Thursday 19 July 2012

A Conceptual Framework for Teaching Critical Reading to Adult College Students

an article by Sabrina Marschall (Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania) and Cynthia Davis (Barry University, Miami Shore, Florida) published in Adult Learning Volume 23 Number 2 (May 2012)

Abstract

The proliferation of post-secondary programs for working adults is not surprising, given the importance of a bachelor’s degree to employment and higher earnings. However, the demographics of adult learners have changed significantly over the past 30 years, when degrees for adults targeted a middle-class population.

Adults now return to college after years away from school, and many are first-generation college students whose families may be unable to advise or support them in their educational endeavours. Nevertheless, adults bring deep experiential and workplace-related learning to the classroom, which should be validated in educational settings.

Increasingly, advanced reading skills are essential to college success, particularly in online courses, which, although convenient for working adults, are heavily text based.

This article offers a conceptual framework for incorporating experiential learning into the teaching of critical reading skills to adult college students.


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