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 Process
Model 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 transmitting
information 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 way
some 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
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 consider
giving of high responsibility for learning to the learner as
an important part of program design. This is built around
the 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 these
students 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 between
proactive and reactive learning. They also provide
experience to identify the resources of the participants,
such as who knows what, who knows who, who has had
experience doing what.

When adults are exposed to the concepts and skills of self-
directed learning, they feel more secure in entering into
adult education program.

Next slide.
Slide 5 Establishing a
Climate Conducive to
Learning
Educators are increasingly showing concern about the
quality of environments for learning. Ecological
psychologists, social psychologists, cognitive theorists,
personality theorists, and humanistic psychologists have
contributed greatly to the understanding of the need for
quality environments. Here we will look at the different
types of environments.

The physical environment requires the provision of
animal 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 of
physical space affects learning quality. An environment
must facilitate the interaction of learners. The physical
environment must have the richness and accessibility of
human and material resources. These resources can be
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 the
motivation and transfer or maintenance of learning.
Cognitive theorists emphasize on the importance of
clearly 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 are
respected, 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 development or HRD
program;
Organizational climate deals with management
philosophy; and
Organizational climate deals with the structure of the
organization. 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 HRD
will influence attitudes towards personal development.
Employees will value the HRD if an organization supports
it with the necessary financial resources. Rewards also
determine the climate.

Next slide.
Slide 6 Creating a
Mechanism for
Mutual Planning
Among all the aspects that separate different educational
practices such pedagogical from andragogical, or from
teaching 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 of
planning 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 the
planning 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 every
level 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 in
decision 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 for
determining 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 learner
might 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 can
begin to develop a realistic model for themselves.

One can obtain organizations perceptions of desired
performance through systems analyses, performance
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 competence
models. 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 a
clear 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 or
gap 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 resource
developer provides the learners with the tools and
procedures for obtaining the data for making responsible
judgments about their level of development of the
competencies.

Human psychologists recommend that a human resource
developer must provide a safe, none-threatening, and
supportive atmosphere when assisting the learners.

There are a variety of feedbackyielding tools and
procedures that can be adapted to self-assessment process.
Examples of programs that can be used are as follows:

ROCOM Intensive Coronary Multimedia Learning
System;
General Electric Corporation Career Development
Program; and
Westinghouse Electric Companys Executive Forum.

Next slide.
Slide 9 Formulating Program
Objectives
Different theorists have different perspectives on
objectives. However, behaviorists agree that objectives are
only meaningful if they can describe terminal behaviors in
very precise, measurable, and observable terms. Here, we
will explore some of the views of behaviorists on
objectives.

Among other things, Gagne says that an objective
statement 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.

Mager indicates that to describe the terminal behavior,
that is what the learner will be doing, the following things
should be considered:

Identify and name overall behavior act;
Define the important conditions under which the behavior
is 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 into
the curriculum and classroom experience.

Houle says among other things, objectives should be
practical, hierarchical. He also says that objectives do
change in the learning process. According to Houle, an
objectives should be stated clearly enough to all rational
minds exactly what is intended.

Theorists who see learning as a process of inquiry reject
the idea that there should be preset or prescribed
objectives 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 interaction
of the learner with his experience.

Schools in the United States seem to fall short of their
goals because students are taught how to perceive the
world, for example what to believe and not to believe.
Students are not encouraged to see the world from their
own 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.

Behaviorists see 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 to
organic stages of development , and providing appropriate
resources for the learners to solve these problems.

Psychologists view it as a matter of providing supportive
environments 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 selecting
appropriate formats for learning;
Designing units of experimental learning; and
Arranging the units according to learners readiness and
aesthetic principles.

Next slide.
Slide 11 Operating the
Program
The role of conducting learning activities is concerned
with the human resources developers role as an
administrator.

Quality of faculty resources is very crucial in the
program operation. It is commonplace current staffing
sources for human resources development contains many
subject-matter experts who only know how to teach in a
traditional 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 simple
selection 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 of
a 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 the
participants. 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-rating
scales, observation scales for use by supervisors.
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 use
results evaluation.

It is difficult to control all the variables to be able to say
definitively that is was because of the training that
changes 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 for
this assertion.

Most adult groups have a wide range of backgrounds,
education, interests, motivations, and abilities. It is not
easy to create a single learning plan that accommodates
these differences. However, contract learning provides a
way for individuals and or subgroups to make their own
learning 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 different
resources for learning to learn the same things.

Lastly, it makes it possible to provide a systematic
procedure 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.
Slide 14 The Evolving
Meaning of Human
Resources
Development
There is more to human resource development than
training or in-service management or management
development. 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 them
are as follows:

All organizations must 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; and
The role of human resource developer is going to be more
crucial than any other role in determining whether an
organization continues to exist or not in the future.

If the organization is viewed as a system of learning
resources 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 to
be able to apply the theory to their systems. In their new
role the human resource developers will ask two
questions:

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 the
systematic 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 between
content models and process models of learning, such as
the roles of teachers and learners. We also learned that
andragogical and learning project models consider the
learners responsibility for learning as an important part of
program design.

We then discussed establishing a climate conducive to
learning. 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 student
interaction. We also learned another aspect of the
environment called psychological climate. Psychological
climate 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 for
providing all the parties in the education enterprise in the
planning process, and this why human resources
development 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 the
society. 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 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. 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 who
see 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
because they give the learners the prism through which
they perceive the world instead of letting the learners view
the world from their own perspectives.

Next slide.
Slide 15 Summary, continued Next, we looked at designing a pattern of learning
experiences. Here we learnt about the views of
behaviorists, cognitive and inquiry theorists,
psychologists, and adult education theorists on what
program design is. For example, we noted that
psychologists 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 the
andragogical model.

Next, we examined operating the program. Here we saw
that conducting learning activities is concerned with the
human resources developers role as an administrator. We
learned that the current staffing sources of human resource
development contain the many subject-matter experts who
only know how to teach in a traditional pedagogical
fashion. Therefore, sometimes as an administrator you
have to train the teachers yourself through pre-service and
in-service educational programs.

We the discussed contract learning. Here, we learned
about why contract learning is a powerful tool in adult
learning. For example, most adult groups have a wide
range of backgrounds, education, interests, motivations,
and abilities differences. Contract learning provides a way
for 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 professional
development programs in medicine, engineering and many
other areas.

Finally we examined the evolving meaning of human
resource development. Here, we learned that the evolving
meaning of human resource development requires that we
view organizations differently. For example, an
organization must be seen as a dynamic arrangement of
interacting subsystems of people process, equipment,
materials, and ideas. The roles of human resources
developers will also change. They will now be seen as
mangers of learning resources.

This completes this lesson.