At present, most companies prefer to hire a candidate with a tertiary qualification. However, not all working adults in Malaysia have undergone a university course due to unsatisfactory public exam results, economic circumstances and other factors. To ensure this group is not left behind, the Malaysian government has established the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) in 2011 as part of an initiative to promote adult education and to enable experiential learning for working adults.
Understanding Adult Learners and How to Encourage Them to Persist
To understand better how adult learning courses work, here are some of the teaching and learning methodologies carried out by educators for their adult students:
1. Setting adult learning goals
Having a realistic learning goal is crucial to motivate and direct productive behaviour when undergoing a course programme. Adult learners in general have an idea of what they want to learn and why they need to do so. However, they may need help with goal planning as this may be the first time for some of them to undertake a university course. Thus, educators who teach working students facilitate in breaking down their learning goals into short-term and long-term academic goals. If they set near-term goals, they are likely to complete them and be motivated to tackle their long-term academic goals like pursuing a postgraduate degree. This enhances self-efficacy among adult learners which motivates continuous learning. Educators also support learners by weekly assessing their academic progress as well as providing encouraging feedback, which will be discussed next.
2. Offering encouraging feedback
Learners with high self-efficacy can get the most out of adult learning courses. They can look at difficulties as challenges instead of threats to avoid entirely. They also tend to be more self-driven to complete the assigned tasks and readings. But how do we help adult learners to believe in themselves and their abilities? One of the ways educators have employed is to give feedback that is clear, specific and accurate. If the educator overestimates the learner’s ability, they may not be motivated to learn new things. By contrast, if the educator underestimates the learner’s ability, it may discourage them from using their skills and subject competency to the fullest extent. Therefore, it is good for the educator to be detailed about their strengths and areas of improvements to motivate learners to progress further in their adult education.
3. Managing errors healthily with adult learners
Regardless of age, all students can find errors demotivating. This is especially true for adult learners with careers. They perceive themselves as individuals with significant life and work experience, which may subsequently have created unwanted stress on themselves to succeed only. In reality, mistakes are inevitable and in fact, an important foundation of learning. Instructors who are involved in providing formal education for working adults can recognise the common characteristics of adult learners and usually correct ingrained negative attributions by providing feedback to adult learners that stresses the processes of learning, including monitoring one’s own understanding. Ultimately, the journey of experiential learning for adults consists of learning new things as well as exploring various methods and solutions through trial and error.
Whether it is early childhood education or adult learning, the education industry is in constant need of education experts to find innovative ways to produce effective teaching techniques and learning outcomes. INTI’s Master in Education Management is designed to meet the needs of students who aspire to become managers or leaders at various levels in educational institutions to transform education for the better. For more information, fill in our e-form to submit your programme enquiries today.