PRINCIPLES OF ADULT LEARNING

By Stephen Lieb
Senior Technical Writer and Planner, Arizona Department of Health Services
and part-time Instructor, South Mountain Community College
from VISION, Fall 1991

Adults As Learners

Part of being an effective instructor involves understanding how adults learn best. Compared
to children and teens, adults have special needs and requirements as learners. Despite the
apparent truth, adult learning is a relatively new area of study. The field of adult learning
was pioneered by Malcom Knowles. He identified the following characteristics of adult
learners:
Adults are autonomous and self-directed. They need to be free to direct themselves.
Their teachers must actively involve adult participants in the learning process and
serve as facilitators for them. Specifically, they must get participants' perspectives
about what topics to cover and let them work on projects that reflect their interests.
They should allow the participants to assume responsibility for presentations and
group leadership. They have to be sure to act as facilitators, guiding participants to
their own knowledge rather than supplying them with facts. Finally, they must show
participants how the class will help them reach their goals (e.g., via a personal goals
sheet).
Adults have accumulated a foundation of life experiences and knowledge that may
include work-related activities, family responsibilities, and previous education. They
need to connect learning to this knowledge/experience base. To help them do so, they
should draw out participants' experience and knowledge which is relevant to the
topic. They must relate theories and concepts to the participants and recognize the
value of experience in learning.
Adults are goal-oriented. Upon enrolling in a course, they usually know what goal
they want to attain. They, therefore, appreciate an educational program that is
organized and has clearly defined elements. Instructors must show participants how
this class will help them attain their goals. This classification of gaols and course
objectives must be done early in the course.
Adults are relevancy-oriented. They must see a reason for learning something.
Learning has to be applicable to their work or other responsibilities to be of value to
them. Therefore, instructors must identify objectives for adult participants before the
course begins. This means, also, that theories and concepts must be related to a
setting familiar to participants. This need can be fulfilled by letting participants
choose projects that reflect their own interests.
Adults are practical, focusing on the aspects of a lesson most useful to them in their
work. They may not be interested in knowledge for its own sake. Instructors must tell
participants explicitly how the lesson will be useful to them on the job.

As do all learners, adults need to be shown respect. Instructors must acknowledge the
wealth of experiences that adult participants bring to the classroom. These adults
should be treated as equals in experience and knowledge and allowed to voice their
opinions freely in class.
Motivating the Adult Learner
Another aspect of adult learning is motivation. At least six factors serve as sources of
motivation for adult learning:
Social relationships: to make new friends, to meet a need for associations and
friendships.
External expectations: to comply with instructions from someone else; to fulfill the
expectations or recommendations of someone with formal authority.
Social welfare: to improve ability to serve mankind, prepare for service to the
community, and improve ability to participate in community work.
Personal advancement: to achieve higher status in a job, secure professional
advancement, and stay abreast of competitors.
Escape/Stimulation: to relieve boredom, provide a break in the routine of home or
work, and provide a contrast to other exacting details of life.

Cognitive interest: to learn for the sake of learning, seek knowledge for its own
sake, and to satisfy an inquiring mind.
Barriers and Motivation

Unlike children and teenagers, adults have many responsibilities that they must balance
against the demands of learning. Because of these responsibilities, adults have barriers
against participating in learning. Some of these barriers include lack of time, money,
confidence, or interest, lack of information about opportunities to learn, scheduling
problems, "red tape," and problems with child care and transportation.

Motivation factors can also be a barrier. What motivates adult learners? Typical motivations
include a requirement for competence or licensing, an expected (or realized) promotion, job
enrichment, a need to maintain old skills or learn new ones, a need to adapt to job changes,
or the need to learn in order to comply with company directives.

The best way to motivate adult learners is simply to enhance their reasons for enrolling and
decrease the barriers. Instructors must learn why their students are enrolled (the motivators);
they have to discover what is keeping them from learning. Then the instructors must plan
their motivating strategies. A successful strategy includes showing adult learners the
relationship between training and an expected promotion.
Learning Tips for Effective Instructors

Educators must remember that learning occurs within each individual as a continual process
throughout life. People learn at different speeds, so it is natural for them to be anxious or
nervous when faced with a learning situation. Positive reinforcement by the instructor can
enhance learning, as can proper timing of the instruction.

Learning results from stimulation of the senses. In some people, one sense is used more than
others to learn or recall information. Instructors should present materials that stimulates as
many senses as possible in order to increase their chances of teaching success.

There are four critical elements of learning that must be addressed to ensure that participants
learn. These elements are

1. motivation
2. reinforcement
 3. retention
4. transference

Motivation. If the participant does not recognize the need for the information (or has been
offended or intimidated), all of the instructor's effort to assist the participant to learn will be
in vain. The instructor must establish rapport with participants and prepare them for
learning; this provides motivation. Instructors can motivate students via several means:

Set a feeling or tone for the lesson. Instructors should try to establish a friendly,
open atmosphere that shows the participants they will help them learn.
Set an appropriate level of concern. The level of tension must be adjusted to meet
the level of importance of the objective. If the material has a high level of
importance, a higher level of tension/stress should be established in the class.
However, people learn best under low to moderate stress; if the stress is too high, it
becomes a barrier to learning.
Set an appropriate level of difficulty. The degree of difficulty should be set high
enough to challenge participants but not so high that they become frustrated by
information overload. The instruction should predict and reward participation,
culminating in success.

In addition, participants need specific knowledge of their learning results (feedback ).

Feedback must be specific, not general. Participants must also see a reward for learning. The
reward does not necessarily have to be monetary; it can be simply a demonstration of
benefits to be realized from learning the material. Finally, the participant must be interested
in the subject. Interest is directly related to reward. Adults must see the benefit of learning in
order to motivate themselves to learn the subject.

Reinforcement. Reinforcement is a very necessary part of the teaching/learning process;

through it, instructors encourage correct modes of behavior and performance.

Positive reinforcement is normally used by instructors who are teaching participants

new skills. As the name implies, positive reinforcement is "good" and reinforces
"good" (or positive) behavior.
Negative reinforcement is normally used by instructors teaching a new skill or new
information. It is useful in trying to change modes of behavior. The result of negative
reinforcement is extinction -- that is, the instructor uses negative reinforcement until
the "bad" behavior disappears, or it becomes extinct.

When instructors are trying to change behaviors (old practices), they should apply both
positive and negative reinforcement.

Reinforcement should be part of the teaching-learning process to ensure correct behavior.

Instructors need to use it on a frequent and regular basis early in the process to help the
students retain what they have learned. Then, they should use reinforcement only to maintain
consistent, positive behavior.

Retention. Students must retain information from classes in order to benefit from the
learning. The instructors' jobs are not finished until they have assisted the learner in retaining
the information. In order for participants to retain the information taught, they must see a
meaning or purpose for that information. The must also understand and be able to interpret
and apply the information. This understanding includes their ability to assign the correct
degree of importance to the material.

The amount of retention will be directly affected by the degree of original learning. Simply
stated, if the participants did not learn the material well initially, they will not retain it well
either.

Retention by the participants is directly affected by their amount of practice during the
learning. Instructors should emphasize retention and application. After the students
demonstrate correct (desired) performance, they should be urged to practice to maintain the
desired performance. Distributed practice is similar in effect to intermittent reinforcement.

Transference. Transfer of learning is the result of training -- it is the ability to use the
information taught in the course but in a new setting. As with reinforcement, there are two
types of transfer: positive and negative.

Positive transference, like positive reinforcement, occurs when the participants uses
the behavior taught in the course.
Negative transference, again like negative reinforcement, occurs when the
participants do not do what they are told not to do. This results in a positive (desired)
outcome.

Transference is most likely to occur in the following situations:

Association -- participants can associate the new information with something that
they already know.
Similarity -- the information is similar to material that participants already know; that
is, it revisits a logical framework or pattern.
Degree of original learning -- participant's degree of original learning was high.
Critical attribute element -- the information learned contains elements that are
extremely beneficial (critical) on the job.

Although adult learning is relatively new as field of study, it is just as substantial as

traditional education and carries and potential for greater success. Of course, the heightened
success requires a greater responsibility on the part of the teacher. Additionally, the learners
come to the course with precisely defined expectations. Unfortunately, there are barriers to
their learning. The best motivators for adult learners are interest and selfish benefit. If they
can be shown that the course benefits them pragmatically, they will perform better, and the
benefits will be longer lasting.
Pedagogy:
Learning Styles

File updated Aug. 11, 1996

Updated by: Jessica Blackmore

Outline
Introduction

Adult Learning Styles

o What motivates adult learners?

o What are the barriers to adult learning?
o Differences between men's and women's learning styles

Learning Style Preferences

o Kolb's Theory of Learning Styles

Diagram of Kolb's Learning Styles
o Gardner's Multiple Intelligences

Implications for Instruction

Learning Styles Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

The education literature suggests that students who are actively engaged in the learning process
will be more likely to achieve success (Dewar 1995; Hartman 1995, Leadership Project 1995).
Once students are actively engaged in their own learning process they begin to feel empowered
and their personal achievement and self-direction levels rise.

