Human Resource Development Graduate Program

Fundamentals of Adult Learning

1.  Throughout the semester, we have discussed the importance of Self Directed Learning.  Explain how you would utilized the Process Elements Model to create sustainable employee training programs.

2. Describe the Core Adult Learning Principles and explain the significance of each when developing a learning experience for adults.  Why is this model useful to HRD practitioners?

3.  In Learning in Adulthood, Merriam, Caffarella and Baumgartner discuss the meaning of Embodied, Spiritual, and Narrative approaches used to help facilitate adult learning.  Provide a realistic example of each approach.  Is there a particular learning style that may prohibit you from implementing one of the strategies?  If so, why?

4.  Identify five theories you personally identified with during the course of the semester.  Describe the critical factors of each.  Which orientation to learning does each theory resemble? (Behaviorist, Humanist, Cognitivist, Social Cognitive or Constructivist)

5. Explain how changes in demographics, technology, and global economies impact adult learners in the workplace.  Do you think those variables impact the organizational system, group, or individual level of a company the most? Why?

6.  Explain the differences between Andragogy and Pedagogy?  

7. Discuss a specific strategy you would propose to advance andragogical concepts in context of adults using the internet for learning purposes.

8. Do you think standardized personality and cognitive assessments help or hinder Adult Learners?  What is the potential impact of those assessments on a company’s performance at the individual, group, and organizational systems level?