Adult Learners, Problem Children, and Your Role as an Educator - PT 1

reprint from original articles at Merginet


Adult Learners, Problem Children, and Your Role as an Educator

Part One of Five

Adult Learners, Problem Children, and Your Role as an Educator

by Valerie DeFrance, EMS Educator

Problem Child, Part One of Five Dealing with Disruptive Behavior

After the EMT Basic class had ended for the day, the instructor went out for dinner and a few beers with one of the students. Then, for the life of him, he couldn't understand why this student, whom he had befriended, suddenly became a "problem child" in the classroom.

One cannot begin to cover how to deal with the "problem child" in the classroom without first looking at educators, and what hand they may have had in creating their own Frankenstein. In this five-part series, we will first review some aspects of adult learners, and offer suggestions in working with the conduct and behavior of adult educators specific to prehospital education. In part two we will discuss identifying and classifying the problem child and offer solutions and techniques in dealing with these students.

Adult learners
Educators have identified factors that influence how adults learn. This information can enhance and refine delivery of our courses. Following are some of these factors and how we can apply them in the classroom.

  • Each adult learner is an individual. Knowing something about each of your students can be helpful. On the first day of class, in addition to establishing if they have had any previous medical classes, ask them what they do for a living and if they have any hobbies. Design scenarios using these facts to make them more relevant to the students.
    • Adults can learn throughout their lives. The body may have slowed down, and some slight accommodations may have to be made, but age isn't a detriment. More and more frequently we are seeing wonderful EMS groups run by EMTs who took their first EMT class between the ages of 50 and 60. Never be condescending to an adult learner based on age.
    • Adults can be their own worst enemies when it comes to doubting their ability to learn new things. Adults may need encouragement to engage in learning activities. It is our job to encourage them and help them believe they can perform adequately, and even excel, in their patient care. When you see the light bulb has lit up, be quick to point out how well they have progressed.
    • One advantage adults have over youth is their broad range of experiences. Adults blend new information into existing knowledge. Along with the wisdom gained, we must also recognize and deal with preconceived ideas and emotions that the adult students may have about our duties and roles. For example, you may notice a great deal of difference in how a 20-year-old and a 50-year-old view some subjects, such as DNR orders.
    • Adults learn what they consider important. Part of our job is to show students why it is important to learn something and how that meshes with exemplary patient care. Memorization is a part of our courses, but the why and the rationale should be explained. This also helps students to develop the ability to think a problem through so they don't rely on memorization alone, thereby avoiding the "cookbook" medicine mentality.
    • Adult learning is usually motivated by the need to acquire a new skill or make a decision. When adults perceive a need to learn something, they are generally capable of working very hard. In many cases the older the adult, the less need there is to excel purely for the highest grade. Rather, they want to truly learn, understand, and apply that knowledge. This results in competent patient care as well as high grades.
    • Adults are often time-conscious learners. Adults have many roles — spouse, parent, employee, community member — in addition to that of learner. We must meet their educational goals as directly, quickly, and efficiently as possible. Don't waste their time. Be prepared for class and have materials ready to be used.
    • Adults wish to be treated as such. Most adults want to be treated as if they were responsible individuals with the capacity to determine things for themselves. Because some adults have experienced only structured and teacher-centered learning environments, they may need assistance in accepting responsibility for their own learning. Be clear from the onset that your job is to lead and facilitate a learning environment and to present and clarify information. Their job is to learn and be able to demonstrate knowledge.
    • Adults need immediate feedback. We need to return corrected exams in a timely fashion, as well as the rational for answers. We need to do early assessments of how well students can perform skills and how and where they can improve. Waiting to observe and provide feedback on skills performance until a final check-off day is usually disastrous.
    • Adults try to avoid failure. Adults are much less open to the trial-and-error approach than children. Many adult learners will resist trying something new if it involves the risk of making an error and feeling foolish. Providing ample opportunity to practice before we "test" them on skills can help alleviate some of this distress. Clearly stated objectives that are used as a guide for what to study and as a basis for the exams are necessary. Never blindside students with pop quizzes or unrealistic and/or impossible scenarios.
