David MeierPhD Defense Presentation

Dissertation Submitted in Partial fulfilment of the Requirements for the Doctorate of Philosophy in Leadership Science

A Situational Leadership Model for Adult Education in the Context

of Teaching Statistics

7th March 2017

1. Problem Statement2. Research Questions & Purpose of the

Research3. Original Contribution4. Methodology5. Theoretical Framework6. Analysing Andragogy7. Results8. Interim Conclusions of the Deductive

Part9. The Staged Andragogical Model

(SAM)10. Conclusions11. Recommendations

Presentation Outline

Problem Statement

• Statistics is difficult to learn and teach.

• Adults require specific methods when learning.

• Teaching adults is contingent on different elements. Therefore a lecturer needs to react accordingly to these.

• When teaching adults a lecturer needs leadership skills. Thus leadership skills need to be combined with adult teaching skills

Research Questions & Purpose of the Research

Main research questions• What are adult specific needs when learning -> Validating the theory of

andragogy• What are the contingent elements in statistics courses for adults?• How can the situational or contingency theory of leadership contribute

to improve adult education (specifically in the case of statistics courses)?

Purpose of the researchAmalgamate the answers of the above questions into a model that helps improving courses for adult learners especially in the context of statistics.

Original Contribution

1. Finding contingent elements within the setting of adult education

2. Confirming the assumption that the cultural process of growing up is lagging behind the biological coming of age.

3. Staged Andragogical Model (SAM)

MethodologyOverall setup consists of a combined inductive and deductive research

Theoretical Framework

• Fiedler’s Contingency Model

• Vroom–Yetton Decision-Making Theory

• Blake and Mouton’s Managerial (Leadership) Grid

• Situational Leadership Theory by Hersey and Blanchard

• The Staged Self-Directed Learning Model

• Jarvis’ Theory on Adult Learning

• Knud Illeris’ Model of Three-Dimensional Learning

• Self-Regulated Learning

• Knowles’ Andragogy

Analysing Andragogy

Setup for finding variations within the andragogical framework

Research Hypotheses Concerning Andragogy (Adult Education)

1. Adult learners need to know the importance and value of the academic subject

2. Adult learners have a mature self-concept and feel responsible for their own

3. The foundation of adult learning is primarily based on the learner’s own work

4. Adults learn because a subject has relevance to their lives

5. Adult learners are oriented towards problem-centred learning.

6. Adult learners are intrinsically motivated in their studies

Research Hypotheses Concerning Contingency

1. Contingent elements do exist in the area of interdisciplinary skills acquisition, such as statistics courses for adults.

2. Depending on the contingency, there are different needs.

3. The two main hypotheses result in the following overall cause-and-effect hypothesis:– If contingent elements in adult learning can be located,

then only a differentiated teaching-learning setting along the contingency borders will help satisfy the practical needs of the adult learner.

Methodology: Empirical Part

• In the empirical part a quantitative research design was adopted. Data of 120 students of statics courses at University of Zurich were collected and analysed

• The questionnaire consisted of three parts:– Attributes of the participants like age, sex, affiliation

– Questions about the importance of adult educational methods (andragogy)

– An instrument (SDLRSNE) Fisher, M., King, J., & Tague, G. (2001) for detecting self-directed learning.

Methodology: Inductive Part

• Based on the theory and the results of the data analysis a new model was developed inductively => Staged Andragogical Model (SAM)

Note: This is directly connected to the main cause and effect hypothesis:

If contingent elements in adult learning can be located, then only a differentiated teaching-learning setting along the contingency borders will help satisfy the practical needs of the adult learner

Results

Importance of andragogical methods (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2005,) on a scale from 1 to 10:

1. The need to know (t = 7.33 , p < 0.001)

2. The self-concept of the learner (t = 6.62 , p < 0.001)

3. The experience of the learner (t = 13.93 , p < 0.001)

4. Readiness to learn (t = 28.00 , p < 0.001)

5. Orientation to learning (need for context oriented learning) (t =3.44 , p < 0.001)

6. Motivation (t = 22.28 , p < 0.001)

Results: Contingencies - Age

Mean scoreneed for andragogical methods:Group 1 (younger 27.5 years):

6.8

Group 2 (older 27.5 years):

7.4

Relation between age and andragogy for the two groups

Results: Self-Directed Learning and andragogy

Higher scores of Self-Directed Learning show higher s demand for andragogical methods. Exception: Doctoral Fellows

Correlation between Self-Directed Learning and andragogy:Students: 0.394 (p=0.020)Employees: 0.517 (p=0.010)Doctoral Fellows: 0.036Consequence: adult learners with a low self-directed learning

score tend to need less andragogical methods! This can be calledmaturity factor.

Results: Situational differences between groups

Students, employees or doctoral fellows have different andragogical needs. Thus one can assume that according to their situation, a specific teaching setting is required.

Results: Highest situational differences between groups – inferential analysis

Although there can be detected a difference for all postulates, we will concentrateon the conspicuous differences. These are need to know and self-concept. Thegap there is decisively higher than with the rest of the postulates.

Both mean differences are elevated and highly significant. For need to know it is 1.76 (t = –3.97, p < 0.001), and for self-concept we get a value of 1.35 (t = –2.95, p=0.002).