A key to getting (and keeping) students actively involved in learning lies in understanding
learning style preferences, which can positively or negatively influence a student's performance
(Birkey & Rodman 1995; Dewar 1995; Hartman 1995). It has also been shown that adjusting
teaching materials to meet the needs of a variety of learning styles benefits all students (Agogino
& Hsi 1995; Kramer-Koehler, Tooney & Beke 1995).

Schroeder (1996) points out that the "typical" student learning style profile is changing on
campuses today and there is a much greater variation in the range of learning style preferences to
be considered. Therefore it would be wise to understand what learning style preferences are, and
how to address them when preparing instructional materials for adults.
Birkey & Rodman point out that, just as there are "striking differences in the way people learn
and process information...there are significant differences in how learning styles are defined and
measured (1995)." Perhaps the most important thing an instructor can do is be aware that there
are diverse learning styles in the student population! First I will summarize some of the most
well known theories of learning styles. Then I will show how a knowledge of these learning
styles can guide you in the development of appropriate instructional strategies.

Back to Learning Styles Outline

ADULT LEARNING STYLES

What makes adult learners different from kids? Knowles theory of andragogy (adult learning) is
an attempt to differentiate the way adults learn from the way children learn. A number of
assumptions are made based on this theory as outlined by Cantor (1992, 36-37) and Cranton
(1992, 13-14, 49):
adults are autonomous and self-directed
adults are goal oriented
adults are relevancy oriented (problem centered)--they need to know why they are
learning something
adults are practical and problem-solvers
adults have accumulated life experiences

Kearsley summarizes what this means to instructors in practical terms: "andragogy means that
instruction for adults needs to focus more on the process and less on the content being taught.
Strategies such as case studies, role playing, simulations, and self-evaluations are most useful.
Instructors adopt a role of facilitator or resource rather than lecturer or grader (1996)."

Back to Learning Styles Outline

What Motivates Adult Learners?

Adults typically, have different motivations for learning than children such as those pointed out
by Cantor (1992, 37-38):

to make or maintain social relationships

to meet external expectations--the boss says you have to upgrade skill X to keep your job
learn to better serve others -- managers often learn basic First Aid to protect their
employees
professional advancement
escape or stimulation
pure interest

Instructors should be aware of the possible motivations behind their students' enrollment. Then
they can better shape the instructional materials.

Back to Learning Styles Outline

What Are the Barriers to Adult Learning?

Cantor also points out the adults have different barriers than children on their way to learning.
Some of these potential barriers might include (1992, 39):
 many other responsibilities (families, careers, social commitments)
lack of time
lack of money
lack of child care
scheduling problems
transportation problems
insufficient confidence
having to learn, if told by boss, but not interested or ready

Back to Learning Styles Outline

Differences Between Men's and Women's Learning Styles

Not only do adults have different learning styles than children, but men and women do not
approach the world of "thinking" in quite the same way either! In 1968, William Perry did a
study of undergraduate New England college students (male). From this study he determined that
young men pass through a developmental sequence in their thinking modes. Perry isolated nine
stages in the sequence, but in outline the stages form this pattern (Bodi 1988; Cranton 1992, 47;
McNeer 1991):

Perry's "Developmental Process"

1. male students see the world as black/white, right/wrong--they are convinced there IS one
right answer
2. male students see there is diversity of opinion, but feel that authorities that describe
diversity are poorly qualified, or just "exercising students" so students will be forced to
find the "right answer" themselves
3. male students begin to feel that diversity is temporary. They feel that maybe the "right"
answer just hasn't been found yet
4. male students understand that diversity is a legitimate state, but they would still prefer to
know what is "right"
5. male students see that everyone has a right to his or her own opinion
6. finally the male student develops a personal commitment to the relativistic world...

Nearly 20 years later, Belenky et al. wondered how women fit into this "male" scale (if at all). In
their 1986 study they discovered that women indeed do have different "ways of knowing."
Unlike Perry developmental stages, Belenky et al. chose not to describe the way women think in
a staged sequence, although women do move from one style of thinking to others as they mature
and gain life experience. In outline, Belenky et al. found that women have the following possible
"ways of knowing."

Belenky et al. "Women's Ways of Knowing"

silence: women students feel mindless and voiceless, subject to whims of external
authority
received knowledge: women students feel they can receive knowledge, but not create it
subjective knowledge: truth and knowledge are private and subjectively known or
intuited
procedural knowledge: women students are invested in learning and applying objective
procedures for obtaining and communicating knowledge
 constructed knowledge: women students view knowledge as contextual and can create
knowledge found objectively or subjectively

With those two "thinking structures" in the background, let's turn to some specific theories on
learning styles that have come out of writings in education and psychology.

Back to Learning Styles Outline

LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES

Litzinger & Osif describe learning styles as "the different ways in which children and adults
think and learn (1992, 73)." They see that each of us develops a preferred and consistent set of
behaviors or approaches to learning. In order to better understand the learning process, they
break it down into several processes:
1. cognition--how one acquires knowledge
2. conceptualization--how one processes information. There are those who are always
looking for connections among unrelated events. Meanwhile for others, each event
triggers a multitude of new ideas.
3. affective--people's motivation, decision making styles, values and emotional preferences
will also help to define their learning styles.

A number of people have tried to "catalogue" the ranges of learning styles in more detail than
this. Kolb is perhaps one of the best known and his thinking is outlined below.

Back to Learning Styles Outline

Kolb's Theory of Learning Styles

First Kolb showed that learning styles could be seen on a continuum running from:
1. concrete experience: being involved in a new experience
2. reflective observation: watching others or developing observations about own experience
3. abstract conceptualization: creating theories to explain observations
4. active experimentation: using theories to solve problems, make decisions

Hartman (1995) took Kolb's learning styles and gave examples of how one might teach to each
them:
1. for the concrete experiencer--offer laboratories, field work, observations or trigger films
2. for the reflective observer--use logs, journals or brainstorming
3. for the abstract conceptualizer--lectures, papers and analogies work well
4. for the active experimenter--offer simulations, case studies and homework

Although Kolb thought of these learning styles as a continuum that one moves through over
time, usually people come to prefer, and rely on, one style above the others. And it is these main
styles that instructors need to be aware of when creating instructional materials. In order to find
out more about each of Kolb's learning styles, and how to teach to them, you may choose to click
on any of the learning style names in the diagram below.
 (Diagram from Litzinger and Osif 1992, 79)
If you cannot see the image, you may click on the word that interests you instead.

Accommodators | Assimilators | Convergers | Divergers

Back to Learning Styles Outline

Gardner's Multiple Intelligences

Gardner chose to look at learning styles in a different light. Winters (1995) and Wang (1996)
provided the following summary of Gardener's Multiple Intelligences:
plays with words (Vernal/Linguistic)
plays with questions (Logical/Mathematical)
plays with pictures (Visual/Spatial)
plays with music (Music/Rhythmic)
plays with moving (Body/Kinesthetic)
plays with socializing (Interpersonal)
plays alone (Intrapersonal)

Again, each of us uses some of these styles when learning, but we tend to prefer a small number
of methods over the rest.

Back to Learning Styles Outline

IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION

So where to all these lists of learning styles leave us? You may well wonder. There are probably
as many ways to "teach" as there are to learn. Perhaps the most important thing is to be aware
that people do not all see the world in the same way. They may have very different preferences
than you for how, when, where and how often to learn.

Wang (1996) gives examples of how instructional strategies can accommodate different learning
styles. The University of Akron's Virtual Classroom is an excellent demonstration of online
courses that provide a wide range of activities to suit a variety of learning styles. For example,
the website for their online course Introduction to General, Organic and Biochemistry offers:

a course syllabus
copies of the lecture slides
animations of chemical molecules (you can see them from all sides)
an interactive (HTML) periodic table
chapter summaries
practice exams!

For a detailed discussion of possible teaching methods, you might want to consult Paulsen. He
has organized the world of instructional strategies into four main types (based on the number and
type of interaction there is between students, teachers and among students). Below you will find
an outline of just some of the strategies he discusses in The Online Report on Pedagogical
Techniques for Computer-Mediated Communication (1995).

