Encouraging Self Direction (Lenses of Reflection Considered: Our Student’s Eyes)

In order to encourage adult individuals to take the initiative for self-direction of learning, the teacher should allow students to work on either individual or team projects where they will pick the topics for research projects or the area of interest for other course projects.

This will allow the adult student to diagnose their needs, formulate specific learning objectives, choose appropriate learning strategies, and select the resources needed for learning as they tailor the projects to fit their specific needs.

For example, in a project management class, the students are assigned a team research project on a topic related to project management and an individual project to develop the scope, work breakdown structure, and project plan for a project that they choose.

One group selected a research topic of “managing diverse project teams” since several of them are dealing with this at their jobs. A student selected a wedding project for their course project as they are planning to get married within a year.

This type of self-directed learning will be in tune with the natural processes of an adult situational development process and places a sense of ownership of the adult learners’ educational responsibilities.

Integrating New Information with Previous Experiences (Lenses of Reflection Considered: Literature Review, and Colleagues Experiences)

The adult instructor should consider using previous work or life experiences that he or she may have and are relevant to the lecture. This type of examples can add value and help the students understand the lesson being taught. 

In addition, the adult instructor should petition for experiences from the students within the classroom.

This will help ensure that the students feel more engaged in the learning process and help them relate the lessons being taught within their own lives, whether it is work or home life.

Ensuring that the Information will be seen as Relevant and Usable to the Adult Learner (Lenses of Reflection Considered: Literature Review, Ours Students Eyes, Colleagues Experiences, and Autobiography)

The adult instructor should ensure that the lessons being taught have some sense of pertinence to the students and are applicable to the students’ current jobs or their specific majors. The instructor could also include examples from current literature to enhance the learning experience and ensure relevancy.

For example, the instructor should attempt to find out the students current positions and their majors so he or she can tailor the lesson to fit their needs. In other words, show how Excel can help an accounting major or a person who wants to impress their current boss.

One student received a promotion by creating an access database at his current job because of this type of teaching.

The instructor should have the capability to tailor the required lesson plans to fit the needs of the students.

Practicing Edutaining within the Teaching Process (Lenses of Reflection Considered: Ours Students Eyes and Autobiography)

The instructor should become an “Edutainer,” where the instructor entertains the students while providing an education and meeting the course objectives that involves the use of a lot of variety, as explained by Bird (2007). 

The instructor should (a) show videos that add value while entertaining, (b) involve students in skits, (c) conduct an impromptu satire, (d) add demonstrations with scenarios, (e) add some jazz to the Power Point slides, (f) make the lecture more interesting by adding flair, (g) make the lecture more interesting by adding work-related examples, and (h) make the lecture more interesting by engaging all students.

Additionally, the instructor should add humor in the delivery of the lesson and within the exams in order to ease the anxiety and allow the students to relax which should allow students to learn effectively and efficiently.

Assessment of Students' Performance (Lenses of Reflection Considered: Literature Review and Autobiography)

The instructor should consider the process of assessment as an ongoing process targeted at the comprehension and improvement of the student learning process.

It also includes the involvement of making the instructor’s expectations explicit and public, developing an appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality, thoroughly analyzing and interpreting evidence to establish how well the students’ performance matches those expectation standards, and present an appropriate comment to present this consequential information to document, explain, and improve the students’ future performance.

This assessment should be done in a timely fashion. At several colleges and universities, the policy is within seven days but this instructor feels that this assessment should be done within forty-eight hours.