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EDU 528, WEEK 4, PART 2: An Andragogical Process Model for Learning

Slide # Topic Narration

Slide 1 Introduction Welcome to Methods of Teaching in Adult Education. In

this lesson, we will discuss An Andragogical ProcessModel for Learning.

Next slide.

Slide 2 Topics The following topics will be covered in this lesson:

Preparing the learner;

Establishing a climate conducive to learning;

Creating a mechanism for mutual planning;

Diagnosing the needs for learning: constructing a model;

Assessing discrepancies; formulating program objectives;

Next slide.

Slide 3 Topics, continued We will also cover the following topics:

Designing a pattern of learning experiences;

Operating the program;

Evaluating the program;

Contract learning; and

The evolving meaning of human resources development.

Next slide.

Slide 4 Preparing the Learner There is a difference between content models and

process models of learning. Content models, also

considered as pedagogical, are mostly used by traditional

educators. Content models focus more on transmittinginformation and skills to the learner while the

andragogical model is concerned with providing

procedures and resources for helping learners acquire

information and skills. There are differences in the waysome elements of the two models are treated. For

example, in the content model, the elements planning,

diagnosis of needs, and setting objectives of are all the

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responsibilities of the teacher, while in the andragogical

model, planning involves both the teacher and the learner,diagnosis of needs is done by mutual assessment, and

setting of objectives is by mutual negotiation.

Andragogical and learning project models considergiving of high responsibility for learning to the learner as

an important part of program design. This is built aroundthe concept of self-directed learning. However, we should

mention here that most of the adult students are not self-

directed because they are accustomed to depend on

teachers to teach them. It is always difficult for thesestudents to adjust when they are exposed to participate in

the planning. Therefore, programs for new entrants

include a preparatory learning -how-to-learn activities

in the design to help the students.

The preparatory activities among other things provide an

explanation to the students on the differences betweenproactive and reactive learning. They also provide

experience to identify the resources of the participants,

such as who knows what, who knows who, who has hadexperience doing what.

When adults are exposed to the concepts and skills of self-

directed learning, they feel more secure in entering intoadult education program.

Next slide.

Slide 5 Establishing a

Climate Conducive to

Learning

Educators are increasingly showing concern about the

quality of environments for learning. Ecologicalpsychologists, social psychologists, cognitive theorists,

personality theorists, and humanistic psychologists have

contributed greatly to the understanding of the need forquality environments. Here we will look at the different

types of environments.

The physical environment requires the provision ofanimal comforts to ensure that learning goes on smoothly.

Ecologists suggest that light can influence mood. For

example, bright colors tend to induce cheerful, optimistic

moods. Ecologists also suggest that the size and layout ofphysical space affects learning quality. An environment

must facilitate the interaction of learners. The physical

environment must have the richness and accessibility ofhuman and material resources. These resources can be

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things like computers, books, manuals. Learners should

use these proactively and not reactively.

Another aspect of the environment is what is called the

psychological climate. Psychological climate may

reinforce certain desired behaviors especially in themotivation and transfer or maintenance of learning.

Cognitive theorists emphasize on the importance ofclearly defined goals, careful explanation of expectations

and opportunities, honest and objective feedback.

Personality theorists emphasize the importance of a

climate in which individual and cultural differences arerespected, and anxiety levels are reduced to acceptable

levels. Human psychologists suggest the need to create a

climate in which people feel safe, cared for, accepted,

trusted, understood, and respected.

Organizational climate involves a number of ideas.

Some of the them are as follows:

Organizational climate deals with the policy framework

supporting the human resource developmentor HRDprogram;

Organizational climate deals with management

philosophy; and

Organizational climate deals with the structure of theorganization. Studies have shown that in hierarchically

structured organization, there is less motivation for self-improvement and more blocks to learning.

Financial policies can also affect the organizational

climate. The financial resources made available to HRDwill influence attitudes towards personal development.

Employees will value the HRD if an organization supports

it with the necessary financial resources. Rewardsalsodetermine the climate.

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Slide 6 Creating a

Mechanism for

Mutual Planning

Among all the aspects that separate different educational

practices such pedagogical from andragogical, or fromteaching to facilitating of learning, the role of learner in

planning is the one that sharply distinguishes them.