1. One-alone: Online Resources Paradigm

In these models the student is a self directed learner, often only interacting with online
resources. These activities will tend to be heavily structured but they require minimal
interactivity on the part of the instructor.
o Online databases
o Online journals
o Online interest groups
o Interviews
2. One-to-One: the Email Paradigm
These instructional methods are characterized by individual and individualized
instruction and learning. Often these techniques rely heavily on the personal relationship
between the student and the teacher.
o Learning contracts
o Apprenticeships
o Correspondence studies
3. One-to-Many: the Bulletin Board Paradigm
In these teaching methods, students are exposed to one or more experts in a given subject
area. Usually these methods imply passivity on the part of the learner.
o Lectures
o Symposia
o Skits
4. Many-to-Many techniques: the Conferencing Paradigm
Paulsen points out that a characteristic of these techniques is "that all participants have
the opportunity to take part in the interaction (1995)."
o Discussion groups
o Debates
o Simulations
o Case Studies
 o Role Plays
o Brainstorming
o Group projects

Remember, the important thing is to recognize that not everybody is comfortable and productive
within the same learning style mold. We hope you can use some of the ideas you have been
exposed to here to develop varied, experiential and interactive teaching materials, which will
engage and encourage a wide variety of students!

Back to Learning Styles Outline

Learning Styles Bibliography

Agogino, Alice M., and Sherry Hsi. 1995. Learning style based innovations to improve retention
of female engineering students in the Synthesis Coalition. In ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education
'95: Proceedings. Purdue University.
http://fairway.ecn.purdue.edu/asee/fie95/4a2/4a21/4a21.htm

Belenky, Mary Field, Blythe McVicker Clinchy, Nancy Rule Goldberger, and Jill Mattuck
Tarule. 1986. Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind. New York:
Basic Books.

Birkey, Richard C., and Joseph J. Rodman. 1995. Adult Learning Styles and Preference for
Technology Programs. http://www2.nu.edu/nuri/llconf/conf1995/birkey.html:National University
Research Institute.

Bodi, Sonia. 1988. Critical thinking and bibliographic instruction: the Relationship. Journal of
Academic Librarianship 14, no. 3: 150-153.

Cantor, Jeffrey A. 1992. Delivering Instruction to Adult Learners. Toronto: Wall & Emerson. (pp.
35-43.)

Cranton, Patricia. 1992. Working with Adult Learners. Toronto: Wall & Emerson. (pp. 13-15 and
40-63.)

Dewar, Tammy. 1996. Adult Learning Online. http://www.cybercorp.net/~tammy/lo/oned2.html

Hartman, Virginia F. 1995. Teaching and learning style preferences: Transitions through
technology. VCCA Journal 9, no. 2 Summer: 18-20. http://www.so.cc.va.us/vcca/hart1.htm

Kearsley, Greg. 1996. Andragogy (M. Knowles). Washington DC: George Washington
University. http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu:80/~kearsley/knowles.html

---. 1996. Cognitive/Learning Styles. Washington DC: George Washington University.

http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu:80/~kearsley/styles.html

Kerka, Sandra. 1993. Women, human development, and learning. ERIC Digest. Columbus, OH:
ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education. ED 358379.
Knowles, M.S. 1970. The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy vs. Pedagogy. New
York: Association Press.

Kramer-Koehler, Pamela, Nancy M. Tooney, and Devendra P. Beke. The Use of learning style
innovations to improve retention. In ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education '95: Proceedings.
Purdue University. http://fairway.ecn.purdue.edu/asee/fie95/4a2/4a22/4a22.htm

Leadership Project. 1995. Adult Learning Principles & Practice. Toronto: Sheridan College.
http://www.sheridanc.on.ca/wwwtst/AS/LeadershipProject/adultlearn.html

Litzinger, Mary Ellen, and Bonnie Osif. 1993. Accommodating diverse learning styles:
Designing instruction for electronic information sources. In What is Good Instruction Now?
Library Instruction for the 90s. ed. Linda Shirato. Ann Arbor, MI: Pierian Press.

McNeer, Elizabeth J. 1991. Learning theories and library instruction. Journal of Academic
Librarianship 17, no. 5: 294-97.

Open Learning Technology Corporation. 1996. Learning Theories.

http://www.oltc.edu.au/cp/04.html: Open Learning Technology Corporation.

Paulsen, Morten Flate. 1995. Online Report on Pedagogical Techniques for Computer-Mediated
Communication. http://gaya.nki.no/~morten/cmcped.htm

Schroeder, Charles C. 1996. New Students--New Learning Styles.

http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/Academia/KierseyLearningStyles.html

Virtual Classroom. 1996. http://odin.chemistry.uakron.edu/classroom.html

Wang, Po-Ching. 1996. Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. Penn State Educational Systems
Design Home Page: Penn State University. http://www.ed.psu.edu/dept/ae-insys-
wfed/INSYS/ESD/Key/Keyschoo/key1.htm

Winters, Elaine. 1995. Seven Styles of Learning: The Part they Play When Developing
Interactivity. http://www.bena.com/ewinters/styles.html

o How We Can Become

More Intelligent Learners and
Teachers

Twelve Characteristics of Intelligent Behavior:

Note: This is not a complete list!

1. Persistence: Persevering when the solution to a problem is

not readily apparent.
2. Decrease Impulsivity: Think before speaking or doing.
3. Listen: Listen to others with empathy and understanding.
 4. Flexibility in Thinking: Consider other options--there's never
one right way to do everything.
5. Metacognition: Try to be aware of your own thinking.
6. Check for Accuracy and Precision: Revise, revise, revise.
7. Questioning and Problem Posing: Be critical in your
questioning.
8. Use Past Knowledge: Draw on what you know and apply it
to new situations.
9. Precise Language and Thought: Use more descriptive
language to communicate more precisely.
10. Use All the Senses: Utilize as many sensory pathways
as possible--visual, tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, olfactory,
and gustatory.
11. Creativity: Use your ingenuity, originality, and
insightful--we are all creative beings.
12. Be Curious: Work on your sense of wonderment and
inquisitiveness--learn to enjoy problem solving and develop
a sense of efficacy as a thinker.

Adult Learning
Intelligence and Adult Development Transformative Learning

Assumptions of Andragogy Motives and Barriers for Learning

Kinds of Learning and Settings for Learning Principles for Effective Adult Learning

Want to Increase Your Intelligence?

"Perspectives on adult learning have changed dramatically over the decades.

Adult learning has been viewed as a process of being freed from the
oppression of being illiterate, a means of gaining knowledge and skills, a way
to satisfy learner needs, and a process of critical self-reflection that can lead
to transformation. The phenomenon of adult learning is complex and difficult
to capture in any one definition." From: Cranton, P. (1994). Understanding
and Promoting Transformative Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 3.

Well, there you have it folks--yet another area of adult education that is
difficult to define! As you well know, the area of adult learning is extremely
broad. The information in this section will certainly not do justice to all of the
information that has been published on this subject. What you will find here
are some of the main points that are examined in ADE 5385 (Adult Learning).
As usual, check your list of readings from this class for a fuller picture of
what adult learning includes.

Intelligence and Adult Development

What is Intelligence?

There are many definitions and theories of intelligence and how it can or
should be measured, "Intelligence has been most often studies from the
psychometric tradition which assumes that it is a measurable construct"
(Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, p. 170). But there are other views as well;
information processing, contextual perspectives, and practical intelliegence.
There are many questions to ask ourselves about intelligence:

Does intelligence exist?

Can intelligence be measured? If so, how? And what do we gain by
measuring it?
Does intelligence consist of a single factor or several factors?
Are there different kinds of intelligence?
Are we born with a certain "level" of intelligence or do we develop this
(or lose this) as we mature?
What role does culture play in intelligence--how could it affect how we
measure intelligence?

Below are brief explanations of several well-known theories of intelligence.

Caffarella, R. & Merriam, S. (1999). Learning in Adulthood 2nd Edition. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Some Theories of Intelligence

Cattell: Intelligence consists of two primary factors (fluid and crystallized

intelligence) each with different origins. Fluid intelligence is, "...the ability to
perceive complex relations and engage in short-term memory, concept
formation, reasoning, and abstraction" (p. 175). Crystallized intelligence is
influenced more heavily by education and experience. There is no single test
that measures both fluid and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence is
generally thought to peak in adolescence and crystallized intelligence is
beleived to increase or remain stable during most of adulthood. There have,
however, been studies done to see if fluid intelligence can be restored or
improved as people age (p. 175).
Gardner: Intelligence has been too narrowly defined--we tend to measure
only logical and linguistic abilities, ignoring other areas of competence.
Gardner believes that intelligence is not a single construct--there are
multiple intelligences and he has identified eight kinds: Verbal/Linguistic,
Musical, Logical/Mathematical, Spatial/Visual, Bodily/Kinesthetic,
Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist Gardner's theory offers some
explanation as to why people can perform certain tasks very well, but
perform less well or poorly on others.His theory has also sparked much
debate in the fields of education and psychology on how intelligence is
measured (pp.177-8).

Sternberg: Intelligence is composed of three subtheories: 1) a

componential subtheory describing the internal mental mechanisms and
processes involved in intelligence, 2) an experiential subtheory focusing on
how a person's experience with a set of tasks or situations may affect his/her
handling of those tasks; and 3) a contextual subtheory emphasizing the role
of the external environment in determining what constitutes intelligent
behavior in a situation. The first part of this theory is seen as universal and
the other two have universal and relativistic components (p. 179) Merriam
and Caffarella write: "All three intelligences are interrelated and therefore are
needed in adult life. Sternberg stresses that it is not enough just to have
these three abilities; rather, people are successfully intelligent when they are
able to choose how and when to use these abilities effectively" (p. 180).

