2011 Strategy Forum Evidence -Based Practices in Adult Learning

1. 2011 Strategy ForumEvidence-Based Practices in Adult Learning Henry S. Merrill, Ed. D. CAEL Associate Consultant May 12, 2011 Teaching and learning are only moments in a greater process that is knowing.” Paulo Friere, 1994

2. Adult Learning Forum • Context for adult learning in the 20th & 21st Centuries • Evidence base for current/evolving adult learning theories  • Framework for Informal Learning • Reflective practice • How do you plan to weave this into your work? • Transfer of learning

3. Systems Framework Learning-Organization-Resources

4. Person in Systems Context Many Identities in Multiple Systems

5. Organizations & Work in Micro-to-Macro Levels

6. Gestalt Change Cycle

7. Less is sometimes more -40% - 60% work load • While there is often an assumption in education that the more one teaches, the more students learn, this is erroneous and has been disproved by empirical research* • Optimum learning appears to be achieved when approximately 40% of the time available for learning is dedicated to teaching activities, and the remaining 60% is reserved for self-study. • Beyond this level of teaching activity, learning actually begins to decrease, a finding that has significant implications for professional training programs which tend to emphasize extensive, formal instructional activity. • * Van Der Drift & Vos, 1987; Gijselaers & Schmidt, 1995

8. 20th Century Perspectives/Models/Philosophies of AE? • Liberal – Cultural transmission • Behaviorist – Change behavior • Cognitivist – Information processing, memory, insight, perception & meta-cognition • Social Cognitivist – Interact/observe/constructivist • Experiential/Constructivist • Humanistic – Andragogy – Fulfill our potential • Progressive/Radical – Change society • Name that theorist game!

9. 21st Century Perspectives/Models/Philosophies of AE? • Holistic • Cognition • Somatic Learning • Affective Learning • Spiritual Learning • Artistic Ways of Knowing • Transpersonal Knowing

10. 21st Century Perspectives/Models/Philosophies of AE? • Experiential Learning • Self-Directed Learning • Andragogy • Transformative Learning • Indigenous Learning • Emancipatory & Critical Perspectives • Insights from the Neurosciences

11. 21st Century Perspectives/Models/Philosophies of AE • We are very good at theorizing and even producing some models • But are these evidence-based? • In what ways are they useful? • In what ways are they not useful?

12. Evidence-based Practice • Definition: • The integration of professional wisdom with the best available empirical evidence in making decisions about how to deliver instruction. • Professional wisdom is defined as… • the judgment that individuals acquire through experience • consensus views • including the effective identification and incorporation of local circumstances into instruction. G. Whitehurst, Director, U. S. Dept. of Education, Institute of Education Sciences

13. Evidence-based Practice • Distinction between… • Evidence-based practice: It’s about what should drive practice—using empirical evidence and professional wisdom to make decisions. • Scientifically based research: It’s about what type of research should generate the empirical evidence (research that, according to USDOE, meets particular criteria: experimental design, peer-refereed journal, sample size and selection, etc.).

14. Andragogy – Assumptions about Adult Learners - 1 • The need to know: Adults need to know why they need to learn something – relevance. • The learners' self-concept: Adults have a self-concept of being responsible for their own decisions and lives and capable of self-direction. Prefer being an active learner. • The role of the learners' experiences: Adults have more experiences, so they are more heterogeneous in background and learning interests than children. This diversity provides more resources - but it also may provide more biases and preconceptions.

15. Andragogy – Assumptions about Adult Learners - 2 • Readiness to learn: Adults are ready to learn what they need to know to cope effectively with real life situations. • Orientation to learning: Adults' orientation to learning tends to be problem-centered or task-centered therefore learning must be connected clearly to a real-life situation. • Motivation: Adults are more responsive to internal motivation than external motivation. • Learner-centeredness: Expected focus of learning now

16. Six C’s of Motivation -Learner-centeredness • Choice • Challenge • Control • Collaboration • Constructing meaning • Consequences – show & celebrate results • http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Six_C%27s_of_motivation

17. Culturally Responsive Teaching & Motivation Four basic conditions (attributes in the learning environment) that together support a person’s natural interest in learning: • Establishing inclusion • Developing a positive attitude • Enhancing meaning • Engendering competence • Ginsberg & Woldkowski (2000)

18. Culturally Responsive Teaching & Motivation • Model by Wlodkowski & Ginsberg (2008)

19. Evidence-based Practice • What evidence-based practices do you use in your designing your professional development services? • In developingyour PD services? • In deliveringyour PD services? • In evaluatingyour PD services? • Share practices with 3 or 4 people around you for 10 minutes & report back to whole group. End of Keynote presentation.

