How Did I Find These Articles, Books, Etc.?

Research Dig

P600

For the purposes of this Research Dig, the topic I have chosen, based on readings done for the Super Summary Search, is critical thinking in post-secondary education and teacher training related to adult learners. Other issues such as online learning and peer collaboration in the context of adult learning are also included in this research discussion.

How did I find these articles, books, etc.?

What originally led me to the topic and began my exploration of the literature related to andragogy and adult learning was an article by Knowles (Knowles, 1996) related to the concept of andragogy and adult learning needs I read for another class over a year ago and then again last semester.

With the summary search assignment, there was a lot of research connected to K-12 critical thinking skills when I searched through ERIC, WilsonWeb, and the IU catalog, which led me to believe that the field may have been fairly permeated in terms of research. Searches for adult learning, andragogy independently produced a fair amount of review articles of the historical concept of andragogy; however, the majority found that there exists little solid research to support the idea as proposed by Knowles in 1968 and expanded upon in his book “From Andragogy to Pedagogy” in 1980. While both his article and book are not recent, they serve as the underlying basis for modern discussion of adult learning and outline the common principles of adult learning.

Recent research

Research within pre- and in-service teacher training

Much of the research that has been completed recently has included adult learning principles in terms of training and teacher in-service, but has either neglected critical thinking skills as part of adult learning theory, or included it as an incidental element rather than making either andragogy or critical thinking central foci of the studies. An example of this development is Terehoff’s (Terehoff, 2002) “Elements of adult learning in teacher professional development” in which the author merely lists factors related to adult learning in the context of K-12 training while failing to provide a new study in which these elements are supported, preferring to cite other author’s works which were of questionable connection to the topics under discussion. Because of these problems, this article, and many others like it have limited usefulness and were the bulk of the 493 references in the ERIC search. Other articles discussed strategies for improving critical thinking with minimal or weak research support and either informal or poorly structured studies (Peterson, et al, 2003; (L. Peterson, 2002; Varner, 2003)

A second article, “Communication in a web-based conferencing system: the quality of computer-mediated interactions,” (Angeli, 2003) discusses critical thinking in the context of online learning and addresses issues found in research study. Importantly, the study also has as its subjects a group of younger adult learners preparing for careers as teachers. If future researchers are to accept Knowles’ assumption that learners existing along a continuum with needs stretching from accepted pedagogical principles to adult learning goals and principles, analyzing and comparing research conducted using younger adults and with those from research conducted with older or non-traditional learners could be beneficial to supporting that argument.

In that context, Linda Fritschner (2000) and Nunn (1996) have found that there are differences in the amount of participation by younger, traditional, undergraduate, older, traditional undergraduate, and older, non-traditional undergraduate and graduate students. These groups’ levels and kinds of engagement in the classroom differed substantially from one another and in the qualitative interviews, the traditional groups tended to view the non-traditional students either with exasperation or with a lack of appreciation for the life experiences and perceived needs expressed by those non-traditional students. In this context, it appears that the andragogy versus pedagogy idea has some merit, though Knowles’ (1996) believes that there are elements of andragogy, as reported to him by teachers, that have benefit for younger students and should inform the teaching strategies of all teachers. This would be an excellent area for future research that could help delve into these issues. (Wilson, 2002)

Another search that was refined to include critical thinking resulted in only a handful of articles that discuss andragogy research, with few actually producing new research. One, “Andragogy’s detectives: A critique of the present and a proposal for the future” (Rachal, 2002) is a metaanalysis of numerous dissertation studies and other research works that is effective at summarizing the body of adult learning research and critiquing the methodologies employed. Fortunately, this article extends beyond mere critique and provides a framework of seven criteria for evaluating future andragogy research in order to avoid previous pitfalls, as well as future avenues for inquiry into andragogy. It is a good article for examining the open areas in which research still needs to be done, or should be redone to correct previous errors in methodology.

The article that stimulated many questions related to adult learning needs and goals related to enhancing critical thinking skills is “The pedagogical TICKIT: Web Conferencing to promote communication and support during teacher professional development.” (C. E. Bonk, L.; Hixon, E.; Yamagata-Lynch, L., 2002) This article details the findings and methodology of a quantitative research study of teacher learning using web-based learning rather than traditional classroom methods such as lecture.

This study brought to the fore many ideas and questions that stemmed from previous practical experience as a technology trainer for in-service teachers and the problems and obstacles faced in developing meaningful instruction for a diverse staff with a broad range of needs. (C. K. Bonk, J.; Hara, N.; Denned, V., 2001) How could adult learning principles be applied in online learning environments? Should they be? What are the differences in needs between traditional undergraduates and non-traditional, older students, such as K-12 classroom teachers? How do the two groups needs differ? When looking at the Angeli (2003) findings with a group of younger undergraduates, how do they differ from the findings in this article? What contrasts can be made between the learning needs of the two groups in terms of critical thinking? Where is there engagement happening in terms of critical thinking?

There is, in the literature (Fritschner, 2000; Karp, 1976; Nunn, 1996), a long-standing argument that there should be more research done in the college classroom on both student learning and instructor teaching, which to now is still quite limited. The research on critical thinking in this area is also sporadic and sparse, leaving research into the perceived needs of adult learners open, especially in terms of critical thinking and creativity, while motivation is an area that has had substantially more research conducted.

Non-school of Education studies

A second type of article that came up in the research is the non-school of Education research study that could provide relevant information for teacher and other post-secondary training information. These studies come from nursing, business, sports medicine, and other arenas in which educating adult learners is an important task (Albrecht, 2002; DiPasquale, 2003; Dyer, 2003; Elder, 2002; Smith, 2003).