It is common knowledge that traditionally the role ofplanning has been exclusively assigned to an authority

figure such as a teacher, a programmer, or a trainer.However, this is contrary to the main principle of

andragogy which advocates for the need for adult learners

to be self-directing. There is need to find a way for

providing all the parties in the education enterprise in theplanning process. Behavior scientists have found that

people tend to be feel committed to a decision or activity,

in direct proportion to their participation in or influence on

its planning and decision making.

This is why human resources development programs have

planning committees, councils, or task forces for everylevel of activity . To ensure that these committees are

useful and effective, there are guidelines for selecting and

using these planning groups.

Apart from the mechanisms for mutual planning, the

planning group must be treated in good faith,with real

delegation of responsibility, and real influence indecision making or the process will backfire.

Next slide.

Slide 7 Diagnosing the Needs

for Learning:

Constructing a Model

There are three sources of data for building a model of

desired behavior, performance, or competences fordetermining learning needs: the individual, the

organization, and the society.

In order to build a model of competencies there is need to

think about the learner: What are the learners own

perceptions of what she wants to become, what she wants

to achieve, at what level she wants to perform. A learnermight not initially begin to contribute his own perceptions

to the model; therefore, the responsibility of the human

resource developer is to expose the learner to role models.

This allows the learner to observe, so that the learner canbegin to develop a realistic model for themselves.

One can obtain organizations perceptions of desiredperformance through systems analyses, performance

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analyses, analyses of documents such as job descriptions,

safety reports, productivity records, personal appraisals.

Societal perceptions of desired performance or

competencies are obtained from reports by experts in

professional and technical journals, research reports, and

monographs.

Commercial firms can be hired to develop competencemodels. However, the use of task forces composed of

representatives of the individuals, and society is the

cheaper alternative.

The most critical part of a model is what the model does to

the mindset of learner, rather the excellence of the model.

When learners understand how the acquisition of certain

knowledge or skills will add to their ability to perform

better in life, they enter into instructional situations with aclear sense of purpose and see what they learn as personal.

Next slide.

Slide 8 Assessing

Discrepancies

A learning need can be defined as the discrepancy orgap between the competencies specified in the model and

their present level of development by the learners.

The critical element in the assessment of the gaps is the

learners own perception of the discrepancy between

where they are now and where they want to be and need to

be. This is more of self-assessment. The human resourcedeveloperprovides the learners with the tools and

procedures for obtaining the data for making responsible

judgments about their level of development of thecompetencies.

Human psychologists recommend that a human resourcedeveloper must provide a safe, none-threatening, and

supportive atmosphere when assisting the learners.

There are a variety of feedbackyielding tools andprocedures that can be adapted to self-assessment process.

Examples of programs that can be used are as follows:

ROCOM Intensive Coronary Multimedia LearningSystem;

General Electric Corporation Career Development

Program; andWestinghouse Electric Companys Executive Forum.

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Next slide.

Slide 9 Formulating Program

Objectives

Different theorists have different perspectives on

objectives. However, behaviorists agree that objectives areonly meaningful if they can describe terminal behaviors in

very precise, measurable, and observable terms. Here, wewill explore some of the views of behaviorists onobjectives.

Among other things, Gagnesays that an objectivestatement must include a verb denoting an observable

action. Verbs like draw, identify, recognize, and compute

can be used for this purpose. An objective should provide

a description of the correct responses.

Magerindicates that to describe the terminal behavior,

that is what the learner will be doing, the following thingsshould be considered:

Identify and name overall behavior act;

Define the important conditions under which the behavioris to occur; and

Define the criterion of acceptable performance.

Taba says that objectives should be formulated so that

there are clear distinctions among learning experiences

required to attain different behaviors. Objectives should

be realistic and only include what can be translated intothe curriculum and classroom experience.

Houlesays among other things, objectives should bepractical, hierarchical. He also says that objectives do

change in the learning process. According to Houle, an

objectives should be stated clearly enough to all rationalminds exactly what is intended.

Theoristswho see learning as a process of inquiry reject

the idea that there should be preset or prescribedobjectives at all. Tough has concluded that goals tend to

emerge as part of the process of inquiry, and that they

change continuously. Maslow sees goal formation as a

highly dynamic process occurring through the interactionof the learner with his experience.

Schools in the United States seem to fall short of theirgoals because students are taught how to perceive the

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world, for example what to believe and not to believe.

