perhaps building in time to have one on one meetings with students before the class is in full swing would be a good way to gather this information and help guide my teaching strategies for the rest of the course.