20. Participatory Adult Learning Strategy (PALS) Research Based on meta-analysis of literature searched on these adult learning methods topics: • Coaching: Method of transferring skills and expertise from more experienced and knowledgeable practitioners . . . to less experienced ones • Guided design: Decision-making and problem solving process that includes procedures for using real-world problems for mastering content in the context of group learning • Just-in-Time Training: Access information, advice, guidance, etc., to learner requests that are intended to improve learner performance • Accelerated Learning: Methods for creating a relaxed emotional state, an orchestrated and multisensory learning experience, and active learner participation Let’s Be PALS: An Evidence-Based Approach to Professional Development by Carl J. Dunst, PhD; Carol M. Trivette, PhD

21. Participatory Adult Learning Strategy (PALS) Framework • PLANNING - Plan • Introduce • Illustrate • APPLICATION - Do • Practice • Evaluate • DEEP UNDERSTANDING - Check • Reflection • Mastery

22. Participatory Adult Learning Strategy (PALS) - 2 • PLANNING PHASE • INTRODUCE • Engage the learner in a preview of the material, knowledge, or practice that is the focus of the instruction or training. • ILLUSTRATE • Demonstrate or illustrate the use or applicability of the material, knowledge, or practice for the learner

23. Participatory Adult Learning Strategy (PALS) - 3 • APPLICATION PHASE • PRACTICE • Engage the learner in the use of the material, knowledge, or practice • EVALUATE [ASSESS is my preference] • Engage the learner in a process of evaluating [assessing] the consequence or outcome of the application of the material, knowledge, or practice

24. Participatory Adult Learning Strategy (PALS) - 3 • DEEP UNDERSTANDING • REFLECTION • Engage the learner in self-assessment of his or her acquisition of knowledge and skills as a basis for identifying “next steps” in the learning process • MASTERY • Engage the learner in a process of assessing his or her experience in the context of some conceptual or practical model or framework or some external set of standards or criteria

25. Participatory Adult Learning Strategy (PALS)

26. Evidence-based CoachingFive Key Characteristics • Coaching is an adult learning strategy in which the coach promotes the learner’s ability to reflect on his or her actions as a means to determine the effectiveness of an action or practice and develop a plan for refinement and use of the action in immediate and future situations. • Joint planning: Agreement by both the coach and learner on the actions to be taken by the coach and/or learner or the opportunities to practice between coaching visits. • Observations: Examination of another person’s actions or practices to be used to develop new skills, strategies, or ideas. • Evidence-based Definition of Coaching Practices: Rush & Shelden; CASEInPoint (2005)

27. Evidence-based CoachingFive Key Characteristics • Action: Spontaneous or planned events that occur within the context of a real-life situation that provide the learner with opportunities to practice, refine, or analyze new or existing skills. • Reflection: Analysis of existing strategies to determine how the strategies are consistent with evidence-based practices and may need to be implemented without change or modified to obtain the intended outcome(s). • Feedback: Information based on direct observations of the learner by the coach, actions reported by the learner, or information shared by the learner to expand the learner’s current level of understanding about a specific evidence-based practice.

28. Person in Learning Situation – Multiple Possibilities - P. Jarvis

29. Focus on your recent informal learning • Think about a recent experience in an informal setting such as a workshop or other event in a community organization or cultural institution. • How was the learning experience structured? • Was there an individual in charge? • Was this person called a leader or instructor or facilitator or coach? • What are the differences in meaning of those terms? • Or was this a group learning experience where there was only a nominal leader?

30. Continuum of Learning

31. Building on Andragogy • Valuable as 20th Century assumptions describing adult learning • Critique: Assumptions of Andragogy viewed as formulaic – too rigid for a complex world. • But – don’t these Assumptions seem to underlay the evidence-based PALS framework and evidence-based Coaching characteristics in 21st Century? • Example of credibility as “professional wisdom”?

