Teaching Adults in Extension

Book excerpt: This booklet is intended to help individuals teaching in extension programs understand the special needs of adult learners and use teaching techniques that have proven effective with adult learners. The first group of chapters deals with the importance of self-motivation to adult learning, the importance of taking the time to outline the goals of a course clearly and to determine students' reasons for taking particular courses, the principal distinguishing characteristics of adult learners (perspective, autonomy, and maturity), and teaching methods that are especially appropriate with adult learners. The differences between teaching and learning, the concepts of teachers as agents and students as learners, the importance of setting clear goals and objectives, and the relationship between course content and teaching methods are examined. A series of generalization about adult learners is presented, and the major changes that occur through the adult development cycle are outlined. The four main areas of learning--skills, knowledge, understanding, and attitudes--are described, and the importance of motivation in adult learning is stressed. The next chapter clarifies the relationship among goals, objectives, and outcomes. Learning groups and the roles of teachers and learners in learning groups are discussed. Guidelines for developing the curriculum, selecting course content, and choosing appropriate teaching methods are presented. The next two chapters deal with blocks to learning and anxiety. The final two chapters describe ways in which teachers can evaluate their performance and encourage their adult students to take as active a role in their own learning as possible. (MN)