Presentation on best practices in adult learning

1. “Unleashing the Power to
Learn”
The Principles of Adult Learning
Professional Development at Odessa College
2008

2. 9:00-4:00 PM
Introduction (discussion, activity)
Expectations for your classroom (discussion, assessment)
Challenges to unleashing learning power (discussion)
Kid learning vs. adult learning (activity)
Principles of adult learning-Are they important to your practice?
(activity)
How to unleash the power of learning with the principles of adult
learning (demo)
Adult Learning Scorecard (activity, assessment)
Next steps……
Agenda for October 18th 2008

3. What was your best adult
learning experience?
Introduction

4. Conditions for your best adult learning
experience:
Describe the setting for your best learning experience?
How did your prior learning experiences help you with the
new learning experience?
How did you know you were ready for the learning
experience?
How did you use what you learned? When did you use what
you learned?
What life tasks did you learn?
Conditions for Learning
What activities did you do to learn? What kind of feedback did
receive?

5. How skilled are you at
unleashing learning for your
adult learners?
Expectations

6. The Tree of Learning

7.  What’s your biggest challenge to
unleashing learning in your practice?

8.  Adult literacy is connected
to employment, global
competiveness, healthcare,
everything……
Challenges….

9.  In 2005, Texas joined Hawaii, New Mexico, and California
as majority-minority states.
 The fastest growing key segment of the population is
Hispanics (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005).
 Between 2000 and 2005, the number of foreign-born LEP
individuals age five and older increased over 29 percent to
2,197,648 (Migration Policy Institute, n.d.).
 Although 30 percent of immigrant workers have less than a
high school education and tend to be employed in low-wage
occupations, almost one-third of the foreign-born LEP
population have attained the equivalency of a bachelor’s
degree or higher in their native country (Capps, Fix, Passel,
Ost, Perez-Lopez, 2003).
The Current and Future Workforce
Virginia Price, LEP Guide for Workforce Professionals, 2007

10. Between 2010 and 2030, first- and second-
generation immigrants together are projected
to account for all U.S. labor force growth
(Lowell, B., Gelatt, J., Batalova, J., 2006).
If the trend continues…

11.  Passing TAKS scores are lowest and dropout
rates are highest for Texas’ Hispanic youth.
 The percentage of Hispanic youth graduating
from high school is the lowest in Texas, at just
under 58 percent (Editorial Projects in Education
Research Center, 2006).
 Overall, Texas has slipped from 45th to last
among states ranked by percent with populations
age 25 and older in 2005 with a high school
diploma (Murdock, 2007).
Texas Losing Ground in Educating LEP Youth and Adults

12. English Language – Literacy
• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing
• Grammar
Full Literacy in English for Adults
• English as a Second Language Learner (ESL)
• 5 - 7 Years
• Academic English
The language Challenge…

13. 12+ Years of English = Pre-Kindergarten – 12 Grade
How long did it take you to become literate?

14. Is there a process to unleash
learning in adults?

15. Conditions for Pedagogy Andragogy
Learning
Self concept of
learner
Prior learning
experience
Readiness to learn
Time perspective
for learning
Orientation to
learning
Assumptions About Learners
According to Malcolm Knowles….

16. Adult Learning Principles-
Malcolm Knowles
Teacher Design Conditions for Adult Learning
Elements
Learning Climate What did the learning experience feel like, look
like?
Planning for How did your prior learning help you plan a
learning new experience?
Diagnosing learning How did you know you were ready to learn?
needs
Forming objectives How did you use what you learned? When did
you apply what you learned ?
Designing the What life tasks did you need to learn?
topics
Learning activities What activities helped you learn?
Evaluation What kind of feedback did your receive?

17.  How important are the principles of adult
learning to your practice?
A Principles of Adult Learning
Scorecard

18. A Principles of Adult Learning
Scorecard
Teacher Design Conditions for Adult Learning Importance
Elements
Learning Climate Respect self-concept of learner to become self-
directed, collaborative, informal, mutual
Planning for Facilitate use of prior learning experience
learning
Diagnosis of Facilitate readiness to learn to be more
learning successful in life tasks
needs
Forming Facilitate immediate use of learning objectives
objectives
Designing the Topics addressing life tasks sequenced in terms
topics of readiness
Activities Experiential-labs, role plays, simulations, field
experiences
Evaluation Feedback is performance based
Total
Score=100

19. Unleashing the Power of Learning

20. Checking for Learning
Principles of Adult Conditions for Adult Learning Example
Learning
Learning Climate Respect self-concept of learner to become self-
directed, collaborative, informal, mutual
Planning for Facilitate use of prior learning experience
learning
Diagnosis of Facilitate readiness to learn to be more
learning successful in life tasks
needs
Forming Facilitate immediate use of learning objectives
objectives
Designing the Topics addressing life tasks sequenced in terms
topics of readiness
Activities Experiential-labs, role plays, simulations, field
experiences
Evaluation Feedback is performance based
Total
Score=100

21. A Principles of Adult
Learning Scorecard
Teacher Design Conditions for Adult Learning What are you
Elements doing?
Learning Climate Respect self-concept of learner to become self-
directed, collaborative, informal, mutual
Planning for Facilitate use of prior learning experience
learning
Diagnosis of Facilitate readiness to learn to be more
learning successful in life tasks
needs
Forming Facilitate immediate use of learning objectives
objectives
Designing the Topics addressing life tasks sequenced in terms
topics of readiness
Activities Experiential-labs, role plays, simulations, field
experiences
Evaluation Feedback is performance based
Total
Score=100

22. Which one
principle will
you apply over
the coming
year to
unleash
learning in
your practice?

23. • Kris Witte
• 575-527-9943
• 915-433-6531
• Email – kris@languageintegrationservicesllc.com
• Web – www.languageintegrationservicesllc.com
Kris Witte is the owner of Language Integration Services,LLC.
Her business distributes and implements “English on the Job”,
a computer based training tool to increase English skills and
workplace skills for limited English individuals. Contracts include
businesses, educational organizations, and government agencies.
Kris is an educator with a master’s degree in Adult Education.
After teaching and program development while employed at
El Paso Community College in El Paso, Texas, Kris saw the potential
with “English on the Job” to maximize learning.
Contact Information