S.T.E.P.

Level One: Adult Learners & Learning

Styles – Online Module Guided Questions

Part One: Your Experiences with Adult Learners

Before viewing the “Adult Learners” PowerPoint presentation, please answer the
following questions:
1) How would you define an “adult learner?”
A mature adult who has either already attended Higher Education and is
returning for career development or an adult with established family and
community attachments who is attending Higher Ed for personal and career
development.

2) Have you noticed any characteristics that seem to be common among adult
learners? If so, what are they?
Most adult learners although have many outside commitments, i.e. family,
employment, etc. They are a lot more focused and plan appropriate time and
attention to academics and don’t allow social distractions away from
academic performance

3) What factors might influence adult learners to return to school? List at least
5 things that might influence an adult to return to higher education.
a. Employment
b. Grown Family
c. Social development
d. Learn new skills
e. Building social network

4) What barriers might there be to adult learners returning to school?

Career and Finances would be a top barrier to returning to school. Next and a
closely related to Work and Finances is family obligations, either children or
aging parents. Proximity to School and Resources.
Review the “Adult Learners” PowerPoint presentation, and then answer the
following questions:
1) Many students that are not familiar with andragogic teaching methods expect
that their instructor will provide them with all of the content that they need to
know for an exam. How can you help to correct this misconception in the
adult learners that you tutor?
Try to connect the material and concepts from class with relevant life
experiences in the older adult learner and establish how learning this subject
will help them now but there families and close relationships.

2) Given what you have learned about the influences and characteristics of
adult learners, how will you modify your tutoring to accommodate their
 motivations? Write a 2-3 paragraph reflection that addresses specific
strategies that you plan to use when working with adult learners.

Adult Learning Strategies.

First, I believe I can understand that the adult learner should lead the tutoring
session.

Second, Firmly establish the goals of the adult learner and follow up to make
sure that you as a tutor are effectively helping the adult learner meet there goals
for learning.

Third, Understand that most adult learners although want you to be friendly
but have limited time to study and school so the tutor needs to be very efficient in
moving the adult learner through there questions so that they won’t be overly taxed
by the learning process or have it infringe on other areas of adult life.

Part Two: Learning about Learning Styles

First, take the “Learning Styles Questionnaire.” You will not need to submit this, but
use it to answer the following questions:
1) According to the questionnaire, what is your dominant learning style?
Visual (22)
Auditory (19)
Kinesthetic (21)

2) Does the answer to the above question make sense, given what you know
about your own learning habits? Why or why not?
I always felt I was more of a kinesthetic learner and clearly visual score is
close, but this may have changed as I’ve aged and become a more
academically focused student who is striving for superior grades.

Review the “Learning Styles” PowerPoint presentation, and then complete the
following:
Slides 7, 10, 13, and 15 provide explicit ways in which you can adjust your tutoring
style based on your tutee’s learning preferences. Which of these techniques do you
currently utilize in your tutoring sessions? Do you find them to be universally
helpful, or are they only helpful for some students? Which techniques will you utilize
in the future?
Things I do:
Use graphs, charts, illustrations, or other visual aids.
Emphasize key points to cue when to takes notes.
Have them draw pictures in the margins.
Use activities that get the learners up and moving.
Give frequent stretch breaks (brain breaks).
Have them transfer information from the text to another medium such as a
keyboard or a tablet.
Ask them to read assignments or directions out loud. Perhaps incorporate rhymes
or music in some way.
Read test questions or new study materials aloud to them or ask them to read it to
themselves.
Re-write explanations and notes into your own words.
Use lists and to arrange their words into hierarchies and points.

I really feel like these techniques work well with all students especially if I can get
them to hit all the learning styles with the concept they are trying to learn. It gives
there brain multiple ways to recall the information and makes it “REAL” for the
student. Again, I believe its best to have tools from all the learning style as I don’t
know which is going to work best with any student I see. I need to be paying
attention to what is sticking and gravitate to that style of learning for that student in
order for them to have the most effective learning session possible.

Have you noticed trends in the learning preferences of your tutees? Which of the
suggested tutoring strategies have been most effective in your sessions with tutees
of that learning preference?

I believe kinesthetic is the most effective and students do the best with, visual is
the second most used and then finally auditory.