What?

For the past week, I have considered adult learning through the lens of my personal experiences and how I might use that understanding to enhance my career goals and approaches with workplace trainings.  I completed a bachelors degree at a private Baptist university.  I completed a  masters degree at a different private, Baptist university.  I am completing a doctoral program at a public university.  I also have educational and work experience with Cooperative Extension.  As I reflect, I have decided the three different learning environments have variables that some may find helpful or harmful, depending on one’s preferred learning styles.  This may be useful as I approach training the different generations in our workforce.

So What?

In both my bachelor’s and my master’s programs at private online universities, my courses were either adult accelerated programs, or fast-paced courses, each eight weeks in length. I became adjusted to rapidly moving through material and being able to work ahead in order to stay caught up. The degree completion plan was prescribed, with little to no room for course substitutions.  The learning environment was primarily online and occurred pre-COVID-19, so by the time 2020 rolled around, I had a lot of experience with virtual learning.  This was a great advantage for me during the pandemic.  While pursuing my bachelor’s degree, I was in a cohort of other adult learners meeting weekly over 2 years, and it was brutal.  I was finding my feet during this time, but truly enjoyed those in my cohort.  It felt like a night out with friends each week when our class met, so it was really enjoyable.  I also worked full-time, so the fact that I found class with other working adults so enjoyable that I looked forward to it may sound sad, but I’m okay with that.  I suppose I was both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to complete that adventure.

With my master’s, I was extrinsically motivated to complete each course and move on to the next one because I had a prearranged list of courses I was to complete, and I couldn’t complete the degree without moving quickly through the program. I was on my own and really felt that way the entire time.  Since there wasn’t room for variability in the courses, some were not of interest to me, so I loathed my class time in those cases.  I took an Accounting 3 course online and I’ll never forget it because the instructor did not help me.  I asked for help and the response I continually got was “keep doing your best”.  I was never told what I did wrong, so I didn’t understand how to get the right answers.  I didn’t feel I learned anything except to hate Accounting. That was the only “C” I have ever gotten in a college course, and I obviously still dwell on it to this day.  Still, that was what I was used to, and that was the type of learning and path that was set for me in that degree program, so I had to deal with it.

In my doctoral program in a public university, I have taken in-person and virtual courses. I have had room for flexibility and creativity in my courses, which has helped me discover what I want to research as I continue in the program.  I am setting my own pace and continually pushing myself to commit to coursework and research over each semester.  I want to finish for myself.  I have had to set my own metrics.  I like what I’m learning, which is one reason I believe I’m able to retain what I’m learning.  I have felt for a while that this program is climatic and that I will feel I’ve climbed a mountain when I finish.   

Both of my experiences in private- and in public post-secondary education have caused me to reassess my life situations at work and in my personal life while completing each course.  That has been therapeutic throughout my adult life, which is an undisclosed benefit of completing college as a working adult.  

As an adult, I appreciate the Cooperative Extension model, which combines a top-down approach from university experts out to communities, with an engaged model of partnerships throughout communities to identify issues and solutions based in research.  Cooperative Extension focuses on taking evidence-based research and turning it into digestible, practical information and advice for community members.  It is one of the most underrated, public benefits we have in the United States that is often free to the public (safe drinking water is great, but many people must pay for it).  This is the most useful method for learning for me, as an adult because I am so focused on what I can solve ‘now’.   

Now What?

My studies this week have shown me that higher education is facing pressure to use what can be learned from a hybrid or Extension-like model to increase engagement and collaboration with learners.  As the need grows for workplace learning to be more sustainable for longer working lives, I can enhance my understanding of employee needs and preferences for learning to better accommodate the variety of learning styles and preferences.  Adults have years of life learning experiences that may increase or decrease their motivation to learn.  It will be beneficial for myself and for my HR department to consider the end-user, to maximize my efforts when approaching training programs.