32. Informal-to-Formal Learning Continuum • Definitions • Learning resulting from daily life activities related to work, family or leisure. It is not structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and typically does not lead to certification. Informal learning may be intentional but in most cases it is non-intentional (or “incidental”/random). • Commission of the European Communities (2001: 32-33) • Informal learning, a category which includes incidental learning, may occur in institutions, but is not typically classroom-based or highly structured, and control of learning rests primarily in the hands of the learner. […] Informal learning is usually intentional but not highly structured. • Marsick and Watkins (2001:25)

33. Informal-to-Formal Learning Continuum • Is it necessary to have “non-formal learning” as an intermediate point? • Following discussion identifies these categories to present informal learning characteristics: • Organizational dimensions • Design dimensions • Implementation dimensions

34. Organizational Dimensions for Planning Learning - 1

35. Design Dimensions for Planning Learning - 2

36. Types of Outcomes –Content/Domain Specific

37. Bloom’s Taxonomy for Cognitive Learning

38. Developing Cognitive Outcomes (Objectives) • Useful template for the two parts of a cognitive objective: • State the general objective in broad terms to encompass a domain of learning (e.g. remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create): • State one or more samples of the specific types of performance that will indicate mastery of the objective. • After this workshop, participants will understand the PALS evidence-based adult learning framework for designing relationship-based professional development.

39. Developing Cognitive Outcomes (Objectives) Examples of verbs to create objectives: • Remember – Recognize, Recall, Define, Identify, List • Understand – Interpret, Classify, Compare, Explain, Summarize • Apply – Implement, Execute, Solve, Use • Analyze – Differentiate, Organize, Attribute • Evaluate – Critique, Rank, Recommend, Check • Create – Design, Produce, Synthesize, Plan, Generate

40. Developing Affective Outcomes • Useful template for the two parts of an affective objective: • State the general objective in broad terms to encompass a domain of learning (e.g., remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create): • State one or more samples of the specific types of performance that will indicate mastery of the objective. • After this workshop, participants will share reflections on their professional practice with other colleagues.

41. Developing Affective Outcomes • Verbs from the affective domain that describe observable action include: • accepts, agrees, argues, attempts, avoids, challenges, cooperates, commends, defends, disagrees, disputes, engages in, helps, is attentive to, joins, offers, participates in, praises, resists, respond to, shares, supports, values, and volunteers.

42. Developing Behavioral Objectives • Behavioral objectives refer to descriptions of observable learner behavior or performance that are used to make judgments about learning. They are outcome oriented but typically focus on only behavior that can be seen or heard. This is an important difference between a behavioral learning objective and a learning outcome. • A learning outcome may describe a change in learner behavior that is not specifically observable or able to be easily tested, such as problem-solving capabilities or attitudes or beliefs. • Behavioral objectives are best suited to skills-based (kinesthetic or psychomotor) outcomes.

43. Developing Behavioral SMART Objectives • Specific – focus on observable behavior using verbs • Measurable – can be observed, counted or tested • Action Oriented – application of process without too much theory • Reasonable – able to be accomplished with available resources • Timely – the learning will be put into practice soon after the learning event • An example of a learning objective of an observable, measurable behavior: • After successful completion of the training and given proper tools and materials (Condition), employees will construct 4 widgets (Performance) per hour without flaws (Criteria).

44. Implementation Dimensions for Planning Learning - 3

45. Teaching Perspectives Inventory – Pratt & Collins • Transmission: Effective teaching requires a substantial commitment to the content or subject matter. • Apprenticeship: Effective teaching is a process of enculturating students into a set of social norms and ways of working. • Developmental: Effective teaching must be planned and conducted “from the learner’s point of view”. • Nurturing: Effective teaching assumes that long-term, hard, persistent effort to achieve comes from the heart, as well as the head. • Social Reform: Effective teaching seeks to change society in substantive ways. From this point of view, the object of teaching is the collective rather than the individual.

46. Teaching Perspectives & Learner Interaction Dimension

47. Reflecting on evidence-based adult learning • Reflecting on PALS, Coaching, Guided, Accelerated, and Just-in-Time Learning • Where are these located on the Continuum of Informal to Formal Learning? • NEXT: A framework to develop a Reflective Professional Practice Statement • Intended to stimulate your thinking – not prescriptive!

48. Reflective Professional Practice Statement -1 • General Overview of You in your role/responsibilities _____________________ Why do you do this role/responsibilities? What do you find rewarding about it? What are the basic principles that underlie your role/responsibilities? What are your standards or criteria for effectiveness?

49. Reflective Professional Practice Statement -2 • Your Professional/Personal Style at Work What is unique about your work in this role/ responsibilities? How do you establish rapport with your clients and colleagues? What are your expectations for your clients’ or learners’ accomplishments?

50. Reflective Professional Practice Statement - 3 Your Goals for X period What do you want clients to learn and accomplish? Do you want to work in current context – or change? What skills, attitudes and values do you deliberately attempt to share and model in your work and why? How do you assess whether you’ve accomplished your goals for clients and yourself? • NB: This could be adapted to family, community engagement, teaching and other contexts as well.