ADULT LEARNING
Motivation
Adult Learning vs. Childhood Learning
Childhood learning (teacher-centered)
- rote learning
- repetition
- testing as feedback
- gathering building blocks
- vertical and additive
Adult learning (subject-centered)
- conceptual
- contextual
- continuous
- horizontal and integrated
Malcolm Knowles
- American educator who is an expert in adult
learning
- Described childhood learning as pedagogy
- Described adult learning as andragogy
Comparison of Pedagogy and Andragogy
Assumption/Pedagogy/Andragogy
1. Need to know
- Learn what the teacher wants them to learn
- Need to know when they need to learn
something
2. Self concept
- Perception of being dependent on the teacher
for learning
- Feel responsible for their own learning
3. Role of experience
- The teacher’s experience not the children’s is
what counts
- Adults learn from each other’s experiences
4. Readiness to learn
- Must be ready when the teacher says they must
or they will not be promoted
- Ready to learn when they feel the need to know
5. Orientation to learning
- Subject centered orientation
- Life centered or task centered orientation
6.
- Externally motivated
- Primarily internally motivated, with some
external motivation
Learning Propositions
- Based from the Book of Andragogy
- Authors: Watson (majority), Knowles, Holton
and Swanson
1. Behaviors which are rewarded (reinforced) are
most likely to occur. –Watson
2. Sheer repetition without indications of
improvement or any kind of reinforcement is a
poor way to attempt to learn. –Watson
3. Threat and punishment have variable and
uncertain effects upon learning; they may make
the punished response more likely or less likely
to occur; they may set up avoidance tendencies
which prevent further learning. –Watson
4. Reward (reinforcement) to be most effective in
learning, most follow almost immediately after
the desired behavior and be clearly connected
with that behavior in the mind of the learner. –
Watson
5. “Learners progress in any area of learning only
as far as they needed to in order to achieve
their purpose. Often they do only enough to
‘get by’; ---kulang
6. Forgetting proceeds rapidly at first-then more
and more slowly; recall shortly after learning
reduces the amount of forgotten. –Watson
7. Learning from reading is facilitated by time
spent recalling what has been read than
rereading. – Watson
8. The best way to help pupils from a general
concept is to present the concept in numerous
ways and varied situations, contrasting
experiences with and without the concept, ten
to encourage precise formulations of the
general idea in its application in situations
different from those in which the concept was
learned. – Watson
9. When children and adult experience too much
frustration, their behavior ceases to be
integrated, purposeful and rational. Blindly,
 they act out of their rage, discouragement or
withdrawal. Thresholds of what is ‘too much’
varies, it is lowered by previous failures. –
Watson
10. No school subjects are markedly superior to
others for strengthening mental powers.
General improvement as a result of study in any
subject depends on instruction designed to
build up generalizations about principles,
concept formation and improvement of
techniques of study, thinking and
communication. –Watson
11. What is learned is most likely to be available for
use if is learned in a situation much like that in
which is to be used immediately preceding the
time when it is needed. – Watson
12. Children (and adults even more) remember new
information which confirms their previous
attitudes better than they remember new
information which runs counter to their
previous attitudes. –Watson
13. Adults need to know why they need to learn
something before learning it. – Knowles,
Holton, Swanson (not exact/ di ako sure sa
author haha)