Mary Harrsch (mharrsch@oregon.uoregon.edu)
Wed, 13 Jan 1999 15:45:18 -0800
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 15:45:18 -0800 From: Mary Harrsch <mharrsch@oregon.uoregon.edu> Subject: [ifets] Current discussion summary so far
Summary of Discussion
Adult Learner Behaviors in Workplace vs. Educational Environments
Discussion of this topic began Monday, January 11, 1999. Nora Carrol,
discussion moderator, asked us to consider the following:
* differences that may emanate from motivation (i.e., what motivates
someone to attend formal courses may or may not be the same as what
motivates them to learn at work)
* differences between voluntary and involuntary participation in
learning
* differences between learning that is tangibly rewarded via credit,
CEU's or certification, and learning that is not tangibly rewarded
* differences that result from the learning evaluation and measuring
methods used
* differences that result from the instructional delivery systems,
physical and virtual
A common thread that has been raised by a number of those posting comments
centers on the recognition that adult learners bring a variety of
experiences, cultural differences, personality types, attitudes towards the
learning experience, technical literacy, and motivations to the learning
environment and all of these variables impact their preferred learning
style and the learning modalities that need to be considered by the
instructors.
John Eklund recalled a student who experienced frustration because she could
not connect a demonstration to a prior experience. I really had difficulty
trying to convince some of [the] students in the class that the best way to
achieve a satisfactory outcome in the course was by thinking from the top
down
Mary Harrsch pointed out that cultural differences may influence particular
adults or groups to approach distance ed differently. Elaine Winters agreed
referencing her articles that focus on Gardner=92s work with learning styles:
http://www.bena.com/ewinters/articles.html
Some societies, specifically those characterized as high context, place
great emphasis on ambiance, decorum, status of the participants, and manner
of delivery; low context cultures ignore these events--emphasizing content
in a communication - sometimes expressed as 'cut to the chase'.
Martin Owen just returned from a conference where Nonaka Ikujiro delivered a
presentation on Knowledge Creating Companies and the concept of physical,
virtual and mental spaces for knowledge interchange referred to as =93Ba=94.
Martin says ICT can make a clear contribution to this activity by
facilitating knowledge acquisition through sharing information with fellow
professionals and mutual problem solving. However, he also mentions that
there has been some discussion of discrepancy between Asian and North
American cultures. =93Nonaka San suggested that in creating Ba there is a
need for humour, including irony. This may be problematic for some.
Bob Leamnson also acknowledged the impact of student diversity. =93 =85we still
don't know quite what to do with that fact. It is a situation that is not
restricted to adult groups, or groups of mixed ethnic/cultural background.
Chis Eliot pointed out that that is one of the primary assumptions of the
intelligent tutoring community. =93It is also the reason why computer
scientists think that effective tutoring systems require complex reasoning
mechanisms: you have to have multiple ways of teaching the same thing, and
you need to =91diagnose=92 what kind of student you are working with, and you
must then select the best available way of teaching to match each individual
student,=94 he stated.
Jack Ring reminded us of Ashby=92s principle of =93requisite variety=94 that tells
us that any =93learning environment=94 must exhibit an even greater spectrum of
learning modalities. He also mentioned that learning styles are very
significant as put forth by Isachsen and Behrens in Working Together in
which they correlate Meyers-Briggs personality styles and individual
learning styles to show that some people like to learn by isolated study but
others need to be in group with high interaction. Jack thinks that when the
challenge is to learn how to do, adults learn more, faster from peers and
power figures who are directly involved in the activity than they do from
teachers, mentors, coaches, and researchers. When the challenge is to learn
what a student does not know then the guru is necessary.
Mary Harrsch
Network and Information Systems Manager
College of Education
102-K Education
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
(541) 346-3554
http://oregon.uoregon.edu/~mharrsch/index.htm
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