My analysis of a professional document is a journal article regarding learning
opportunities for women prisoners written by Katharine Ramsland. What I hope toaccomplish by reviewing similar articles is the ability to write such articles about learning as a meaningful process, and to also be able to use articles Iwrite during my own teaching and future positions as consultant/lecturer for adult education programs.
Analysis of most journal articles reveals that the focus in journal articles is often written for more advanced scholarly learners, and continuity of information should be broken down some, by providing specific examples (like casework articles written in physician’s journals).
Practice in this field thus far uses an all-inclusive approach to discussions. That is, information offered currently is often not individualized. Although it is difficult to individualize when writing for the masses, shorter written works might be more beneficial to undergraduate students perusing articles for research. Complex patterns of articulation, when broken down somewhat, enhances the reader’s understanding at a more basic, realistic level.
Data documentation when integrated in MLA and APA style can also be confusing. It does not flow with tone current of undergraduate reading. Tone in journals can be intimidating and not conducive to undergrads who want realism in their learning process. Merely creating big worded documents interferes with comprehension and slows down comprehension.
Creating a different style of editing- rewriting for lower level academics can package and present the material as a more enjoyable read. And journal articles written specifically for undergraduate researchers can make synthesizing the material less intimidating and more meaningful.
Malcolm Knowles considers the expectation that an adult learner has grown somewhat considerably and is mature enough to direct themselves toward a goal. This need to find a goal often comes from some sort of discontent in the adult’s life where he realizes that he needs to fill an area of his life that will give him more information. The adult is coming to a time in his life where he is ready for a new direction and will seek out options. This self-concept is evident with the epiphany that it is time to seek something other than his normal status quo. This epiphany in relation to the Depression Workbook is the realization that the person using the workbook needs help.
Knowles surmises that the learner’s self concept is important in his endeavor, and that he will use the way he thinks of himself as a measurement of what it is he is seeking. The learner will start out with the autonomous intent on finding answers that he needs to know, when he asks himself: what, why, and how questions. Androgogy is a tool that the student can utilize to help him find these answers. His prior experiences in life are often analyzed by the student so that he finds a relationship with his past and puts it in order to identify meaning in his current life. In finding perspective from past growth milestones, he will not see any unfulfilled quests as failures, but as situations that he can learn from. A teacher, through his art of teaching, can remind the student to look back at other attempts at accomplishment and use it as a stepping stone from which to direct his next goal. Using a workbook for looking back at accomplishment is verifiable and concrete- it can be reviewed.
When a student seeks out assistance, when he uses working material to get his questions answered, it proves to him that he is indeed ready to learn- to actively find answers and to begin the process of getting what he needs to accomplish done. The student might be reluctant to seek alternative ways of obtaining his information based on his orientation to learning, but knowledgeable teachers can help the student learn what learning methods work for him. Sometimes learning what kind of teaching style the student best responds to will help him keep his eye on the prize. When a student can keep seeing the road ahead of him, and knows what kind of educational setting he needs to learn better in, and begins to envision himself as being successful, his motivation should increase with positive personal satisfaction.
Packaging and presenting material, such as in the form of workbooks, may enhance the learning process for undergraduate and graduate students with a foundation to build upon, like a pyramid starting with basic understanding and evolving toward step-by-step preparedness. This slow process of learning gives the student time to take in, and synthesize material at an appropriate pace.
References:
Ramsland, Katherine. Crime Library.com “Female Offenders: A Program for Help” crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/psychology/female_offenders/8.htm
Copeland, M.S., M.A., Mary Ellen. The Depression Workbook: A Guide for Living With Depression and Manic Depression (SECOND EDITION) New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 2002
Michelson, Elana. Autobiography and Selfhood in the Practice of Adult Learning. Adult Education Quarterly, Feb2011, Vol. 61 Issue 1