Goleman: Goleman believes that we have two ways of knowing: The rational
and the emotional. Both of these ways of knowing are intertwined, but
emotional intelligence is a greater determiner of success in life. There are
five domains of emotional intelligence: "knowing one's emotions, managing
emotions, motivating oneself, recognizing emotions in others, and handling
relationshps" (p. 181). Merriam and Caffarella (1999) note that Goleman is
not the only theorist who sees the importance of emotional intelligence--both
Gardner and Sternberg's theories deal in some ways with this idea.

Intelligence and Aging

Does our intelligence keep increasing as we age? Merriam and Caffarella

have this to say: "Whether adults lose their intellectual abilities as they age
is still open to question for a number of reasons, including a lack of
consistent research methodologies and tools. The most common response is
to this important issue is that adult intelligence appears relatively stable, at
least until the sixth or seventh decade. If a decline in functioning does exist,
it appears to apply primarily to the maximum versus average levels of
functioning. In reflecting on the issue of aging and intelligence, remember
that myths promote powerful images, whether the myth is grounded in fact
or fiction. It has been difficult for educators and researchers alike to give up
the stereotype that young equals sharp and older means dull." (1991, p. 158)
Learning Processes and Aging

Physical and cognitive changes that take place as we age are important to
note because they can have an affect on our learning:

Older learners have slower reaction times than younger learners. We

need more time to learn new things as we age, however, when adults
can control the pace of learning, they can often effectively compensate
for their lack of speed and learn new things successfully.(1981)
Vision generally declines from the age of 18 to 40. After 40 there is a
sharp decline for the next 15 years, but after age 55 the decline in
vision occurs at a slower rate. (1981)
Around age 70 our hearing begins to decline sharply and we begin
experiencing problems with pitch, volume, and rate of response. Loss
of hearing can be compensated for through the use of hearing aids, but
often older learners may be embarrassed by their hearing loss and feel
less confident. This decline in confidence can become a greater
hindrance to learning than the physical disability. (1981)
Few changes have been found in both sensory and short-term memory
as we age, but long term memory declines. Older adults have a harder
time acquiring and retrieving information and they experience
difficulties in organizing new material and in processing it. Older adults
are not as able as younger learners in tests of recall, but the
differences between older and younger learners in tests of recognition
are small or nonexistent. (1991)
When contextual learning approaches are used, less decline is found in
the memory process as we age.(1991)
The greatest problems with memory for older learners occur with
meaningless learning, complex learning, and the learning of new things
that require reassessment of old learning. (1991)

Taken from: Merriam, S. & Caffarella, R. (1991). Learning in Adulthood. San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 159-180.

Cross, P. (1981). Adults as Learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 152-185.

Merriam and Caffarella (1999) make three points about how new information
on intelligence in adulthood is valuable for educators:
"The first is the framing of more holistic conceptions of adult
intelligence that are grounded in the real lives of adults of all colors,
races, and ethnic backgrounds" (p.188). We now look not only at the
individual's mind, but also at how the individual and the context
interact to mold intellect.
We are beginning to have a better understanding of how internal and
external factors can improve intellectual abilities, "This is especially
important as life expectancy has increased dramatically, especially in
developed nations" (pp. 188-189).
Because we know that adult intelligence is much more than a score on
an IQ test, adult educators can have a tremendous impact on helping
their learners, especially older learners, continue to maintain and even
increase their intellectual abilities, "We need to think through carefully
what intellectual abilities and skills are the most useful for adults, both
young and old, and could be amenable to educational interventions"
(p. 189).

Adult Development

When we talk about how children learn, we often focus on the

developmental stages that children go through as they mature. Adults
likewise go through developmental stages which can be grouped
chronologically or sociologically (i.e. grouped according to socially
defined roles of adults). There is a difference between life-cycle phases
and developmental stages. Life-cycle phases are phases which people
pass through from birth to death--these phases are not part of a
continuous flow toward growth and maturity. Developmental stages are
more concerned with personality or ego development. While phases
and stages may inform one another, they are not the same thing.

Cross, P. (1981). Adults as Learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 152-

185.

Another excellent source for info on adult development is Chapter 3 of

Daloz's Effective Teaching and Mentoring (1986). Daloz presents three
"maps" of how adults develop:

o Levinson One of the famous "phase theorists," Levinson's map

divides men's lives (yeah, I know, I'll address that point a bit
later) into four main eras: Childhood/Adolescence, Early
Adulthood, Middle Adulthood, and Late Adulthood. He pays
special attention to transitional times between the eras and
focuses on the patterns of building, breaking, and rebuilding of
men's lives as they age. His map can be imagined as an
ascending stairway, and Levinson is quite specific about age
groups (i.e. at 20, men enter the adult world, at 35 they settle
down, etc.)
o Kegan Kegan's theory can be imagined as an upward spiraling
helix, "Beginning stages (Kegan prefers to call them balances, a
term that better catches the dynamic nature of development) are
characterized by impulsiveness and self-centeredness; these
yield to a more 'other-centered' stance, in which interpersonal
relationships and mutuality are paramount; this in turn gives way
to the birth of a new and more separate self, from which finally
evolves an "interindividual balance" in which the tension
between "self" and "other" reaches a new synthesis. From this
position one is able both to maintain a clear sense of self and yet
to merge with others, dissolving and reforming one's
separateness when appropriate" (p. 65). Daloz goes on to point
out that Kegan sees adult development as "a series of
transformations of how we see ourselves in relation to others"
(p.66).
o Perry Imagine Perry's model as a continuum with nine positions.
The positions move from dualistic thinking to greater contextual
relativism, "...we will function predominantly in one range or
another,and although a contextual thinker may on occasion
operate dualistically, a dualistic thinker will not think
contextually...Perry's positions are hierarchical and essentially
invariant: each rests on the one before it, and there are no
shortcuts. At the same time, however, people may move through
two positions in a brief burst, or remain for long periods at a
single position. Occasionally, they even retreat to an earlier
stance" (p.81).

Keep in mind, however, that many developmental theorists, like

Levinson, based their ideas on men's development--and as usual,
we're talking about white, middle-class men...so what about the
rest of us? (One point, however, in 1996, Levinson replicated his
study using women, see The Season's of a Woman's Life.
Information about this is also mentioned in the 2nd ed. of
Learning in Adulthood.)Certainly, the above models can be used
to examine the adult development of many kinds of people, but
more recently, scholars have begun to look at how socio-
economic factors, gender, and ethnicity can impact
development. Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule (1986)
used an all-female sample for their work Women's Ways of
Knowing Labouvie-Vief has studied how context can influence
development, instead of using age as a marker, she suggests
looking at major life events. These are just two examples, for a
very informative survey of adult development research, see
Merriam and Caffarella's chapter 7 in Learning in Adulthood
(1999).

Wait! Before you dash off to the next section, think about some
of these questions offered by Susan Imel, "When thinking about
serving older adults, some questions for adult, career, and
vocational educators that emerge from these trends include the
following:

What type of learning activities can be developed to

address the changing work and family responsibilities of
older adults?
Is it feasible to link age-integrated programming with
existing programs?
How can educational institutions support informal, self-
directed learning of older adults? Educational programs for
older adults?

From: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational

Education Trends and Issues Alerts, "A New Look at Older Adults,"
1997.
 Assumptions of Andragogy
"Andragogy is simply another model of assumptions about
learners to be used alongside the pedagogical model of
assumptions, thereby providing two alternative models for
testing out the assumptions as to their 'fit' with particular
situations. Furthermore, the models are probably most useful
when seen not as dichotomous but rather as two ends of a
spectrum, with a realistic assumption in a given situation falling
in between the two ends." From: Knowles, M. (1980). The Modern
Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy 2nd ed.
New York: Association Press.

Knowles' Andragogical Assumptions

Concept of the During the process of maturation, a person moves from

Learner dependency toward increasing self-directedness, but at
different rates for different people and in different
dimensions of life. Teachers have a responsibility to
encourage and nurture this movement. Adults have a dee
psychological need to be generally self-directing, but they
may be dependent in certain temporary situations.

Role of the As people grow and develop they accumulate an increasi

Learner's reservoir of experience that becomes and increasingly ric
Experience resource for learning--for themselves and for others.
Furthermore, people attach more meaning to learnings th
gain from experience than those they acquire passively.
Accordingly, the primary techniques in education are
experiential ones--laboratory experiments, discussion,
problem-solving cases, field experiences, etc.

