Instructional design/Adult learning/Instructional Methods

Instructional Methods

Common Instructional Methods

When working with adult learners, there are instructional strategies that work well, and others that don't. For example, a drill-and-response method where instructor provides terms and figures for the learner to memorize might not be very effective. As the previous slide mentioned, the adult learner's readiness and orientation to learn bring a desire to immediately apply new learning to a context that the learner finds important (such as at work). So, memorizing terms and phrases apart from providing contexts or appropriate suggestions for application would likely seem frustrating to the learner.

How do we increase the likelihood that the learner finds relevance in the instruction (and, as a result, retains and uses the information)? The following table outlines seven common instructional strategies, along with how individual adult learning characteristics may be addressed by the strategy. Finally, the last paragraph provides examples of how the individual strategies might be utilized when delivering subject specific content.

For the last two instructional methods, the adult learning characteristic and example are blank. Please take a moment to determine which characteristic(s) the method addresses, and provide an example of how it might play out in an instructional setting.

Strategy	Definition	Adult Learner Characteristic	Example
Project/Team Project	Organized task performance or problem solving activity, completed individually or as small group of learners working cooperatively	Experience	Students studying to become lawyers work collectively to dissect a recent Supreme Court ruling, then create a presentation regarding the positive and negative societal impacts of the Court's ruling; their presentation includes anecdotal information pulled from personal experience.
Game	Instructional activity in which participants follow prescribed rules (differing from those in reality) as they strive to attain a challenging goal	Motivation to learn	The same law students engage in an activity where, as two separate teams, they compete against each other for points as they attempt to recall facts about the judicial system. The rules of the game allow the learner to feel socially accepted and supported by team members.
Role Play	Dramatized case study; spontaneous portrayal of a situation, condition, or circumstance by members of a learning group	Readiness to learn	After reviewing three high-profile cases regarding harassment, the instructor presents students with a scenario they must debate as though it were an actual court case. The learners practice applying their new knowledge within a context they're likely to experience on the job.
Demonstration	Carefully prepared presentation showing how to perform an act or use a procedure; accompanied by appropriate oral/visual explanations, illustrations, and questions	Orientation to learn	The assistant to the law librarian visits the classroom to show the students how to conduct research within the department's new database. The students then apply the new knowledge as they begin research later that evening on a major course project.
Case Study	Simulation aimed at giving learners experience in decision making required by later context	Readiness to learn	Students view a 20 minute documentary regarding a defendant's intake interview, then discuss what choices they might make differently if faced with the same scenario.
Group Discussion	Purposeful conversation and deliberation about a topic of mutual interest among 6-20 participants under guidance of leader
Lecture	Group learning strategy where audience responds to questions selected by instructor to guide them toward discovery