Judith E. Cox EDLD 6323 September 19, 2006 Chapter 2
Grabowski, S. M. (1987).
Establishing an appropriate environment. In C. Klevins
(Ed.), Materials and methods in adult and
continuing education. (pp. 175-179).
One thing we learned last week is that an enriched environment is good for rats. When they have places to explore and interesting items in their cages, their brain size actually increases and neurons form more synapses. I decided to look through the adult education literature for comments about the environments that encourage adult learning.
Adults like comfort. Too many classes are held in buildings that have furniture suitable for adolescents or even children. Adults can find the chairs to be extremely uncomfortable. Temperatures in the rooms can be too cold or too hot. The rooms are not acoustically prepared for people with hearing aids or lighted properly for adults with visual problems.
Instructors of adults rarely want to lecture all the time. Unfortunately, tables or chairs that are bolted to the floor are not conducive to small group activities. Many hearing-impaired adults have to see the lips of the person who is talking and they have a hard time following class discussions when the seats are hard to turn.
Fortunately, the instructor can compensate for not being able to control the physical environment by controlling the psychological environment. All adults should be treated with respect and relieved of stressful anxieties regarding what is expected of them in the course. This will go a long way in making learning enjoyable.