Readiness to Learn People become ready to learn something when they

experience a need to learn it in order to cope more
satisfyingly with real-life tasks and problems. The educato
has a responsibility to create conditions and provide tools
and procedures for helping learners discover their "needs
know." Learning programs should be organized around life
application categories and sequenced according to the
learners' readiness to learn.
Orientation to Learners see education as a process of developing increa
Learning competence to achieve their full potential in life. They wa
to be able to apply whatever knowledge and skill they ga
today to living more effectively tomorrow. Accordingly,
learning experiences should be organized around
competency-development categories. People are
performance-centered in their orientation to learning.

A table comparing pedagogy and andragogy can be found on

pp.43-44 of the above-mentioned book. I have not included
pedagogy here because I think that using a table for comparison
"tricks" us into seeing dichotomies. Andragogy and pedagogy
can be used with kids and adults--they are ends of a continuum.
Still, while looking at the above chart, ask yourself if and how
kids differ from adult learners.

Kinds of Learning and Settings for

Learning
When we discuss adult learning, we need to clarify whether we're
talking about the learning itself, the design and facilitation of the
learning, or where the learning is taking place. As you can
imagine, there are scores of charts and lists out there describing
every possible kind of learning and various educational settings.
Below, you'll find a sampling of a few of these ideas (it's much
easier to digest that way!).

Kinds of Learning

Cranton does a very nice job of quickly running through kinds of

knowledge and kinds of learning and it goes somethin' like this:

Habermas' Three Domains of Knowledge

Technical Knowledge: includes information about cause and
effect relationships in the environment and behavioristic learning
theories.

Practical Knowledge: Concerned with understanding what

others mean; includes understanding social norms, values,
political concepts, and making ourselves understood--humanistic
learning theories are partly involved in this.

Emancipatory Knowledge: gained through critical self-

reflection and can be seen as a component of the constuctivist
paradigm. Mezirow's theory of transformative learning is
concerned with this kind of knowledge. (p. 9)

Mezirow's Three Domains of Learning

Instrumental: gaining of technical knowledge

Communicative: gaining of practical knowledge
Emancipatory: gaining of emancipatory knowledge (p. 9).

Cranton's Three Perspectives of Adult Learning

Note: While reading this, ask yourself if Cranton is assuming that

there's an external agent involved in facilitating the learning?
What about self-directed learning?

Subject-Oriented Learning: The goal is to acquire content

(e.g. facts, problem solving strategies, practical or technical
skills); it is positivistic and most often meets the expectations of
the learner and is, therefore, comfortable. The expert makes the
decisions, not the learner.

Consumer-Oriented Learning: Takes place when an individual

expresses a need to learn, looks to the educator for fulfillment of
those needs, and then proceeds to learn under the guidance of
the educator. The learner makes each decision about learning--
for this reason, this kind of learning falls under constructivism.

Emancipatory Learning: A process of freeing ourselves from

forces that limit our options and our control over our lives, forces
that have been taken for granted or seen as beyond our control.
This kind of learning is constructivist in nature and can be
transformative. At times this learning occurs independently of
the educator; at other times it is fostered deliberately. Unlike the
other two kinds of learning, emancipatory learning is often a
difficult and painful process. (pp.10-20).
All of the above taken from: Cranton, C. (1994). Understanding
and Promoting Transformative Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-
Bass, 3-21.

Situated Cognition

Situated cognition sees context as central in understanding how

adults know something. It is, "based on the idea that what we
know and the meanings we attach to what we know are socially
constructed. Thus, learning and knowing are intimately linked to
real-life situations" (p.156). This is not a new idea, but, as
Merriam and Brockett note, adult educators are becoming more
committed to respecting the role of context in learning by looking
beyond individual psychology and by creating real-life contexts
for learning. (The Profession and Practice of Adult Education,
1997).

Settings for Learning

When you read about providers of adult education, you usually

only see the kinds of learning that are attached to specific
educational institutions, but learning can happen in many kinds
of settings. Several educators have attempted to come up with
frameworks to include learning in nontraditional settings. There
is some overlap here between the settings and the kinds of
learning that takes place in them. And, as you've seen in kinds of
learning, the framework ranges from having external direction to
self-direction. (Both are educational, but one tends to emphasize
instruction, the other learning.) From: Apps, J (1989). "Providers
of Adult and Continuing Education: A Framework." In Merriam, S.
and Cunningham, P. (Eds.) Handbook of Adult and Continuing
Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 275-286.

Coombs' Framework

Formal Learning: Schools and universities

Nonformal Learning: Organized outside the formal system
Informal Learning: From everyday interactions

Coombs introduced informal learning as a legitimate source of

adult learning--as equally important as learning provided in
formal, full-time study settings. (p. 277)

Type of Education Definition Examples

Formal Education Sequences of learning that are High school educat

socially organized, goal-directed diploma-granting v
and certified by a diploma or education, higher e
 degree having currency in the degrees
public educational system.

Nonformal Sequences of learning that are CPR training, on-the

Education socially organized and goal- training at work, Eld
directed but are not certified by Line dancing class
formal education credentials.

Informal Education Serendipitous or self-directed Learning to change

individual learning resulting from by observation, lea
daily experience to care for one's ch

The idea is Coombs', the table might be from Paulston (1972).

Nonfromal Education This was a class handout and I'm not sure
of the reference.

Peterson's Framework

Deliberate Education and Learning

Unintentional Learning

Peterson puts adult education into the context of the rest of

education; he recognizes the power of the self-directed learner
who chooses a wide variety of approaches to learning; and he
points out the importance of unintentional learning at home,
work, from friends or the mass media, etc. (p.277)

Merriam and Caffarella (1999) discuss settings for learning and

include, for nonformal settings, community-based learning
and indigenous learning. Community-based learning can take
many different forms--citizens of a town gathering to overcome
an issue in their community, cooperative extension programs,
literacy and job skills programs, "A common thread to all of these
programs is their focus on social action and change for the
betterment of some part of the community" (p.30) Indigenous
learning, "...refers to processes and structures people within
particular societies have used to learn about their culture
throughout their history" (Brennan, 1997 cited in Merriam and
Caffarella, 1999, p. 31). This kind of learning is often connected
to oral traditions and indigenous arts and can be used in other
nonformal learning programs to enhance learning.

Self-Directed Learning

"Learning on one's own, being self-directed in one's learning is

itself a context in which learning takes place. The key to placing
a learning experience within this context is that the learner has
the primary responsibility for planning, carrying out, and
evaluating his or her own learning. Participation in self-directed
learning seems almost universal--in fact, an estimated 90
percent of the population is involved with at least one self-
directed learning activity a yearAdults engaging in self-directed
learning do not necessarily follow a definite set of steps or linear
format. In essence, self-directed learning occurs both by design
and chance--depending on the interests, experiences, and
actions of individual learners and the circumstances in which
they find themselvesSelf-directed learning does not necessarily
mean learning in isolation--assistance is often sought from
friends, experts, and acquaintances in both the planning and
execution of the learning activity." From: Merriam, S. & Caffarella,
R. (1991). Learning in Adulthood. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 54-
55.

A word to teachers: Self-directed learners are not necessarily

students who work alone and need no guidance from an
instructor. As a teacher or trainer, you may have learners who
wish to be more self-directed than they are capable of being.
Brookfield points out that our function as facilitators is to
challenge our learners to examine their ways of thinking and
doing--regardless of their level of self-direction.

"To say one is meeting felt learner needs sounds humanistic,

learner-centered, and admirably democratic, yet to do so without
allowing one's own ideas, experience, insights, and knowledge as
an educator to contribute to the educational process makes the
facilitator a service manager, not a full participating contributor.
It also condemns learners to staying within their own paradigms
of thinking, feeling, and behaving." From: Brookfield. S.
Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 21.

Candy's Four Dimensions of SDL

11 Personal Autonomy (SDL as a person attribute)

11 Self-Management (SDL as the willingness and capacity to
conduct one's own education)
11 Learner Control ( SDL as a mode of organizing instruction in
formal settings)
11 Autodidaxy (SDL as the individual noninstitutional pursuit
of learning opportunities in the "natural society setting")

Cranton uses Candy's dimensions as a framework for some of her

writing on this subject; See Cranton. P. (1996). Professional
Development as Transformative Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-
Bass, 50-74.

How can I use this in my practice?

Read Gerald Grow's article, "Teaching Learners to be Self-Directed." The
on-line version has cartoons, too! Below is the abstract from the
article to whet your appetite. From: Adult Education Quarterly,
Vol. 41, No. 3, Spring 1991, pp. 125-149,

Abstract: Based on the Situational Leadership model of Hersey

and Blanchard, the Staged Self-Directed Learning Model proposes
that learners advance through stages of increasing self-direction
and that teachers can help or hinder that development. Good
teaching matches the learner's stage of self-direction and helps
the learner advance toward greater self-direction. Specific
methods are proposed for teaching students at each stage,
although many different teaching styles are good when
appropriately applied. Several pedagogical difficulties are
explained as mismatches between teacher style and learner
stage, especially the mismatch between a student needing
direction and a non-directive teacher. The model is applied to a
course, a single class, and the overall curriculum.

