The land grant mission of our University is to
serve the residents of the District of Columbia who are often, working adults.
Students enroll in courses and programs to increase their knowledge and advance
their skills and abilities to get better jobs, gain access to new careers and
provide better lives for the families and communities that they come from. As
such, how might we best reach adult learners and reach-out to more who may not
be able to pursue a traditional college education?
I propose that online and hybrid courses are but
one way to meet the growing demands of an educated workforce and the
constituency of working adults seeking advanced credentials. In order to ensure
we put forward our best practices in serving our constituents in the online or
hybrid environment, we might reflect on the conceptual understandings of
teaching and learning. Let us begin with pedagogy, andragogy and heutagogy. Pedagogy typically refers to how the instructor facilitates the learning (the process) where the focus is on what the instructor does (how they design activities and content) as opposed to what the participants do or what they bring to the learning environment - teacher centered (Beich, 2008).
Andragogy is best understood as an adult learning concept popularized by Malcolm Knowles. It is based upon understanding the motivations behind learning. It is noteworthy to point out that the focus is upon the student and their intrinsic desire to create knowledge and an understanding that the instructor facilitates students’ self actualization of their full potential.
Andragogy includes:
- Problem
centered rather than content centered pedagogy.
- The
consideration of learner experiences (prior knowledge).
- Experiential
learning and reflection.
- A
partnership between the learner and the instructor.
- Self-directed
focus and authenticity.
- A
need to know why one needs to learn something (full disclosure).
Heutagogy promotes the concept of self-determined holistic learning through critical reflection. The approach facilitates a flexible modality where the instructor shares resources and learners help design the course or path of learning (Hase and Kenyon (2001). Heutagogy involves encouraging learners to become deeply reflective while developing their capabilities. Reflection focuses upon helping the learner understand how experiences affect their values, beliefs, goals, habits, conceptual frameworks, and previously held ideals and to contemplate ways in which the learner might expand their self efficacy in these areas. Argyris and Schon (1996) called this double-loop learning. Like andragogy, it too is student centered and involves reflection to stimulate meaning.
What is the relevance of heutagogy to online learning? Online learning is in a unique position to expand the heutagogical approach, as well as stimulate additional research into heutagogy. As we embrace the full conceptual range of epistemology and acknowledge that age alone cannot determine cognitive maturity or motivation to learn, we find that the online learning environment is a flexible modality to facilitate self-directed and self-determined learning. Online course design is a natural fit to construct activities that are authentic and lend themselves to self-directed learning.
By understanding our students, instructors might redesign courses to build a sustainable community whereby students develop the skills necessary to explore their values, the values of the community and ultimately the values of society at large as they progress from module to module in an online course.
With its learner-centered design, Web 2.0 offers
an environment that supports a heutagogical approach that supports the
development of learner-generated content, learner self-directedness in
information discovery and learner engagement in defining their learning path.
The asynchronous nature of online learning offers
many affordances and allows for reflective thinking since the students have
time to respond to peers and to form questions of their own as they struggle
with problems. Parameters can be set by the instructor while students can
determine the scope and creativity of the projects, activities, or papers based
on their own particular needs for relevance, time concerns, need to know, past
experiences, and readiness to learn.
Resources
Argyris, C and Schon, D. (1996) Organisational
Learning II, Addison-Wesley, Reading. Beich, E. (2008). ASTD Handbook for Workplace Learning Professionals. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Blaschke, Lisa Marie. (2012). Heutagogy and Lifelong Learning: A Review of Heutagogical Practice and Self-Determined Learning. < http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1076/2087 >.
Hase, Stewart and Chris Kenyon (2001). From Andragogy to Heutagogy. < http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/pr/Heutagogy.html >
JEberle, Jane., and Marcus Childress. (2007).Heutagogy: It Isn’t Your Mother’s Pedagogy Any More.
National Social Science Association http://www.nssa.us/journals/2007-28-1/2007-28-1-04.htm
Knowles, M. (1973). The adult learner: A neglected species. Houston: Gulf.
Knowles, M. (1970). The modern practice of adult education: Andragogy versus pedagogy. New York: Association Press.
