{"@id":"https://credentialengineregistry.org/resources/ce-dfd698d2-11bf-4556-afe1-b35c925c2b44","@type":"ceterms:MicroCredential","@context":"https://credreg.net/ctdl/schema/context/json","ceterms:ctid":"ce-dfd698d2-11bf-4556-afe1-b35c925c2b44","ceterms:name":{"en-US":"Consider Adult Learner Variability to Promote High-quality Learning and Engagement"},"ceterms:image":"https://d2umcf2gmasgod.cloudfront.net/671291ce13923d950566da78.png","ceterms:keyword":{"en-US":["addressing adult learner variability"]},"ceterms:ownedBy":["https://credentialengineregistry.org/resources/ce-34e96e45-7ba7-4870-b3cf-055d9621d354"],"ceterms:requires":[{"@type":"ceterms:ConditionProfile","ceterms:name":{"en-US":"Open Badges Criteria"},"ceterms:description":{"en-US":"Key  Method\n\nEducator considers the factors that may impact adult learners' success to identify and apply strategies that promote high-quality learning and engagement. \n\nMethod  Components\n\nThe educator considers the varied experiences, interests, and needs of learners in their classroom. Next, they choose instructional strategies aligned to learning sciences to promote high-quality learning and engagement for adult learners. \n\nFactors that can Impact Adult Learners' Success\n\nAdult learners can vary in multiple dimensions, or factors, which impact their success, including their content knowledge and skills, cognitive abilities, social-emotional states, work and educational experience, and personal backgrounds. They may also face systemic barriers to learning, like racism, lack of affordable housing, or stress due to negative past experiences with schooling. Understanding these factors can inform which instructional strategies best support lifelong learners.\n\nSocial-emotional Learner Factors and Needs\n\nMotivation: Adults' motivation is often centered around their personal and/or professional goals, so learning activities should be purposeful to help them achieve their goals.\nSelf-regulation: Adults often prefer a sense of control and self-direction and may need support maintaining this self-regulation in learning settings. \nLearner mindset: Adults benefit from having a positive learner mindset and sense of self-efficacy; gaining competence in workplace skills can boost confidence and improve self-esteem.\nEmotion: How an adult feels about learning or a particular subject may evoke emotions that can impact the learning process positively or negatively.\nBelonging: A sense of belonging can help adults feel included, respected, and supported in different life contexts, including learning.\n\nLearner Background Factors and Needs\n\nBackground knowledge: Adults bring a great breadth and depth of prior knowledge, both cultural and academic, to learning which should be acknowledged and incorporated into learning activities.\nPhysical well-being: Adults' physical well-being, including their sleep, nutrition, fitness, and medical conditions, can impact their ability to focus and learn. They may also need additional supports for hearing and/or vision, such as when reading smaller fonts.\nSocial supports: Many adult learners benefit from a learning community with whom they can interact and discuss questions and issues. Social supports can also improve their ability to access learning opportunities and help them manage other responsibilities.\nSystemic barriers: Adults may face systemic and personal barriers such as housing, job, or food insecurity; prior adverse experiences; or unsafe situations that make it challenging to engage in learning. Understanding these barriers is critical to supporting their learning. \nPrimary language: Adult learners whose primary language is not English bring a multitude of experiences and may have varying degrees of literacy in their first language that can impact their learning.\n\nContent Area Factors and Needs\n\nLiteracy: Adults' foundational reading, composition, and numeracy skills may vary widely based on prior learning experiences and should be taken into account when designing new training programs. \nDigital literacy: Adults' ability to access and navigate digital resources as well as evaluate digital sources can impact their learning and may need to be bolstered, particularly in online learning environments.\nCommunication skills: Adults' listening and speaking skills, including their receptive and productive vocabularies, may impact their ability to engage in learning and should be supported so they can build these skills.\n\nCognitive Factors and Needs\n\nMetacognition: Metacognitive skills allow learners to think about and regulate their comprehension and learning. Building these skills can support more effective learning. \nAttention: Attention is the ability to focus on a specific task without being distracted. Adults may need support in engaging and sustaining their attention given the many demands they face. \nExecutive functioning: These are cognitive skills that are critical to learning such as actively manipulating new information, inhibiting irrelevant information, and switching between tasks. These abilities may decline with age and should be scaffolded.\n\nSuggested Implementation Strategy\n\nChoose research-based instructional strategies that address the needs of your adult learners. Look for strategies that are:\n\nPractical: Adults need personal/professional relevance in learning activities, knowing what they will result in, and how they fit in the big picture.\nExperiential: Many adults prefer to \"learn by doing\" with real-world applications rather than listening to lectures.\nSupportive: Adults benefit from collaborative, meaningful, and respectful peer interactions.\nActive: Strategies that support memory and brain health for learning, such as incorporating timely breaks, movement, and spaced learning, can improve long-term retention.\nReflective: Learning activities that support metacognitive reflection on errors, feedback, and monitoring learning can build understanding and awareness. \nAccessible: Instructors should be reachable in a variety of formats, share information that is clearly structured, and offer supports that increase the accessibility of physical and online learning materials. \nVaried: Instructional strategies that incorporate a variety of modalities (e.g., text, video, audio) and formats (e.g., asynchronous, synchronous) allow learners to flexibly engage in activities that meet their needs. \nEmpowering: Strategies that help adults understand their personal learning needs, such as technological supports, time management, and ensuring quiet spaces, can support learners in self-advocating and ease anxiety."},"ceterms:subjectWebpage":"https://digitalpromise.box.com/s/pk7avyw6rupyh6k6kwppsdi3ow4khsi0"}],"ceterms:inCatalog":"https://microcredentials.digitalpromise.org/explore/consider-adult-learner-variability-to-promote-high","ceterms:offeredBy":["https://credentialengineregistry.org/resources/ce-34e96e45-7ba7-4870-b3cf-055d9621d354"],"ceterms:inLanguage":["en"],"ceterms:description":{"en-US":"Educator curates strategies that promote high-quality learning and engagement for the full diversity of adult learners."},"ceterms:credentialId":"https://microcredentials.digitalpromise.org/explore/consider-adult-learner-variability-to-promote-high","ceterms:subjectWebpage":"https://microcredentials.digitalpromise.org/explore/consider-adult-learner-variability-to-promote-high","ceterms:copyrightHolder":["https://credentialengineregistry.org/resources/ce-34e96e45-7ba7-4870-b3cf-055d9621d354"],"ceterms:availableOnlineAt":["https://microcredentials.digitalpromise.org/explore/consider-adult-learner-variability-to-promote-high"],"ceterms:availabilityListing":["https://microcredentials.digitalpromise.org/explore/consider-adult-learner-variability-to-promote-high"],"ceterms:credentialStatusType":{"@type":"ceterms:CredentialAlignmentObject","ceterms:framework":"https://credreg.net/ctdl/terms/CredentialStatus","ceterms:targetNode":"credentialStat:Active","ceterms:frameworkName":{"en-US":"Credential Status"},"ceterms:targetNodeName":{"en-US":"Active"},"ceterms:targetNodeDescription":{"en-US":"Awards of the credential are ongoing."}},"ceterms:usesVerificationService":["https://credentialengineregistry.org/resources/ce-1472586c-b08c-4f22-9013-5b4d9a58d277"]}