The Learning Organization

Just a quick word on one of the latest areas of study. I won't go

into detail here--we could do a whole web site just on this (in
fact, the folks at Stanford already have, visit their site on Learning
Organizations to learn more)--also, we at FSU offer a course on this
very subject, ADE 5280.

"In learning organizations, learning--whether done by individuals,

groups, or the organization as a whole--is a central, valued, and
integral part of organizational life. The heart of the learning
organization is the willingness of organizations to allow their
employees and other stakeholders related to the organization to
suspend and question the assumptions within which they
operate, then create and examine new ways of solving
organizational problems and means of operating. This process
requires that people at all levels of the organziation be willing to
think within a systems framework, with the emphasis on
collective inquiry, dialogue, and action. Creating learning
organizations could allow educators of adults, whether they are
associated with formal or nonformal settings, to develop learning
communities in which change is accepted as the norm and
innovative practices are embraced" (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999,
p. 44).
 Transformative Learning
Transformative learning is basically the kind of learning we do as
we make meaning of our lives. It's become a very popular topic
in adult education because it doesn't just involve classroom
learning--it involves learning about our lives. This is important
because as adults, the meaning making process can change
everything about how we look at work, family, and the world.

If you read the literature of adult education, you'll find a lot of

theoretical writing on this subject and quite a few studies. One of
the best known experts in this area is a scholar named Jack
Mezirow, who started studying this area in the 1970s. Mezirow
came up with a set of phases that people go through when they
experience transformation and those steps are:

experiencing a disorienting dilemma

self-examination
critical assessment of assumptions
recognizing that others have gone through a similar
process
exploring options
formulating a plan of action
reintegration

Now, as you can see here, transformation is something that is

usually triggered by a problem, and very often transformative
experiences are painful to go through. After identifying their
problem or challenge, people seem to enter a phase where they
reflect critically on this--this is typically a problem that you've
never experienced before, so it takes a lot of thinking and talking
to others to work through. During the thinking phase, people
may find that they can no longer keep their old ways of thinking
and being--they are compelled to change. Finally, there is an
action phase where people decide to do something. This could
mean that you have to break off certain relationships that don't
fit your beliefs anymore; it could mean that you decide to make a
career change--action can take many forms. Also, the process
itself may take a long time. You could reflect on something for
years before you are ready to accept new beliefs and act on
them.

So clearly, transformative learning is not "little" learning, and this

is one of the problems that people have with this whole theory.
For example, what if you go back to school and get a degree--
have you transformed yourself? This is a tough question and the
answer won't be the same for everybody. What Mezirow says is
that learning "can consist of a change in one of our beliefs or
attitudes" (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, p. 320); this is what he
calls a "meaning scheme." But this isn't transformational learning
in Mezirow's opinion. It's only when we change our entire
perspective on something ( our meaning perspective) that we
really transform. So for example, if you said, "Well, I met
someone from another country and now I think totally differently
about that culture," for Mezirow this wouldn't really be
considered a moment of transformative learning. Mezirow would
say that you'd have to engage in all the phases of transformation
first--but this encounter with this person could lead you to start
questioning your assumptions about a lot of things and that
could, in turn, eventually lead to transformation.

A Quick Word About Critical Reflection

Mezirow distinguishes among three kinds of reflection--and

reflection is key in the transformation process:

Content Reflection: Individuals may reflect on the content or

description of a problem. This is similar to Dewey's ideas on
problem solving (p.81).

Process Reflection: Involves thinking about the strategies used

to solve the problem rather than the content of the problem
itself--this is quite a rational and orderly kind of reflection that
does not incorporate intuition.

Premise Reflection: Leads us to question the relevance of the

problem itself--the assumptions, beliefs, or values underlying the
problem are questioned. This process is distinct from problem-
solving and can lead to transformative learning (p. 82).

If the process of reflection leads to an awareness of an invalid,

undeveloped, or distorted meaning scheme or perspective; if
that scheme or perspective is then revised; and if the individual
acts on the revised belief, the development has been
transformative (p. 113).

From: Cranton, P. (1996). Professional Development as

Transformative Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 75-117.

And People Really Buy This Stuff?

As you might have guessed, many people have criticized

Mezirow's ideas. Some of them feel that the idea of phases (see
the bulleted list above) is rather artificial--isn't it possible to
transform instantly? Couldn't it also be possible to transform
without critical reflection? Some people also critique Mezirow's
theory for dealing too much with individuals; they believe that
transformation involves society and that the individual can never
be isolated from society. Other scholars also feel that
transformative learning has to be put into a context to be really
understood as transformation. Basically, what's important to
understand is that this issue is still not settled, and although
Mezirow is considered by many to be the guru of transformative
learning, even he doesn't represent everyone's ideas about this.

As instructors, what should this area of learning mean to us?

Several adult education experts, Mezirow (of course), Brookfield,
and Freire have also written on this area and they see this kind of
learning as central to the goals of adult education. Again, context
plays a role here, and you might disagree with this notion
completely. But basically, the idea is that by "challenging our
abilities to communicate, understand, and learn" (Merriam &
Caffarella, 1999, p. 322), we become able to free ourselves from
our own distorted ideas of the world--this, according to some, is
what adult education is all about.

A Word on Ethics and Transformative Learning

As an educator or trainer, you have to develop your own

philosophy about all of this. You might not feel that this is the
goal of adult education. However, you also need to be aware of
the kinds of learning that you are promoting in your classroom.
Sometimes we set up activities or assignments that get people
started on critically reflecting on something--what if you asked
your learners to discuss why they weren't unionized after they
told you about how unhappy they were with their employer?
Things like this can get people thinking, and while this certainly
isn't a bad thing, it can be inappropriately disruptive--remember
transformative learning can be a painful process. Of course, our
learners are all adults, they have to make their own decisions
and it is almost impossible for us, as educators, to know how to
censure everything that could cause our learners to think!

The point is, that there are times when we are in the position to
trigger some critical reflection and we have to be careful how we
go about doing this. At the same time, we can't force people to
critically reflect on anything and we certainly cannot "schedule
in" transformative learning experiences. In other words, we need
to engage in some critical reflection of our own when it comes to
our own teaching and training practices:

Why do we teach or train the way we do?

What are our goals for our learners and for ourselves as
professionals?
Is critical reflection something needs to be fostered in the
context in which we teach or train?
Once we've become a little clearer on these questions, we'll be
closer to formulating our own opinions on the whole topic of
transformative learning and how it fits into our practice.

For most of the info above and more on this subject see:
Merriam, S. & Caffarella, R. (1999). Learning in adulthood: A
comprehensive guide, 2nd Ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Motives and Barriers for Learning

Why do we participate in learning?

You can probably come up with a long list of reasons on your

own, but as a lowly student, your opinion doesn't count! Here's
what some of the BIG GUYS have come up with:

Houle: Houle divides adult learners into three separate learning

orientations.

Goal Oriented learners use education as a means of

achieving some other goal
Activity Oriented learners participate for the sake of the
activity itself and the social interaction it provides.
Learning Oriented learners seek knowledge for its own
sake.

Houle admits that these are not "pure" types; the orientations
can overlap.

Boshier, Morstain and Smart: Houle wasn't good enough for

these guys--they had to go out and come up with an even longer
list of why adults participate in learning (there's a lot of "list
comparison" that goes on in educational research, isn't there?).
They came up with six factors for participation:

Social Relationships: make friends and meet others.

External Expectations: complying with the wishes of
someone else with authority.
 Social Welfare: desire to serve others and/or community.
Professional Advancement: desire for job enhancement or
professional advancement.
Escape/Stimulation: to alleviate boredom and/or to escape
home or work routine.
Cognitive Interest: learning for the sake of learning itself.

Note: Think critically about this! Cross notes that Houle is

classifying groups of people and Boshier, Morstain and Smart are
identifying clusters of reasons. Houle's looking at characteristic
orientations that motivate learners and Boshier, Morstain and
Smart show multiple reasons existing within the same individual.
The above from: Merriam, S. & Caffarella, R. (1991). Learning in
Adulthood. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 83-86.

Brookfield: Careful with this one, this is actually my

interpretation of what Brookfield is saying. The typical adult
learner is, "relatively affluent, well-educated, white, middle-class
individual" (p. 5). I take this to mean that people participate in
learning events because they are oriented towards learning--
attaining more education is something they value(and something
they've been socialized to value)--and they have the financial
resources to do this. When we think about participation we need
to ask ourselves what counts as a learning event and how we
define participants--those who are already involved in learning or
those who could potentially be involved? If the middle-class
organizes most of the learning events that go on, who do you
think the most likely participants will be? From: Brookfield, S.
(1986). Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 4-9.

Why don't we participate in learning?

