Adult Learning Andragogy Essay

Andragogy, or the practices of teaching adult learners, incorporates many perspectives and ideas from research. Among these are six andragogical principles related to motivation of adult learning. When reflecting upon learning experiences, adults should also consider cognitive, personality, and prior knowledge differences that may exist in each scenario. The following personal learning experiences serve as illustrations of these six principles.
The Learner’s Need to Know
I am guilty of attending professional learning opportunities and seeing little to no point in being at the training or learning the material being presented. Several years ago, I was at a training session about an assessment system with which I was already familiar. Because I already knew about the assessments, I did not think I needed to be in attendance at the training. My opinion, however, quickly changed after the facilitator gave us a quiz about our knowledge of the assessment prior to the start of her presentation. The quiz asked …show more content…
In the instance of understanding the assessment system, I acknowledge my perceived level of prior knowledge and my actual prior knowledge played a significant role in my need to know and learn more. All of the experiences indicate the adult learners had the cognitive or intellectual abilities to learn; however, other cognitive areas such as cognitive controls, like self-identifying as a field-independent learner, or cognitive styles, like information gathering or information organizing, may have influenced the learner’s capability to take in new information. Personality differences could also modify the outcomes of an adult learner’s experience. If my husband had not been self-motivated or had perceived an external locus of control for his learning, the outcomes could be significantly