Working with Adult Learners
Here at Continuum, we work with a diversity of students across programs. The majority of learners in our courses are working professional adults who study while working full-time and managing responsibilities to their families and communities.
Because of their high levels of independence, experience, and motivation, adult learners can be incredible contributors to an online class. They also have other priorities that may pull time and attention away from an online course, meaning they may need more flexibility in their learning process than a full-time student.
There are multiple approaches and ways to make your course engaging and impactful for adult learners.
Here are some tips:
- Show students how the knowledge and skills they learn in class will be useful to them in their current or future work.
- Explain how the current lesson or concept fits into the larger context of the course goals.
- Empower students to individualize their learning where possible, providing some flexibility to explore and share their own interests within projects or discussions.
- Respect and value students.
- Create discussion spaces or online groups where students are encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences with peers.
- Encourage mature, respectful, inclusive communication.
- When possible, split up large sections of “passive” content (videos, readings, etc.) into segments that can be consumed in 15 minutes or less. This will make it easier for adult learners to complete small pieces of learning throughout their week.
- Vary content delivery formats within each module, mixing text with video or multimedia content and interaction.
- Incorporate active learning whenever possible. This could take the form of quick self-assessments, discussions, mini-tasks, interactions, games, etc.
- Separate larger assignments and activities into stages so that each element is more manageable for adults with busy lives.
- Include specific task requirements and evaluation criteria for assignments.
- Provide clear policies for late work, and plan ahead for how to help a student who needs to miss a significant deadline in your course.
- Give specific, actionable feedback on assignments so that students clearly understand both the strengths of their submission and how to improve their work.
Updated 08/26/2024