Comparing Knowles 'Andragogy'

In order for a student to learn effectively in the clinical setting, it is important to adopt adult teaching principles. There are assumptions made about how we learn, predominantly between the ways in which children and adults learn. The adult learner moves away from a dependent style of learning as seen in children, and moves towards a self-directed and autonomous role; assuredly learning is encouraged as opposed to being taught (Norrie & Dalby, 2007). Andragogy is a term developed by Knowles (as cited by Porterfield, 2004), and supports the notion that adult learners have unique needs. Knowles describes a model of assumptions about the adult learner which include taking advantage of an adults reediness to learn, taking advantage of the learner’s experience, the development
This student is dependent on the educator and not self-directed, has less life experience, told what to learn and motivated by extrinsic factors. Knowles principles of andragogy are effective in structuring higher education programs and training. For example researchers (Nguyen, Miranda, Lapum, & Donald, 2016) found that in their study, eighty percent of adult nursing students reported enhanced learning from the application of andragogical principles to a learning activity. The activity required nursing students to critically appraise and apply theoretical approaches to caring for clients and families, by acting out scenarios and reflecting. The learning activity was consistent with andragogical principles, where the link between theory and practice provided learning incentive and prompted the students’ internal motivation to learn. In addition, to deepen understanding the students were encourage to draw from their own experiences. Finally, open ended questions were used which encouraged self-directed