Students are not encouraged to see the world from theirown unique perspectives. Some theorists believe that once

the students have developed the skill of self-directed

inquiries, all the other learning objectives will flow from

there.

Next slide.

Slide 10 Designing a Pattern

of Learning

Experiences

There are different ways in which theorists view the

concept of program design for learning experiences.

Behavioristssee program design as a matter of arranging

contingencies of reinforcement so as to produce and

maintain the prescribed behaviors.

Cognitive and inquiry theorists see it as a matter of

arranging a sequence of problems that flow according toorganic stages of development , and providing appropriateresources for the learners to solve these problems.

Psychologists view it as a matter of providing supportiveenvironments in which the participants can help one

another grow in existentially determined directions.

Adult education theorists have tended to build design

models that accommodate all these three approaches.

The andragogical model involves the following:

Choosing problem areas that have been identified by the

learners through the self-diagnostic process and selectingappropriate formats for learning;

Designing units of experimental learning; and

Arranging the units according to learners readiness andaesthetic principles.

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Slide 11 Operating the

Program

The role of conducting learning activities is concerned

with the human resources developers roleas anadministrator.

Quality of faculty resources is very crucial in the

program operation. It is commonplace current staffingsources for human resources development contains many

subject-matter experts who only know how to teach in atraditional pedagogical fashion. This is because that is the

way they were taught, or they were taught to teach.

As an administrator, you cannot just depend on simpleselection procedures to get good teachers. Sometimes you

have to train the teachers yourself through pre-service

and in-service educational programs. The role of the

program administrator is to function as a developer of

human resources development personnel.

Next slide.

Slide 12 Evaluating the

Program

According to David Kilpatrick, there are four levels of

evaluation that are required for an effective assessment ofa program. These are reaction, learning, behavior, and

results evaluation.

Reaction evaluation: This is getting data about how

participants are responding to a program as it takes place.

These data can be obtained through end of meeting

reaction forms, interviews, or group discussions.Behaviorists believe that evaluation is built into their

process, such correcting a learner when the learner makes

a mistake. Therefore, they use reaction evaluation.

Learning evaluation: This is getting data about the

principles, facts, and techniques that were acquired by theparticipants. This information can be obtained from

pretests and posttests, measuring specific gains from a

learning experience. Standard-information recall tests,

problem solving exercise can be used to gauge knowledge.Cognitive theorists see the learners ability to retrieve and

apply information to new problems as the key to

evaluation. Therefore, they use learning evaluation.

Behavior evaluation: Observers' report about actual

changes in what the learner does after the training

compared to what they did before. Examples, self-ratingscales, observation scales for use by supervisors.

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Humanists emphasize on self-actualizing behavior, hence

they use behavior evaluation.

Results evaluation: These data are usually contained in

the routine records of the organization, such frequency of

accidents, frequency of tardiness or absences.Organization theorists will only support training if

desirable results can be demonstrated, hence they useresults evaluation.

It is difficult to control all the variables to be able to say

definitively that is was because of the training thatchanges occur. This is the main difficulty in evaluation.

Next slide.

Slide 13 Contract Learning Knowles states that contract learning is the powerful

tool in adult learning. There are a number of reasons forthis assertion.

Most adult groups have a wide range of backgrounds,

education, interests, motivations, and abilities. It is noteasy to create a single learning plan that accommodates

these differences. However, contract learning provides a

way for individuals and or subgroups to make their ownlearning plans.

It makes it possible for a student to have a sense of

ownership of the objectives he or she will pursue.

It also makes it possible to identify a wide variety of

resources so that different learners can go to differentresources for learning to learn the same things.

Lastly, it makes it possible to provide a systematicprocedure for involving the learner in a responsible

manner in evaluating the learning outcomes.

Learning contracts have a wide range of applications.They can be used in all academic courses, in in-service

education programs, in industry, and in continuing

professional development programs in medicine,

engineering and many other areas.

Next slide.

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Slide 14 The Evolving

Meaning of Human

Resources

Development

There is more to human resource development than

training or in-service management or managementdevelopment. Human resource development and

organizations must be seen in a new light. A number of

suggestions have been regarding the evolution of the

meaning of human resource development. Some of themare as follows:

All organizationsmust be seen as human enterprises;

An organization is a dynamic arrangement of interacting

subsystems of people process, equipment, materials, and

ideas;The input of human capital is more critical determinant

of organizational output that the material output.

