ANDRAGOGY – The Way of Adult Learn

by: Nurul Fauziyyah

Do you know what is “andragody”? the theory was popularized by Malcolm Shepherd Knowles (1913 – 1997). According to Malcolm Knowles, andragogy is the art and science of adult learning. It is the art and science of giving adults hands to learn. The way adults learn and think is different from the way children do, so as an educator (especially), we have to know how to treat them. Andragogy is the best suited for self-motivated learners, structured formal learning with applied goals, and specific problem solving.

Yet, before jumping to the principles of andragogic approach, it would be better to know what are the basic differences between adults learner (andragogy) and child learners (pedagogy).

Adults

  1. Adults have an existing base of knowledge and life experience. They seek out continuous learning based on personal interests, wants, and needs.
  2. Adults understand why they are learning, so their motivation levels are naturally high.
  3. It is beneficial to let adults work things out for themselves and organize themselves.
  4. The role of teacher may be effectively filled by a mentor, coach, peer, or expert.

Children

  1. Child-oriented learning provides a basic foundation of knowledge and helps develop critical thinking skills.
  2. Children typically have no choice but to study and may lose enthusiasm if they are not engaged in what is happening around them.
  3. It is necessary to be in charge of the classroom.
  4. Teachers play a central role in delivering kbowledge and griding learning activities.

Knowles’ 5 assumptions of adult learners are:

  1. Self-Concept
    As a person matures his/her self concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed human being.
  2. Adult Learner Experience
    As a person matures he/she accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning.
  3. Readiness to Learn
    As a person matures his/her readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his/her social roles.
  4. Orientation to Learning
    As a person matures his/her time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy of application. As a result his/her orientation toward learning shifts from one of subject- centeredness to one of problem centeredness.
  5. Motivation to Learn
    As a person matures the motivation to learn is internal.

The principles of the andragogic (andragogical) approach are:

  1. Adults learn better from experience (even if they make mistakes).
  2. Adults favor a pragmatic approach and must be able to apply learning to solve a specific problem.
  3. Adults are most interested in learning things that have immediate relevance.
  4. Adults need to be involved in learning things that have immediate relevance.
  5. Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.

Several crusial things that educators have to know are how to prep the process of learning, how to prep the material, and how to make interesting ingridients in storyboard. There are two process of learning viz. self-paced learning and facilitated learning. Self-paced learning is an individual process of learning. Students should learn by her/his ownselves using relatable materials. Facilitated learning is a process of learning delivered by lecturer or teacher. Understanding and applying that process is a key to create more effective class. Moreover, the better way to prep learning materials is by dividing them in to two catagories. Those are must-know materials and fun-to-know materials. Must-know is main materials that students have to master (facilitated learning) and fun-to-know is additional materials that students may to learn to broaden their horizons (self-paced learning). Combine those processes and materials in order to make your class more interesting and meaningful.

How about the structure of storyboard? Yup.. let’s dig it up. To make an effective lecturing experience, pay attention to “duration” of your presentation or lecturing allocation time. Do not provide long boring annoying slides or presentations containing more than 30 minutes (exception: several agendas).  If you want to catch students attention ad frequencies, try this allocation time and structure for your storyboard.

  1. Learning objectives: 1 slide.
  2. Introduction: 1-3 slide(s).
  3. Content: 4-25 slides.
  4. Summary: 1 slide.