The WAS's Attributes
By Prof. Jonathan
Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.
School of English
Faculty
of Social Sciences
Universidad
Latina de Costa Rica
Friday, September 16,
2016
Post 293
Working
Adult Students (WASs) are indeed an important target audience among all types
of higher education learners that need to be comprehended in terms of the
challenges and advantages they represent for the instructor. WASs’ attitudes
can be subdivided into five different categories that need to be further
explored: their knowledge and abilities that are brought in to the classroom,
the self concept, their expectations in terms of their learning and of their
search for work-family-study balance, and their needs and attitudes in
learning.
To
have a better understanding of what these challenges are the following chart
has been created to give the reader the chance to see every piece of
information that needs to be considered when teaching these groups of learners.
In spite of the challenges presented here, there are advantages for the
instructor to really profit from this population and to make the class much
more interesting by bringing learners’ prior work experiences to the frontline
of teaching and to have them perfect their practices by providing them with a
more concrete and concise guidance or focus.
The
higher education instructors who find WASs in their classrooms must be aware of
these attributes to plan accordingly. A university term cannot be foreseen with
the absence of these students; they are going to be present and willing to
learn. What needs to be carefully considered by the faculty member is how to
take advantage of the WASs’ attributes to potentiate the class members’
learning with their work experiences. Simultaneously, the professor must
consider what strategies need to be used to help all students become part of
the learning community in the classroom and learn the course content deeply.
References
Laureate Education.
(2016a). Knowledge and abilities of the Working Adult Student.
Laureate Education.
(2016b). Self Concept of the Working Adult Student.
Laureate Education.
(2016c). Expectations of the Working Adult Student.
Laureate Education. (2016d).
Needs of the Working Adult Student.
Laureate Education.
(2016e). Attitudes of the Working Adult Student.
Friday, September 16, 2016
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