One article that provides a qualitative case study of adult, undergraduate students is “Learning outside the classroom: The undergraduate gerontology internship” reporting research conducted by Von Dras and Miller (2002). This article uses older, undergraduate students engaged in a nursing internship in order to study active learning and constructivist principles used in an authentic learning environment. The critical thinking component is discussed as resulting from the active engagement of the student in an authentic, meaningful learning environment in which the tasks they are asked to perform have direct relevance to their intended careers. In addition, the problem-based nature of their learning within the internship is expected and found to improve the depth of understanding and ability to think critically about their work as they seek solutions. The findings of Von Dras and Miller’s study also help to support some of Knowles’ principles of andragogy and, in conjunction with other findings, may help contribute to literature supporting future research directly on the needs of adult learners and their relationship to critical thinking skills.

The qualitative methodology employed in the Von Dras and Miller (2002) may be useful for establishing themes from which research on the differences between adult learners’ critical thinking needs and goals and those of younger learners and inform the development of curriculum that takes advantage of these possibly dissimilar requirements and objective to improve their learning. The research may also find that some of the attributes Knowles ascribes originally only to adults also are evident in younger learners as he asserts through anecdotal evidence (Knowles, 1996)

Once a curriculum is established, quantitative or mixed research methods like those used by (Angeli, 2003) and Bonk (2002) can be used to inform the methods chosen for future inquiry. The findings from research in this vein could help shape the development of future post-secondary classrooms and curriculum and improve the quality and depth of critical thinking found in students engaged in college and in-service environments.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the research that exists on adult learners, especially in terms or critical thinking, is often spotty or incidental to the study of another topic. There are many reported problems with the research that does exist regarding andragogy. As teachers and students, we often see that there are differences between how younger and older students act in the classroom, but without solid research evidence to support Knowles’ or any other views of adult learning, it is hard to create an argument for developing a curriculum based on these principles. (Wilson, 2002) Furthermore, if we can establish that adult learning needs are different, then perhaps the establishment of different means for improving adult critical thinking skills is also warranted and should be studied.

References

Albrecht, K. (2002). Brain Power. TD, 38-44.

Angeli, C. V., Nicos; Bonk, Curtis. (2003). Communication in a web-based conferencing system: the quality of computer mediated interactions. British Journal of Educational Technology, 34(1), 31-43.

Bonk, C. E., L.; Hixon, E.; Yamagata-Lynch, L. (2002). The pedagogical TICKIT: Web Conferencing to promote communication and support during teacher professional development. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 10(2), 205-233.

Bonk, C. K., J.; Hara, N.; Denned, V. (2001). Finding the Instructor in post-secondary online learning: pedagogical, social, managerial and technological locations. In J. Stephenson (Ed.), Teaching and learning online: Pedagogies for new technologies (pp. 76-97). London: Kogan Page.

Cottle, T. (2002). A plea for thinking heads. Liberal Education, 12, 14-17.

DiPasquale, D. M., Cheryl; Kolkhorst, Fred. (2003). Exercise in inquiry: Critical thinking in an inquiry-based exercise physiology laboratory course. Journal of College Science Teaching, 32(6), 388-393.

Dyer, S. (2003). Government, public relations, and lobby groups: stimulating critical reflections on information providers in society. Journal of Management Education, 27(1), 78-95.

Elder, L. P., Richard. (2002). Critical Thinking: Teaching students how to study and learn (Part II). Journal of Developmental Education, 26(2), 34-35.

Everett, M. Z., Otto. (1998). Interdisciplinary social science courses: Using a critical thinking approach. Journal of General Education, 47(3), 225-239.

Fritschner, L. (2000). Inside the undergraduate college classroom. Journal of Higher Education, 71(3), 342-362.

Gastfriend, H. G., S.; Layne, B. (2001, 11-2001). Transforming a lecture-based course to an Internet-based course: A case study. Paper presented at the Convention of the Association for Educational Communications, Atlanta, GA.

Karp, D. Y., William. (1976). The college classroom: Some observations on the meanings of student participation. Sociology and Social Research, 60, 309-320.

Knowles, M. (1996). Adult learning. In R. L. Craig (Ed.), The ASTD Training and Development Handbook (4 ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.

Nunn, C. (1996). Discussion in the College Classroom. Journal of Higher Education, 67(3), 243-266.

Peterson, C. C., David; MacDonald, Lucy. (2003). Techtalk: Developing academic literacy through WebQuests. Journal of Developmental Education, 26(3), 38-39.

Peterson, L. (2002). Interdisciplinary studies as nexus: Crossing discipline borders into the world. EDRS, 1-11.

Rachal, J. (2002). Andragogy's detectives: A critique of the present and a proposal for the future. Adult Education Quarterly, 52(3), 210-227.

Smith, G. (2003). Beyond critical thinking and decision making: Teaching business students how to think. Journal of Management Education, 27(1), 24-51.

Terehoff, I. (2002). Elements of adult learning in teacher professional development. NASSP Bulletin, 86(632), 65-77.

Varner, D. P., Sharon. (2003). Learning from learning journals: The benefits and challenges of using learning journal assignments. Journal of Management Education, 27(1), 52-77.

Wilson, A. K., Richard. (2002, May 24-26, 2002). Towards a critical theory of adult learning/education: Transformational theory and beyond. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Adult Education Research Conference (43rd), Raleigh, NC.

(Cottle, 2002; Everett, 1998; Gastfriend, 2001; C. C. Peterson, David; MacDonald, Lucy, 2003)