Adult Learners There Exists Little

Adult Learners

There exists little in the literature on how adults best learn novel motor skills in formal education contexts. Motor learning is an important component of adult education. Community and technical colleges, for example, offer programs that require learners to master novel motor skills: carpentry, plumbing, automotive maintenance, massage therapy, and dental assisting, among others. Skills-based continuing education, for trades such as construction and cosmetology, in addition to continuing professional education, such as would be required to learn new surgical techniques, also depend on learning novel motor skills. Current information on motor learning is most often presented in age-neutral contexts. Adult educators have not yet reached a consensus on an approach that best supports the way adults learn motor skills, nor is there much applied emphasis. Further work in the field of adult motor learning is indicated.

For the purpose of the literature review, the author reviewed foundational adult learning theories and models and believed the Update on Adult Learning series (Merriam et al., 2007) was the best choice; it was selected "for its comprehensiveness, scope, recentness, and focus on adult learning theories and models without the endorsement of a dominant framework" (Roessger, 2012, p. 373). Roesseger then provided an overview of didactic, experiential, and situated approaches to adult education, with a discussion of the way each could be used to facilitate adult motor learning.

In the didactic approach, the educator disseminates information to the learner. In this model, students are passive recipients of knowledge, as occurs with lecture format. There is little student-teacher interaction or discussion. Students have little or no opportunity for hands-on activities; the assumption is that students will learn by observing a process or procedure done correctly.

Hands-on learning is known more formally as experiential learning. Learners are provided with practice opportunities in situations that are controlled -- allowing for immediate instructor feedback -- but which simulate real-world experience to the extent possible.

The situated approach places learning into context. Also called "situated cognition," proponents of this view believe learning "can only be understood when considering the practice as a whole" (Roessger, 2012, p. 378). Compared to experiential learning, where learners practice in re-created environments, the situated approach puts learners in real-world situations where they perform skills alongside an established expert. Skills are not performed in isolation from one another but as part of a series of interrelated tasks and overall process in a community such as one in which the skill(s) is normally executed.

Where practical, the situated approach is the most desirable. The stakes are high because the student is in a real-world situation. Obviously the instructor must balance a student's need for this experience with the safety and well-being of others. Making a mistake installing a door in a new home project does not have the same dire consequences as a mistake made during surgery. The first instance is correctable, with no real harm done. The second instance could cost a life; the procedure cannot be re-done. The instructor should design for students the situations that will provide the most authentic experiences possible and reasonable.

Roessger looked at five theoretical models of motor learning, based on theories developed in disciplines including behavior analysis, kinesiology, sport psychology, and cognitive psychology.

In chaining, the student completes a sequence, or chain, of individual responses that together achieve a reinforcing outcome. The motor program is an abstract memory structure where actions are performed without feedback, such as pulling a nail gun. It is a muscle activity that lasts a fraction of a second. Actions that take more than a split second -- even actions that may take only slightly more than 200 milliseconds -- are under the learner's control; he/she is able to monitor the motor program as it occurs and make corrections as needed. With variability of practice, the learner builds a more flexible and adaptable motor program because of intentional variation. Learners may be initially confused but learn to adapt, ultimately leading to stronger performance. In analogy learning, students integrate facts and rules they already know, incorporating them into what they are learning. Finally, modeling provides a guide for learners' actions. The learner listens and observes, but does not receive explicit instruction.