Many have done studies on non-participation. The

following researchers have worked out ways of grouping
specific barriers into categories

Johnstone and Rivera: Found two categories;

External or situation barriers and Internal or dispositional
barriers.
Cross: Three categories; Situational barriers (depending
person's situation at a given time), Institutional barriers
(all practices and procedures that discourage adults from
participation--like filling out those application forms for
graduate school), Dispositional barriers (person's
attitude about self and learning).
Darkenwald and Merriam: Add another category to
Cross' list; Informational barriers (person is not aware of
 educational activities available). Above taken from:
Merriam, S. & Caffarella, R. (1991). Learning in Adulthood.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 86-90.

Note: All of the above-mentioned studies look at participation

from a psychological perspective, "If one looks at the social
structure rather than individual needs and interests, one
discovers some very different explanations as to why adults do
or do not participate in adult learning activities" (1991, p. 94).

Recent studies have taken a more critical look at non-

participation. Merriam and Caffarella cite several newer studies
in their 1999 edition of Learning in Adulthood, one example is a
study by Hall and Donaldson (1997) who looked at women
without high school educations. Early pregnancies, economic
status, and the amount of education of the women's parents all
played a role in choosing not to participate. Other factors
included not having a support system and lack of time,
information, and child care. Hall and Donaldson also noted "lack
of voice," meaning how a woman feels about herself and how
she can express herself (p.58).

Most of us can come up with many reasons for not participating

in educational activities, but as educators, we may be so used to
participating in learning ourselves that it becomes difficult to
"think outside the box" sometimes. Merriam and Brockett (1997)
devote a whole chapter (the info below is from pp.187-200) to
the issue of access to adult education and list four major
conditions that limit access:

Geographic Conditions: There is a great divide between

urban, suburban, and rural settings. Rural areas tend to
have fewer resources for education. In many industrialized
countries, however, inner cities may be worse off than
some rural areas. Migrant and homeless people are also at
a great disadvantage for receiving access to education.
Demographic Factors: Age and sex influence who
participates and who doesn't. Young and middle-aged
adults participate more than older adults--of course,
younger adults often continue learning for their jobs. But
older adults tend to have less education in general than
younger people, and level of education is a good predictor
of who will continue to participate in educational activities.
The role of age could change significantly in the future,
however, in countries such as the U.S., where life
expectancy continues to rise.

One's sex can also determine if and how much one will
participate in education. Women tend to participate less
than men and their participation is qualitatively different
from men's. But, this also overlaps with geographic
 conditions--women in developed nations may participate as
much as men. In less developed countries, women often
receive very little opportunity to participate. Even in
wealthier nations, men are still more likely to hold higher
and better paid positions than women, and are thus more
likely to receive further (and better) training.

Socioeconomic Conditions and Education: Those who

have relatively affluent backgrounds, tend to remain that
way and also tend to participate more in education. Those
from less wealthy families participate less partly because
they have less money to do so, but also because they don't
fit into the system of education (i.e. they don't speak the
same language, share the same norms, etc.) which is built
and maintained by wealthier people. Formal education is
also the kind of education that "counts the most," but it
also costs the most and has the most prerequisites--less
well-off people may be engaging in a variety of learning
activities, but these activities don't count since they don't
earn the learners an "official" piece of paper.
Cultural Determinants: Minority groups all over the
world tend to participate less than majority groups. This
can be due to majority groups explicitly prohibiting the
participation of minority people. It can also be that
belonging to certain non-majority groups can impact one's
attitudes towards education. As a member of a particular
social group, you may not feel that you can trust certain
forms of education and may feel uncomfortable
participating in them. Additionally, immigrant populations
tend not to participate in educational activities as much as
native-born populations.

Vella's 12 Principles for Effective Adult

Learning
11 Needs Assessment: Participation of the learner in naming
what is to be learned.
11 Safety in the environment between teacher and learner
for learning and development.
 11 A sound relationship between teacher and learner for
learning and development.
11 Careful attention to sequence of content and
reinforcement.
11 Praxis: Action with reflection or learning by doing.
11 Respect for learners as subjects of their own learning.
11 Cognitive, affective, and psychomotor aspects: ideas,
feelings, actions.
11 Immediacy of the learning.
11 Clear roles and role development.
111 Teamwork: Using small groups.
111 Engagement of the learners in what they are learning.
111 Accountability: How do they know they know?

From: Vella, J. (1994). Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach. San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 3-22.

How We Can Become

More Intelligent Learners and
Teachers

Twelve Characteristics of Intelligent Behavior:

Note: This is not a complete list!

111 Persistence: Persevering when the solution to a problem is

not readily apparent.
111 Decrease Impulsivity: Think before speaking or doing.
111 Listen: Listen to others with empathy and understanding.
111 Flexibility in Thinking: Consider other options--there's never
one right way to do everything.
111 Metacognition: Try to be aware of your own thinking.
111 Check for Accuracy and Precision: Revise, revise, revise.
 111 Questioning and Problem Posing: Be critical in your
questioning.
111 Use Past Knowledge: Draw on what you know and apply it
to new situations.
111 Precise Language and Thought: Use more descriptive
language to communicate more precisely.
111 Use All the Senses: Utilize as many sensory pathways as
possible--visual, tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, olfactory, and
gustatory.
111 Creativity: Use your ingenuity, originality, and insightful--
we are all creative beings.
111 Be Curious: Work on your sense of wonderment and
inquisitiveness--learn to enjoy problem solving and develop
a sense of efficacy as a thinker.

What We Can Do as Teachers to Promote Intelligent

Behavior:

Have faith that all learners can think

Help learners see thinking as a goal
Present challenging problem solving opportunities
Create a safe, risk-taking environment
Give learners time to learn
Provide a rich responsive environment for learning
Pay attention to learners' developmental readiness and
sequence
Be the kind of learner you would have them be

From: Costa, A. "What Human Beings Do When They Behave

Intelligently and How They Can Become More So."

LEARNING-STYLE INVENTORY

David A. Kolb's Learning Style Inventory describes the way you learn and how you deal with
ideas and day-to-day situations in your life. As this instrument is copyrighted please contact
Ginny Flynn at 1-800-729-8074 for licensing information.

David Kolb's learning cycle model (Experiential Learning. 1984), the learning style inventory,
and associated terminology are based on the work of John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget, and
J. P. Guilford. For more information see the following materials:

Kolb, David A. 1984. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and
Development. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Smith, Donna M., and David A. Kolb. 1986. The User's Guide for the Learning-Style
Inventory: A Manual for Teachers and Trainers. McBer & Company. Boston, MA.
LEARNING STYLES: A MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES APPROACH

Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory states that there are at least seven different ways of learning
anything, and therefore there are "seven intelligences": body/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intra-
personal, logical/mathematical, musical/rhythmic, verbal/linguistic and visual/spatial. In addition
most all people have the ability to develop skills in each of the intelligences, and to learn through
them. However, in education we have tended to emphasize two of "the ways of learning":
logical/mathematical and verbal/linguistic.

Attached here are several sheets that describe the "seven intelligences". At the end is an
inventory that can help you to see where you apply each of the intelligences, and to what extent.
In addition to filling out this inventory, on a separate piece of paper, please describe the forms of
learning/intelligence that you tend to utilize and/or enjoy most, as well as the forms which you
feel you rarely utilize or have not spent much time developing. Please also comment specifically
on your strengths and weaknesses relating to "interpersonal learning''.
______________________
Much of this material is from: Seven Ways of Knowing: Teaching for Multiple Intelligences by
David Lazear. 1991. IRI/Skylight Publishing, Inc. Palatine, IL.

Body/Kinesthetic Intelligence
This intelligence is related to physical movement and the knowing/wisdom of the body.
Including the brain's motor cortex, which control bodily motion. Body/kinesthetic intelligence is
awakened through physical movement such as in various sports, dance, and physical exercises as
well as by the expression of oneself through the body, such as inventing, drama, body language,
and creative/interpretive dance.

Capacities involved: --control of "voluntary" movements

--control of "preprogrammed" movements
--expanding awareness through the body
--the mind and body connection
--mimetic abilities
--improved body functioning

Interpersonal Intelligence
This intelligence operates primarily through person-to-person relationships and communication.
Interpersonal intelligence is activated by person-to-person encounters in which such things as
effective communication, working together with others for a common goal, and noticing
distinctions among persons are necessary and important.

Capacities
--effective verbal/non-verbal communication
involved:
--sensitivity to other's moods, temperaments,
motivations, and feelings
--working cooperatively in a group
--ability to discern other's underlying intentions and
behavior
--"passing over" into the perspective of another
--creating and maintaining synergy

Intra-personal Intelligence
This intelligence relates to inner states of being, self-reflection, metacognition (i.e. thinking
about thinking), and awareness of spiritual realities. Intra-personal intelligence is awakened
when we are in situations that cause introspection and require knowledge of the internal aspects
of the self, such as awareness of our feelings, thinking processes, self-reflection, and spirituality.