Organizations that must be seen as energy systems that

are strengthened through the release of energy rather than

the control of energy; andThe role of human resource developer is going to be more

crucial than any other role in determining whether anorganization continues to exist or not in the future.

If the organization is viewed as a system of learningresources the role of a human resource developer will

that of the manager of these systems. The human

resources developers will need to know a new theory of

human resources development, and also have the skills tobe able to apply the theory to their systems. In their new

role the human resource developers will ask twoquestions:

What are all of the resources in our system that are

potentially available for the development of people?; and

How can we make effective use of these resources for thesystematic and continuous development of our people?

Next slide.

Slide 15 Summary We have now reached the end of this lesson. Lets take a

look at what weve covered.

We started our discussion by examining preparing the

learner. Here, we learned about differences betweencontent models and process models of learning, such as

the roles of teachers and learners. We also learned that

andragogical and learning project models consider thelearners responsibility for learning as an important part of

program design.

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We then discussed establishing a climate conducive tolearning. Here, we learned about the characteristics of a

good physical environment that does not block learning.

For example, there must be sufficient light, sufficient and

accessible resources, and a good layout to allow studentinteraction. We also learned another aspect of the

environment called psychological climate. Psychologicalclimate may reinforce certain desired behaviors especially

in the motivation and transfer or maintenance of learning.

We then learned about organizational climate and the

factors that can influence it.

Next, we examined creating mechanism for mutual

planning. Here we learned that the main principle of

andragogy advocates the need for adult learners to be self-

directing. Therefore, it is important to find a way forproviding all the parties in the education enterprise in the

planning process, and this why human resourcesdevelopment programs need to have planning committees.

We then discussed diagnosing the needs for learning:construction a model. Here we learned that there are three

sources of data for building a model of desired behavior,

performance, or competences for determining learning

needs, namely the individual, the organization, and thesociety. We also learned that the most critical part of a

model is what the model does to the mindset of learner,rather the excellence of the model.

Next, we examined assessing discrepancies. Here we leant

that a learning need is the discrepancy or gap between the

competencies specified in the model and their presentlevel of development by the learners. The critical element

in the assessment of the gaps is the learners own

perception of the discrepancy between where they are nowand where they want to be and need to be. We also learned

about the role of the human resource developer in helping

learners with self-assessment.

We then discussed formulating program objectives. Here,

we learned what objectives are by examining what

different behaviorists say. We also saw that theorists whosee learning as a process of inquiry reject the idea that

there should be preset or prescribed objectives at all. We

noted that schools in the United States fall short of goals

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because they give the learners the prism through which

they perceive the world instead of letting the learners viewthe world from their own perspectives.

Next slide.

Slide 15 Summary, continued Next, we looked at designing a pattern of learningexperiences. Here we learnt about the views ofbehaviorists, cognitive and inquiry theorists,

psychologists, and adult education theorists on whatprogram design is. For example, we noted thatpsychologists view it as a matter of providing supportive

environments in which the participants can help one

another grow in existentially determined directions. We

also learned about what is involved in the design of theandragogical model.

Next, we examined operating the program. Here we sawthat conducting learning activities is concerned with thehuman resources developers role as an administrator. We

learned that the current staffing sources of human resource

development contain the many subject-matter experts whoonly know how to teach in a traditional pedagogical

fashion. Therefore, sometimes as an administrator you

have to train the teachers yourself through pre-service andin-service educational programs.

We the discussed contract learning. Here, we learned

about why contract learning is a powerful tool in adultlearning. For example, most adult groups have a wide

range of backgrounds, education, interests, motivations,

and abilities differences. Contract learning provides a wayfor individuals and or subgroups to make their own

learning plans. We also learned that contract learning can

be used in all academic courses, in in-service education

programs, in industry, and in continuing professionaldevelopment programs in medicine, engineering and many

other areas.

Finally we examined the evolving meaning of humanresource development. Here, we learned that the evolving

meaning of human resource development requires that we

view organizations differently. For example, anorganization must be seen as a dynamic arrangement of

interacting subsystems of people process, equipment,

materials, and ideas. The roles of human resourcesdevelopers will also change. They will now be seen as

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mangers of learning resources.

This completes this lesson.