Community College Course
Teaching a class at the community college level, particularly when there is a wide age range among adult students, presents different challenges from teaching in grades K-12. Adults approach learning differently than do children; they have varied reasons for wanting to learn and bring a range of perspectives and experiences to the classroom. Malcolm Knowles gained prominence for his attempts to develop a distinctive conceptual basis for adult learning based on andragogy (Smith, 2002). Androgogy is a self-directed approach, wherein learning is a response to real-world problems. Knowles' work represented a significant departure from the notion of "teaching people" toward "helping people learn."
There are biological differences in the range of learners for the hypothetical course that is the subject of this paper. Students who range in age from seventeen to their mid-twenties are maturing into full frontal lobe development. Their ability to see "the big picture" is not as strong as that of the older students. Older learners tend to be highly motivated and positively predisposed toward the learning process. They understand and retain information more effectively when they have some control over the learning environment (Spigner-Littles and Anderson, 1999, p. 203).
The younger learners may just be starting their college studies. They may view the course as something that must be gotten through to get to the next step. Perhaps the course is a prerequisite for another course, or a requirement towards a degree. They may be less interested in the content than in fulfilling an obligation. Older students may be attending college for the first time, may be returning after a long absence, or may...
Older adults are probably balancing employment (either full- or part-time) as well as family obligations. They may have spouses, children, or elderly parents for whom they are responsible. Time constraints may be much greater on older adults and yet they may be more motivated to study and do well in the course.
In his last column for Training and Development Journal, Malcolm Knowles specifically addressed comments made in a letter that questioned his ideas. Frank O. Hoffman, a corporate partner of Practical Management Associates, wrote:
"[I[ have become concerned by its [andragogy concept] ready and unquestioning acceptance by some trainers as a "brave new world" panacea, circumventing inabilities to make subject matter interesting or to cause pre-specified learning to happen through structured classroom experiences and discussion. (Knowles, 1980, p. 48).
Hoffman almost seems to suggest that Knowles' ideas, should they become widely adopted, would diminish the importance of the instructor's role and perhaps one day even make instructors obsolete. Knowles was quick to assure Hoffman, and his readers, that this was not the case. Knowles redefined the pedagogical model traditionally used by education systems, in which teachers bear full responsibility for the what, when, and how of learning. Students, in this model, are essentially passive recipients of knowledge, motivated by grades and competition with their peers. Knowles claimed pedagogical ideology was "sanctified" under the title "academic standards" (Knowles, p. 48). There are several main assumptions associated with the pedagogical model, including the dependent role of the…