Capacities involved: --concentration of the mind

--mindfulness
--metacognition
--awareness and expression of different feelings
--transpersonal sense of the self
--higher-order thinking and reasoning

Logical/Mathematical lntelligence
Often called "scientific thinking," this intelligence deals with inductive and deductive
thinking/reasoning, numbers, and the recognition of abstract patterns. Logical mathematical
intelligence is activated in situations requiring problem solving or meeting a new challenge as
well as situations requiring pattern discernment and recognition.

Capacities involved: --abstract pattern recognition

--inductive reasoning
--deductive reasoning
--discerning relationships & connections
--performing complex calculations
--scientific reasoning

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence
This intelligence is based on the recognition is based on the recognition of tonal patterns,
including various environmental sounds, and on a sensitivity to rhythm and beats.
Musical/rhythmic intelligence is turned on by the resonance or vibrational effect of music and
rhythm on the brain, including such things as the human voice, sounds from nature, musical
instruments, percussion instruments, and other humanly produced sounds.

Capacities
--appreciation for the structure of music
involved:
 --schemes or frames in the mind for hearing music
--sensitivity to sounds
--recognition, creation, and reproduction of
melody/rhythm
--sensing characteristic qualities of tone

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence
This intelligence, which is related to words and language both written and spoken, dominates
most Western educational systems. Verbal linguistic intelligence is awakened by the spoken
word, by reading someone's ideas thoughts, or poetry, or by writing one's own ideas, thoughts, or
poetry, as well as by various kinds of humor such as "plays on words," jokes, and "twists" of the
language.

Capacities involved: --understanding order & meaning of words

--convincing someone of a course of action
--explaining, teaching, and learning
--humor
--memory & recall
--"meta-linguistic" analysis

Visual/Spatial Intelligence
This intelligence, which relies on the sense of sight and being able to visualize an object,
includes the ability to create internal mental images/pictures. Visual/spatial intelligence is
triggered by presenting the mind with and/or creating unusual, delightful, and colorful designs,
patterns, shapes, and pictures, and engaging in active imagination through such things as
visualization guided imagery, and pretending exercises.

Capacities involved: --active imagination

--forming mental images
--finding your way in space
--image manipulations
--graphic representation
--recognizing relationships of objects in space
--accurate perception from different angles

An MI Inventory for Adults

Check those statements that apply in each intelligence category. Use these intelligence categories
to help you understand the types of intelligence you possess and your strengths and weaknesses.
Space at the end of each intelligence allow you to write additional information not specifically
referred to in the inventory.

Body/Kinesthetic Intelligence
__I engage in at least one sport or physical activity on a regular basis.
__I find it difficult to sit still for long periods of time.
__I like working with my hands at concrete activities such as sewing, weaving, carving,
carpentry, or model building.
__My best ideas often come to me when I'm out for a long walk or a jog, or when I'm engaged in
some other kind of physical activity.
__I often like to spend my free time outdoors.
__I frequently use hand gestures or other forms of body language when conversing with
someone.
__I need to touch things in order to learn more about them.
__I enjoy daredevil amusement rides or similar thrilling physical experiences.
__I would describe myself as well coordinated.
__I need to practice a new skill rather than simply reading about it or seeing a video that
describes it.

Other Body/Kinesthetic Strengths:

Interpersonal Intelligence
__I'm the sort of person that people come to for advice and counsel at work or in my
neighborhood.
__I prefer group sports like badminton, volleyball, or softball to solo sports such as swimming
and jogging.
__When I have a problem, I'm more likely to seek out another person for help than attempt to
work it out on my own.
__I have at least three close friends.
__I favor social pastimes such as Monopoly or bridge over individual recreations such as video
games and solitaire.
__I enjoy the challenge of teaching another person, or groups of people, what I know how to do.
__I consider myself a leader (or others have called me that).
__I feel comfortable in the midst of a crowd.
__I like to get involved in social activities connected with my work, church, or community.
__I would rather spend my evenings at a lively party than stay at home alone.

Other Interpersonal Strengths:

Intra-personal Intelligence
__I regularly spend time alone meditating, reflecting, or thinking about important life questions.
__I have attended counseling sessions or personal growth seminars to learn more about myself.
__I am able to respond to setbacks with resilience.
__I have a special hobby or interest that I keep pretty much to myself.
__I have some important goals for my life that I think about on a regular basis.
__I have a realistic view of my strengths and weaknesses (borne out by feedback from other
sources).
__I would prefer to spend a weekend alone in a cabin in the woods rather than at a fancy resort
with lots of people around.
__I consider myself to be strong willed or independent minded.
__I keep a personal diary or journal to record the events of my inner life.
__I am self-employed or have at least thought seriously about starting my own business.

Other Intra-personal Strengths:

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence
__I can easily compute numbers in my head.
__Math and/or science were among my favorite subjects in school.
__I enjoy playing games or solving brainteasers that require logical thinking.
__I like to set up little "what if" experiments (i.e. "What if I double the amount of water I give
my rosebush each week?")
__My mind searches for patterns, regularities, or logical sequences in things.
__I'm interested in new developments in science.
__I believe that almost everything has a rational explanation.
__I sometimes think in clear abstract, wordless, imageless concepts.
__I like finding logical flaws in thing that people say and do at home and work.
__I feel more comfortable when something has been measured, categorized, analyzed, or
quantified in some way.

Other Logical/Mathematical Strengths:

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence
__ have a pleasant singing voice.
__I can tell when a musical note is off-key.
__I frequently listen to music on the radio, cassette tapes or compact discs.
__I play a musical instrument.
__My life would be poorer if there were no music in it.
__I sometimes catch myself walking around with a jingle or other tune running through my
mind.
__I can easily keep time to a piece of music with a simple percussion instrument.
__I know the tunes to many different songs or music pieces.
__If I hear a musical selection once or twice, I am usually able to sing it back fairly accurately.
__I often make tapping sounds or sing little melodies while working, studying, or learning
something new.

Other Musical/Rhythmic Strengths:

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence
__Books are very important to me.
__I can hear words in my head before I read, speak, or write them down.
__I get more out of listening to the radio or a spoken-word cassette than I do from television or
films.
__I enjoy word games like Scrabble, Boggle, Anagrams, or Password.
__I enjoy entertaining myself or others with tongue twisters, nonsense rhymes, or puns.
__Other people sometimes have to stop and ask me to explain the meaning of the words I use in
my writing and speaking.
__English, social studies, and history were easier for me in school than math and science.
__When I drive down a freeway, I pay more attention to the words written on signs than to the
scenery.
__My conversation includes frequent references to things that I've read or heard.
__I've written something recently that I was particularly proud of or that earned me recognition
from others.

Other Verbal/Linguistic Strengths:

Visual/Spatial Intelligence
__I often see clear visual images when I close my eyes.
__I'm sensitive to color.
__I frequently use a camera or camcorder to record what I see around me.
__I enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles, mazes, and other visual puzzles.
_I have vivid dreams at night.
__I can generally find my way around unfamiliar territory.
__I like to draw or doodle.
__Geometry was easier for me than algebra in school.
__I can comfortably imagine how something might appear if it were looked down upon from
directly above in a bird's-eye view.
__I prefer looking at reading material that is heavily illustrated.

Other Visual/Spatial Strengths:

The results of c s's learning inventory are:

Visual/Nonverbal 26 Visual/Verbal 28 Auditory 20 Kinesthetic 26

Your primary learning style is:

The Visual/ Verbal Learning Style

You learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format. In a
classroom setting, you benefit from instructors who use the blackboard (or overhead projector)
to list the essential points of a lecture, or who provide you with an outline to follow along with
during lecture. You benefit from information obtained from textbooks and class notes. You tend
to like to study by yourself in a quiet room. You often see information "in your mind's eye" when
you are trying to remember something.

Learning Strategies for the Visual/ Verbal Learner:

To aid recall, make use of "color coding" when studying new information in your textbook or
notes. Using highlighter pens, highlight different kinds of information in contrasting colors.

Write out sentences and phrases that summarize key information obtained from your textbook
and lecture.

Make flashcards of vocabulary words and concepts that need to be memorized. Use highlighter
pens to emphasize key points on the cards. Limit the amount of information per card so your
mind can take a mental "picture" of the information.

When learning information presented in diagrams or illustrations, write out explanations for the
information.

When learning mathematical or technical information, write out in sentences and key phrases
your understanding of the material. When a problem involves a sequence of steps, write out in
detail how to do each step.

Make use of computer word processing. Copy key information from your notes and textbook into
a computer. Use the print-outs for visual review.

Before an exam, make yourself visual reminders of information that must be memorized. Make
"stick it" notes containing key words and concepts and place them in highly visible places --on
your mirror, notebook, car dashboard, etc..

http://www.metamath.com/lsweb/dvclearn.htm