EDPSY 380
Principles of Adult Learning
Building the Confidence to Change my Pathway Through Creative Collaboration
Overview
Spring Quarter of my Sophomore year I took EDPSY 380 - “Principles of Adult Learning and Development.” This class taught theories and frameworks behind adult learning and how to apply these in order to facilitate greater engagement and retention from adult learners (defined in class as ages 18 and older). The professor, Kimberly Mitchell, prioritized collaboration, so I completed daily small group projects, participated in Twitter discussions, and worked on a quarter-long blog and lesson planning assignment. Overall, the dual prioritization of interpersonal development and class content application challenged me to think critically about how life stage influences learner needs and how I can use this knowledge to engage in productive relationships with others around me.
Our Mid-Quarter assignment was to write a blog post that intersected our knowledge of adult learning principles with how we saw them being applied in a space we were in. I used my experience as an Orientation Leader to talk about adult learning principles, thus reflecting on class content and applying it to another area of my life.
Personal Importance of Work
Before EDPSY 380 I understood the field of Education as very lecture-based, static, and individualistic because that was the structure of classes I had experienced. As I learned and practiced activities and facilitation techniques that focused on student interaction and intersection of classroom content with outside-of-classroom interests, I began to recognize the dynamic and diverse field that education actually is and the plethora of pathways it encompasses. This class helped me to become more conscious of how the life stage of an individual impacts what they need to successfully engage in and retain learning, kindled my desire to explore pathways that would continue to give me opportunities to work with young adults, and transformed the way I think about and participate in group work across contexts.
Tasks Accomplished
In EDPSY 380 I learned to articulate information regarding key principles of adult learning and applied this learning through a series of thought-provoking and dynamic tasks that included
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Understanding and articulating the motivational theories behind what makes adult learners unique from other kinds of learners
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Completing daily “In-Class Projects” in collaboration with 3-5 other students that were related to the day’s course content. (Could be a presentation, art project, social media post, etc).
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Designing and teaching a 45-minute mini lesson for five other peers on a topic of my choice
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Articulating the unique barriers faced by adult learners and researching strategies and best practices that could counteract these barriers
Leadership Competencies Gained
Diversity
One class project I completed was teaching a lesson, where I had to use principles from class to engage peers in a learning experience. My lesson included food, so when I noticed one of my groupmates not sampling anything, I checked in. It turned out they were observing Ramadan, and therefore were fasting during the day. Their answer struck me, because it was matter of fact, but it was delivered in a way that invited further conversation. This interaction with my peer reminded me how important it is to consider what everyone is bringing into a space in order to create a more inclusive and diverse environment. After that learning moment with my teaching group, I made it my goal to listen intentionally and pair myself with people who had different identities than myself. This class taught me how to intentionally prioritize diversity, how to lean in to learning moments with peers in respectful and mind-opening ways and helped me better understand the value of engaging in relationships with others that stretch my own perspectives.
Empathy
One outcome of this course for me was the opportunity to apply the principles related to successful adult learning to other areas of my life, such as Orientation Leading. As we practiced facilitation techniques, I began to reflect on the adult learning principles from class and how I might be able to apply them to my orientation groups to better engage students with content. Two aspects of learning environments that promote deeper adult learning are incorporating opportunities for autonomy and letting learners connect their own experiences to material being taught. On my day to facilitate a discussion on Health and Wellness, I decided to adjust the module and include more chances for my teammates to interact with one another. As a result, I saw my teammates step into conversations and show more excitement at the content and discussions. Even as EDPSY 380 ended, I continued to reflect on and apply strategies I learned from it to promote connection and enthusiasm in my A&O groups, and to this day continue to refer back to this class and have become a more empowered facilitator because of it.
