Andragogy

Instructional designers, or anyone else in the business of educating and training others, should understand the science and psychology behind learning and memory. Trudy Kowallis Christensen said, “When I design instruction, I usually don’t start with a particular theory. My main focus is the problem and the problem situation.” (Christensen, 1). As Instructional Designers, we […]

According to Sharifi, andragogy (or adult learning theory) is “the education of adults” while pedagogy is the “education of children” (Sharifi, 2017). Andragogy, or the theory of adult learning, follows Knowles’ assumptions about adult learners. For instance, “the assumptions of andragogy follow the beliefs that adults are self-directed, internally motivated, and ready to learn” (McClain, […]

When I was a college undergrad in design school, one of my professors had a policy of deducting points from students who “ask too many questions.” She says this teaches students independence and prepares them for the real world, where “life’s not fair.” Ironically, I don’t remember this professor’s name. I don’t remember which class […]

I support adaptive learning, especially the applications of AR/VR, AI, gamification, and micro-learning for a more personalized experience that helps overcome the Forgetting Curve. I typically incorporate technology, micro-learning, social media, texting, and gamification into my trainings. (See the below videos for a few examples.) For adaptive learning to truly be effective, digital technologies should […]

Nearly every instructional design project involves developing learning objectives for various learning scenarios. Typically, instructional designers collaborate with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), asking open-ended questions to analyze and clarify what the learners will be doing. The answers we receive from our SMEs will help shape our learning objectives. When it comes to developing learning objectives, […]