Interim Conclusions from the Deductive Part

• Andragogical methods were validated statistically ✔

• Contingent or situational elements could be isolated ✔– Age-related dependency for the need of andragogy ✔– The importance of andragogy is different for students,

employees or doctoral fellows ✔– Self-directed learning is unequal for the different

groups ✔

Foundation for the new model called the

Staged Andragogical Model

Visualizing the Contingencies with a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA)

MCA plots different variables as distances in a 2-dimensional space. The closer two variablesare, the higher their relation is.

Towards the Staged Andragogical Model (SAM)

Learning Maturity LevelsLearning maturity level 1 (LML 1): These learners are dependent and act according to the principles of pedagogy instead of andragogy. There skills are not developed; e.g., their existing knowledge of statistics is at a low or basic level. In a statistics course, these learners want to learn the basic knowhow.

Learning maturity level 2 (LML 2): At this stage, the learner is interested in andragogy but still grounded in pedagogic concepts of teaching and learning. The skills are not developed, and in courses they seek a basic knowhow. knowledge of statistics is at a low or basic level. In a statistics course, they want to learn the basic knowhow.

Learning maturity level 3 (LML 3): Adults in this level are involved and ready for andragogy. They clearly stepped out of pedagogy, and their need towards andragogical principle is high. Their skills are not yet highly developed, yet they are not basic. In the course, they ask for a deeper insight of statistics, often combined with the wish of refreshing their existing knowledge.

Learning maturity level 4 (LML 4): The highest level denotes learners who are self-determined and act in full compliance with andragogy. Their skills are high, and in a course, they seek specialisation.

Towards the Staged Andragogical Model (SAM)

Learning Styles to Meet the Learning Maturity Levels

Teaching style 1 - Instructor:• Provide task information in

digestible amounts• Be sure not to overwhelm

followers• Reduce fear of mistakes• Help step by step• Focus on instruction

Teaching style 2 - Trainer:• Fostering questions• Developing knowledge• Guiding• Discussing key questions• Emphasise how to• Explain why

Teaching style 3 - Facilitator:• Encourage• Support• Deepen existing knowledge• Put things into a bigger

context• Build confidence

Teaching style 4 - Delegator:• Reflecting knowledge• Teaching complex relations• Delegating• Assigning• Constructing knowledge

The Model Outline

Applying SAM to Statistic Courses for Adults

• LML 1: Students, younger than 27.5, need to know low, self-concept low, low self-directed learning behaviour.

• LML 2: Students, younger than 27.5.• LML 3: Learners older than 27.5, employed researchers,

doctoral fellows.• LML 4: Learners older than 27.5, employed researchers,

need to know high, self-concept low. High self-directed learning behaviour.

The lecturer needs to address/differentiate the following learning types:

Situational Teaching According to the Learning Maturity Levels (LML 1-4)

According the different learning groups different stages or styles are to be applied:

Stage 1:• Introduce and explain a

statistical program (e.g., SPSS or R)

• Introduce basic descriptive statistics with only one variable

• Explain the different data scales

• Use charts extensively• Use cookbook instructions

Stage 2:• Complex descriptive

statistics with more than one variable

• Practical and applied examples

• Introducing statistical thinking

• Introduction of inferential statistics

• AssociationsStage 3:• Delve into inferential

statistics• Introduce working in

groups and employ use cases

• Connect the dots by using comprehensive exercises

Stage 4:• Learners bring their own

use cases• Situational teaching in

dependency of the students’ needs

• Introducing specific statistical procedures

Scheme of the Applied Model

Conclusions

Based on the theory of Knowles (1980, 1984, 2005), the research analysed the needs of adult learners. For this purpose, a dedicated questionnaire was designed and tested. Our final sample consisted of 119 adult course participants who completed in the questions of the instrument. The collected data were analysed, and the results could back the theory of andragogy. This helped answer the question as to what the concrete needs of adult learners are. Though the analysis’ results helped build a foundation for adult education in the form of Knowles’ andragogy, the analysis also evidenced that there are essential differences among adult learners. Thus, it was reckoned that andragogy is a valid concept, but it needs to be extended.So the need of finding situational or contingent elements was a very practical exigency.Various such elements could be detected, and the significant results were isolated.The most important of these are age, self-directed learning behaviour, and self-concept.Based on these findings, the research tried to induce a new model called SAM (Staged Andragogical Model) that follows the principles of the Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) of Blanchard and Hersey (1977, 2008).

Recommendations

The results and the proposed SAM certainly represent an original contributionto the research on adult education, specifically to teaching statistics. Nevertheless,there remain open questions or non-conclusive matters. As a proposition, the followingtopics need to be investigated further:

• To what extend can SAM be called a generic model? In the research at hand, SAM is called a generic model, but it proposes solutions merely for teaching statistics. It would be helpful to crosscheck the model with samples that come from a neutral or at least different environment than statistics.

• Four learning maturity levels and their properties could be identified. But there is no detailed suggestion for a self-assessment. It is certainly an interesting outlook to generate an instrument that could assess the learning level maturity. Based on the used questionnaire in the research, a reduced form could theoretically be created.

Thank You