(Originally posted to Week 2 of Foundations of Adult Learning Theory)
Adult learners tend to prefer nontraditional education models because their cognitive processes and social roles ae vastly different from those of children. As Merriam and Bierma point out in their discussion of Knowles assumptions about adult learners, the adult is: 1) An independent and self-guided individual, 2) possessed of a larger store of experience, 3) preferring new information directly related to their social role, and 4) needing to know why they need to know something. (Merriam & Bierma, 2014)
Simply put, most working adults do not have the time to devote to becoming a full-time student. When I earned my Associate’s degree several years ago, I was able to quit my job and attend school full-time thanks to my financial aid package. That was not the case when I decided to complete my B.S. at University of Phoenix. I had to balance being a full-time student with working a job with flexible hours…anywhere from 40 to 60 hours a week depending on our workload. I found the university’s nontraditional instructional style to be far easier to integrate into my chaotic schedule than attending classes at a traditional school would have been. (Jones, 2020)
References
- Jones, M. (2020, March 18). AET/500: Foundations of Adult Learning Theory. Retrieved from University of Phoenix Blackboard Ultra.
- Merriam, S., & Bierma, L. (2014). Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice. Retrieved from Phoenix Vitalsource Bookshelf: https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781119031260/cfi/6/2!/4/2@0:0.131
Mallory Jones 