Kelsi Weakley – LEAD 7500 – Spring 2017

Pecha Kucha Planner

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SLIDE 1 Adult/ Learners An adult by Merriam – Webster’s

definition is “fully developed and
mature” while the definition of a
learner is “to gain knowledge or
understanding of or skill in by study,
instruction or experience”. While
these definitions proves accurate by
context, the definition of an adult
learner varies dependent on who you
interview
SLIDE 2 Adult learner An adult learner covers a vast
definition of individuals interested in
seeking knowledge on a variety of
different topics, generally thought to
take place in an institution but by
widening our view we see that this can
take place virtually anywhere, anytime
and on any topic.
SLIDE 3 Learner In Learning in Adulthood: A
Comprehensive Guide , Merriam
(1999) supports this idea by stating
“In considering the spectrum of
learning opportunities available to
adults, it is important to acknowledge
all of these arenas of learning, from
the highly structured to the more
informal ways adults go about
learning” (p. 24).
SLIDE 4 Learner This concept proves vital in our
understanding of adult learners and
what motivates them to learn.
Someone does not have to be enrolled
in school to be an adult learner. They
can be an avid learner on the job, in
the community, or elsewhere and still
be considered an adult learner.
SLIDE 5 Motivation The motivation behind someone’s
desire to obtain more information on a
topic can also vary depending on the
learner and can attribute to the effort
Kelsi Weakley – LEAD 7500 – Spring 2017

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the student gives to achieve a better

understanding on a topic. One learner
may seek higher education as a
requirement to further her career while
another may seek knowledge in an
area that would benefit them to relate
to a client.
SLIDE 6 Barriers Like any other process, there are
barriers that effect our ability to
access education and our reasoning for
seeking out education as an adult.
Some barriers are helpful and force us
to think outside the box which in the
end enhances our learning even more,
while other barriers may prevent
knowledge from being accessed.
SLIDE 7 Barrier example Students face several barriers that
sometimes make the learning process
harder, while others prevent the
student from achieving success all
together. Time is a factor that most
students will agree serves as a barrier
to seeking and completing higher
education. Time is always something
we wish we had more of, especially
while trying to juggle a personal,
professional, and educational career.
SLIDE 8 Barrier example Most things in life aren’t free and
students feel this burden heavily.
Money can also be an issue for many
adults trying to decide on returning to
school or not. Most of these
individuals have other financial
responsibilities, families, previous
student loans, etc. that can serve as
barriers to take on more financial
commitment that higher education
requires.
SLIDE 9 Load/Power Just as barriers to acquiring an
education are prevalent amongst adult
learners, the load we as humans carry
spill over into our educational lives
and can impact our ability to perform
and succeed. With this load, we rely
Kelsi Weakley – LEAD 7500 – Spring 2017

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on those around us and the resources

available to serve as power to offset
this load.
SLIDE 10 Theory of Margin McClusky introduced the theory of
margin which states that the key
factors of adult life are the load the
adult carries living and power is the
resources available to carry the load.
The theory of margin is apparent in
several aspects on one’s life but is
maybe most appreciated in terms of
education and the effect it has on us as
students.
SLIDE 11 Load When asked what internal factors add
to the load one carries in addition to
the demands of the outside world,
adult learners list things like
deadlines, uncooperative
collaborators, full time careers,
children with extracurricular
activities, loved one’s with health
issues among others.
SLIDE 12 Power Power can stem from different
resources both internally and
externally. Supporters such as family,
friends, colleagues and professors that
believe in your efforts and encourage
you are among the most commonly
thought of. Internal factors such as
self-pride, successfully accomplishing
a goal and motivation in combination
with the external factors all help
alleviate the load felt by learners.
SLIDE 13 While barriers, goals, and the support
that a student has all play into the
success of learning, certain personality
traits and the preferred style of
learning can also affect how
successful a student is. All
individuals possess characteristics
unique to them and how they utilize
these can make a difference in
whether they are successful or not in
various scenarios
Kelsi Weakley – LEAD 7500 – Spring 2017

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SLIDE 14 There are different types of learners.

Commonly organized include the
labels of visual, auditory and
kinesthetic. Each contain different
characteristics that a student of that
type possesses and how they prefer
information delivered. These styles
can also be expanded to include
learners who don’t fit into one silo but
rather prefer a combination of styles.
SLIDE 15 There are several theories regarding
learning styles and how they are
determined but who knows this better
rather than the student himself.
Gregorc’s definition states that
learning styles are distinctive
behaviors which are indicators of how
a person learns and adapts. Not only
does the student adapt to their
environment, but doesn’t the learning
style evolve based on the
environment?
SLIDE 16 The idea of an educational
environment is typically thought to
consist of a traditional classroom
setting with a gallery of students all
focused on the instructor lecturing
before them. In 2017 we could even
expand the thought of a “traditional
classroom” to include participating
asynchronously utilizing the online
classroom.
SLIDE 17 Learning Learning environments are so much
environement more than just the classroom.
Merriam (1999) discusses similar
findings such as remodeling a house,
or even life changes like divorce or
parenthood as educational situations
that encourage learning. The idea that
education is anything and the
classroom is everywhere empowers
adults to embrace themselves as
learners
Kelsi Weakley – LEAD 7500 – Spring 2017

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SLIDE 18 When we take a step back and look at

all of the information we know, where
did it come from? Sure some concepts
came from school, books, history and
other textual resources. But other
information came from experience,
trial and error and just life in general.
Is knowing how e=mc2 more
important than researching a disease
your dog suffers from? Both are
equally weighed and contribute to
knowledge as a whole.
SLIDE 19 Experiences provide you with
information and knowledge that can
not be obtained any other way.
Education can provide you with
information and concepts from
resources and individuals who are
experts on the topic. Combining the
two gives a student a more complete
understanding and results in a more
well rounded learner.
SLIDE 20 Broadening our perspective on what
classifies someone as an adult, a
learner or even an adult learner can
help us as students and teachers. The
term adult learner, although typically
used in reference to an individual
seeking formal education, can be
applied to generally everyone and the
natural quest for knowledge we all
possess.