Facts on Adult Learners

Adult learners are making the decision to enroll or re-enter postsecondary education in alarming numbers. As a result, nontraditional students are inundating traditional and proprietary colleges faster than learning accommodations can be made. The article Research on Adult Learners: Supporting the Needs of a Student Population that Is No Longer Nontraditional by Jovita M. Ross-Gordon sums up the multiple roles of adult learners, discusses the programmatic responses to adult learners by postsecondary institutions, evaluates the theories of adult learning, and discusses recent research on adult learners.

According to the article adult learners who were once labeled nontraditional are enrolling in college programs so frequently that institutions traditional and proprietary (for profit) are being forced to re-evaluate their curricular offerings to make accommodations to meet the needs of adult learners. Based on a National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) report per Hussar and Bailey (cited in Ross-Gordon, 2011), between 2007–2018 higher education projections for “students over twenty-five will remain stable or increase during the current decade” which will result in the need of college programs that can meet the needs of adult learners (p. 26).

Most traditional campuses are not yet equipped to accommodate the specific needs of the adult students. In contrast, many proprietary schools have designed programs that attract adult learners. These programs are more flexible and accommodating to adult learners. Most proprietary postsecondary schools offer diverse programs that include distance learning, accelerated course formats, and prior learning assessment. These diverse programs are highly attractive educational program offerings to adult learners.

Adult learners are very unique, and have multiple barriers that often prevent them from enrolling or re-entering postsecondary education. If adult learners are fortunate enough to enter postsecondary school they more than likely have responsibilities that must be addressed as well as the demands of an education. Adult learners “are juggling other life roles while attending school” such as spouse, partner, parent, caregiver, and community leader which make it difficult to maintain traditional college schedules (Ross-Gordon, 2011, p. 26). These life roles make adult learners unique to other college students. In support of the basic framework in understanding adult learning, Ross-Gordon discusses several learning theories based on adult learners. The author stresses that it is important for postsecondary educators, institutions, and program developers to understand adult learning theories because they can assist in the development of more appealing academic programs for adult learners.
The first theory discussed by Ross-Gordon is Malcolm Knowles theory of Andragogy.

The andragogical theory of adult learning states that adults:
prefer self-direction in learning,
bring a vast reservoir of experience that should be considered
in planning learning experiences
exhibit a readiness to learn that is based on a need to know
something or do something
exhibit an orientation to learning that is task- or problem-centered,
and subject centered, and
exhibit a relatively high degree of internal motivation
(Ross-Gordon, 2011, p. 28)

The second theoretical framework for understanding adult learning discussed by the author was self-directed learning. Self-directed learning (SDL) is one of the primary components of Andragogy. SDL essentially supports the use of “methods and assignments” that allow the adult learner to control their learning (Ross-Gordon, 2011, p. 28). The third theory discussed by Ross-Gordon involves the transformative learning (TL) theory, a version proposed by Jack Mezirow (2000) cited in (Ross-Gordon, 2011). TL is a prominent debated theory in the research of adult learning. Transformative learning allows the teacher to propose a situation in which the adult learner must use their previous knowledge to solve a problem or a situation.

Ross-Gordon compares the research she conducted in the 2003 volume of New Directions for student Services against the research of others in the area of adult learning. She notes that several studies examined adult learner characteristics based on their interactions in the postsecondary classroom (2011). These studies provided “substantial but not qualified support for” “the theoretical frameworks of adult learning and development described” in each of the theoretical approaches listed above (p. 28). Based on research about adult learners the general consensus is that adult learner’s desire: active learning that supports cognitive growth and transformational learning, immediate application of knowledge, opportunities for self-direction, and highly structured learning experiences (2011). As noted by Ross-Gordon there are areas of adult learning that have yet to be studies. The areas of adult learning that have not been researched consist of adult learners of color, veterans, and adults with learning disabilities.