Reflection and Application
My time at UW has been filled with significant challenge - family, health, and financial turmoil and major pathway changes to name a few. While these bumps in the road have been difficult, my work with students has helped me to see how they have actually equipped me to be a better Peer Adviser because of the deeper understanding I have of all students are balancing. Working with a range of student populations whose experiences I might not explicitly share has taught me how to use my own experiences as a foundation for finding empathy and facilitating connection with others who I might not initially feel like I have anything in common with. These connections in turn allow me to establish trust and comfortability more quickly in relationships because of the genuine care that they give me for others. Overall, while I came into peer advising with a strong ability for empathy, this position has given me opportunities to strengthen this competency and expand it to connecting with others who are both alike and different than myself.
Collaboration
Throughout the quarter we rotated project groups for each class. This meant that I had to learn to adjust to a variety of group dynamics. Some of my teams immediately worked well; people quickly found the roles they fit into and ideas came together naturally. Other projects were harder to collaborate on because of peer perspectives, work ethics, or engagement styles. These groups required more flexibility and grace. Regardless of the combination of group members though, the shared goal of completing the project, whether for a grade or for personal reasons, were motivators that united both myself and other teammates. Even if a member wasn’t as enthusiastic, I practiced holding group members accountable to contributing and fulfilling responsibilities by pointing them back to the common project and class objectives we all shared. From this course I learned that while collaboration might not always begin smoothly, common ground can be found when group members are willing to continuously invite each other to contribute by gracefully but firmly reminding each other of and realigning each other with the overarching shared vision for the task at hand.
Personal Contributions
Because EDPSY 380 is an upper level education elective, many of my peers were Education students who had built a foundation of education-related principles they could draw from as they approached assignments we completed together. However, as I was a sophomore in Public Health at the time, my background was more STEM-based and encompassed health principles and perspectives. While I at first saw this as a weakness, I eventually realized that my experiences in the health sector and with data analysis actually were an asset because my contributions to groups brought a different viewpoint and skillset that helped projects to be more inclusive and cross-sectorally applicable. Thus, as I participated in groups, I found myself often explaining how health and education are connected and was able to be someone who could better support or take the lead on class projects that were more research oriented. As my group members supported my interests and I learned from theirs, I was able to broaden my own ways of thinking while contributing my expertise to fill certain group needs.
Confidence
As I built a relationship with the EDPSY 380 professor, Kimberly, I learned that her educator story was one of adventure, boldness, and relationship building, all attributes I hoped to find in my future work experience. As I worked with peers in class and heard about their hearts for people, access, equity, and advocacy, I began to recognize how many of their passions matched my own interests for collaboration and serving people. These interactions transformed my understanding of education by showing me how dynamic, engaging, and impactful it can be, and made me realize how much I wanted to help other students to have similar positive experiences in educational spaces. As a result of this class, when I was accepted to my once dream major, Public Health, my experience with EDPSY 380 actually gave me the confidence to turn the offer down. I realized that my passion for students was what I wanted to pursue, and while I was uncertain of what that would look like, I was convinced that education was the direction that matched my capabilities, vision, and values. While the choice wasn’t easy, I have been continuously thankful for the confidence and clarify EDPSY 380 gave me to pursue Education.
Looking to the Future
EDPSY 380 was an impactful class because it developed both my knowledge of a particular topic and my interpersonal skills. Ultimately, EDPSY 380 was the catalyst for my choice to pursue Higher Education because it helped me realize how excited I get from collaborating with others, provided me with a mentor who is also an experienced educator (Kimberly), and uncovered my passion for working with young adults. As I move forward, I hope to continue to find opportunities to intersect my love of collaboration with my interest in serving young adults in ways that also forward Higher Education access and equity
This is a photo from one of my group member’s “mini lessons” at the end of the quarter. My peer used theories of adult learning to develop an interactive lesson plan teaching me and three others how to prepare and dye hair. I was the first test subject, but each member had a chance to practice and try out the techniques our peer taught us, to much laughter of course.
In class we would end the day with a “takeaway tweet” of a main point or question we were walking away from that day’s class with. The incorporation of social media allowed us to debrief the class content and interact with peers in a different way and gave a space for students who may not be as comfortable speaking out loud in class to let the professor and TAs know that they were also engaged.
Despite only working together for about four class periods, the bonds my four group members and I formed were strong enough for me to trust them with my hair. I still remember the hair dyeing techniques to this day.