    • Adults want their learning to be practical. Adults are willing to learn theories but they often want to see how those theories apply in real life. Adult interest soars when training is built around a clearly defined challenge or demand, rather than hypothetical problems and solutions. Produce clean scenarios with clear objectives. "War stories" have value but must be pertinent and used with discretion.
    • Adults have a deep need to be self-directing. Don't spoon-feed the participants. Avoid merely transmitting knowledge or over-directing activities. Lectures should involve the students, so ask questions. As much as possible let them self-direct their skills time rather than dictate. Displaying a dictatorship attitude of teaching, or adopting a pedagogical style of instruction is worse than inappropriate, it is highly detrimental.
      • Your classroom
      Some sound guidelines for the classroom have been identified that help create a non-threatening learning environment where students are expected to share responsibility for their learning.
      • Build rapport with adult students. Use positive nonverbal communication, deal with the whole person, address learners as equals, and share authority. Informal room arrangements such as placing all the chairs in a circle, in a U, or around a table can support this.
      • Adult students value approachable instructors who share appropriate information about themselves. Establish your background, not only to provide credentials, but also to provide insights into your EMS experience. Be available during breaks and provide office hours and a means of contacting you outside the classroom.
      • Create a participatory environment. Help learners assume responsibility for their own learning by involving them in decisions with course content and class management guidelines, by having them serve as instructional resources, and by monitoring learner satisfaction.
      • While we are limited in altering course content, we can allow choice in enhanced material or subjects. Based on what you have learned about them from the first day, you may be able to get adult learners to help in areas where they have some expertise, such as mental health or law enforcement.
      • Do a "feedback session" at midterm rather than a student-teacher conference. (Click here for a sample form.) By its very title, this session lessens the stress of mid-term performance reviews and provides a means for students to identify and express what they feel will assist them in their learning.
      • Provide multiple learning options. These encourage participation and enable learners to choose additional methods and materials best suited to their needs. On the first day of class provide information on how to access web sites, texts, films, workbooks, and other resources. If possible use enhanced material, such as appropriate mini-movies of the EMT in action, on floppy disks or CD-ROMs. Keep a current list of tutors who you know to be sound in their knowledge. I avoid bringing up tutors unless asked, as it has been my experience that some students get the impression that they cannot pass the course without a tutor. If possible, recommend only those tutors who best fit the student's learning style.
      • Promote adult learning independence. Instructors can help adults assume more responsibility for their own learning by encouraging and expecting them to learn on their own and by teaching decision-making and problem-solving techniques. Remember to add to all exams, scenarios, and other corrections the why, as this helps clarify how you arrived at the decision to provide a certain treatment or other aspect of emergency care.
      • Provide for individual differences. Using a variety of instructional techniques can accommodate individual differences. Provide appropriate and varied instructional materials and relate instructions to learners' experience. Many years ago, one of the best things I learned in my Methods of Instruction class was, "different is not wrong, different is just different." If the goal is accomplished, things don't have to be done your way.
      • Adult learning flourishes when adult learners have ownership. Participation and activities should be related to their needs. Emphasize the need for teamwork in getting skills practiced and in performing scenarios, while making it clear that students must pass on their own merits in the end.

      Start how you mean to go, both in the classroom and by identifying individual students expectations and your own conduct and behaviors, and you will most likely see a reduction in the number of problem children in your courses. In the next installment we will investigate what makes these students problem children and offer some solutions and coping techniques.

      References
      • Knowles, Malcolm, The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species. Houston: Gulf Publishing Company, 1990
      • Smith, Franceska B., "High School Equivalency Preparation for Recent Dropouts" in Meeting Educational Needs of Young Adults, edited by G. G. Darkenwald and A. B. Knox. New Directions for Continuing Education Series no. 21. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, Inc., 1984
      • Stanford Adult Education; Stanford University, Guidelines For Success, 1999

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