MODERN METHODS IN ADULT EDUCATION

• Giving learners some degree of ownership• Adults want to invest their previous

experience in the learning process

Duo Dimensional Chart

Lecture

• Popular during the Middle Ages when tabula rasa theory of education prevailed

• Spoken words by the instructor• Needs plenty of interesting and colorful

examples• Should be accompanied by feed back activity

Reading

• Instructors should announce discussions or test

• Supply syllabus for “Easter-egg hunt”• Reading that does not permit further growth

is a questionable investment

Demonstration

• Illustrated lectures• Suitable for psychomotor objectives• Close integration of the spoken and visual

stimulus are the key to a successful demonstration

Field trips

• “Easter-egg hunt” image is very helpful• Permit learners to experience sensory

impressions which could never occur in the classrooms or conference rooms

Note-taking

• Controversial– Necessary to imprint data– Others think that note taking may be a distraction

People may take control of hat they write causing them to misinterpret the information

Programmed Instructions

• Requires active involvement of the learners• Provides immediate feedback about the

quality of the learner’s response

Structured Discussion

• Conversations between trainees• Objective should be clearly announced in

advance• Instructor-supplied agenda may be totally

inconsistent with the climate needed for adult learning

Panel Discussion

• Variation discussion format• Sometimes called: colloquies; symposiums• Short lectures by variety of people

Anti dote for learners’ very low participation* question-answer participation* post-panel structured discussion

Open-forum Discussion

• Learners should take full responsibility for the content of the discussion

• Only the topic is announced• Any member may speak to any member• Moderator should be there

Performance try-out

• Used for measurement and evaluation• Valid demonstration • Practical application

“Learning is acquired through doing.”-Carl Rogers

Brain storming

• Specialized form of discussion• Real-problem situation• Train people to listen positively to the ideas of

others• Groups can generate more ideas that many

people doing it individually

• Participants must control their inputs. Controls occurs through the instructions and behaviors of the leader.

1. Generate, don’t evaluate.2. Create new ideas by amending those which

have been suggested3. Post all suggestions on a visible list in front of

the group

Case study

• Popular way to induce involvement• an intensive analysis of an individual unit• Participants receive a printed description of the

problem situation containing details of the problem

• Control of the discussion is through a description of the desired output, such as: recommendation, decision, action plan, and justification

CASE STUDY

Incident Process

• Specialized form of case study• Insufficient data are given so that a decision

cannot be reached• The data are available to the instructor and

doles theses out in response to specific questions by the learners.

CASE STUDY

Action mazes

• Programmed case study• Printed description of the case with enough

details to take them to the first decision point• Leader supplies the next frame which will

explain the consequences of their decision• Effective way to let people discover the value

of dissent, debate, confrontation, compromise

Role plays

• Allows learners to reenact situations• Through reenactment, learners can reexamine

previous behaviors, tryout behaviors they have just acquired or experiment on behavior which strike them as potentially useful

• To make the role play totally relevant and realistic, instructors sometimes ask participants to write their own role plays.

REVERSE ROLE PLAYS

• Participants switch roles at a critical moment in the role play

• Helps gain understanding of another person’s viewpoint

Doubling role plays

• Observers of the role plays get into the action when they feel moved to do so

• They step behind the current player and become another “body and voice” for that character.

• Doubling role play is an enacted brain storm

Rotation role plays

• Variation of doubling role plays• One learner replaces another participant in

the role play. • Learners are in greater control of the content

and processes• Can also be managed by the instructor

Hot role plays

• Used to resolve issues that arise spontaneously in the classroom dynamics

• No instructions are given to the learners• Can become psychodrama• “alter-egoing”• “magic shop”• “magic wand”

Simulations

• Somewhat like action mazes being role played• Operation of a real-world process or system

over time. • To “mimic or simulate a real system so that we

can explore it, perform experiments on it and understand it before implementing it in the real world”

Baskets

• Form of simulation• Gets the realities of the job through the paper

symptoms of that job• limited period of time to set priorities,

organize their working schedule accordingly and respond to mails and phone calls

Games

• Simulation made competitive• For therapeutic training, games can be sued

for self-actualization and self-fulfillment• Develop listening skills• Greater involvement• Some behavior may be indentified as

contributive or counter productive

Clinics

• Learners devote their energy in solving a given problem

• Discussion format• Helpful in developing problem-solving,

decision-making or team membership skills• Real-world situation

Critical incident method

• Identifies and analyzes actual participant experiences as a basis for better understanding real problems

• Does not identify problem situations for class analysis but describe the details of an incident that “changed their lives”

• Also called as the peak-experience approach• Incidents come from the learners themselves

CIT is a flexible method that usually relies on five major areas.

1. Determining and reviewing the incident2. Fact-finding3. Identify the issues.4. Decision on how to resolve the issues based

on various possible solutions5. Evaluation, which will determine if the

solution that was selected will solve the root cause of the situation

T-groups

• ”sensitivity training”• form of group psychotherapy where

participants themselves learn about themselves through their interaction with each other.

• use feedback, problem solving, and role play to gain insights into themselves, others, and groups.

Organization development data gathering involves the process of diagnosis aimed at deciding which one or what combination of specific methods may be useful to achieve development objectives as a group or as an organization

Asking what method to use for a training program is like asking a physician what instrument to use for surgery. It all depends on the nature of the operation.