ASSIGNMENT CHOICES AND THE ADULT LEARNER

Mary Helen Spear
Prince George's Community College

Colleges are becoming very responsive to the needs of the adult learner. The opportunities for weekend programs, intersession courses, or distance learning courses are all examples of colleges becoming more accessible to students. However, too frequently, once a student is in a class the opportunity for choice ends. Wondering how the different learning styles of students might interact with course requirements, I applied for a Faculty Innovation Grant at University of Maryland University College to specifically address this issue and ask for student feedback.

My project investigated the effect of introducing a variety of assignments, which attempted to allow for different learning styles while still requiring the academic standards University College demands. The course syllabus briefly discussed learning styles and then allowed students to choose an assignment that they felt they should excel on. The students were surveyed at the end of the course to determine if they felt they were able to learn more or if they felt they were able to earn a higher grade because they were choosing the format of the assignment. I had two distance learning class sections of a course on parenting. One was a large voice-mail section, the other a small seminar class that met only four times during the semester.

The assignments were based on the Kolb-McCarthy model of learning styles. I attempted to have the assignments parallel each other - each getting at the same course content but in a different way. Because traditional university writing requirements remain important, the first assignment was a traditional college research paper. The students were able to begin making their choices beginning with the second assignment, which included the option of a college research paper. The final exam remained in the traditional format.

This is the introduction to the assignments that was in the syllabus:

Research has shown that people learn in different ways, some by observing, some by reflecting, and some by actively interacting with the subject. In an effort to balance university requirements for mastering course content and demonstrating writing proficiency with the differences in learning styles that you have, this course will provide a range of assignments. This system will allow you to choose the type of assignment you wish to complete based on how you feel you can best learn and best demonstrate what you have learned. At the end of the semester I will ask you if you felt this was valuable for you and also provide you with the opportunity to determine your learning style.

The assignment choices ranged from the traditional college paper, developing a workshop presentation (complete with video suggestions, overhead materials, and handouts), completing an at-home multiple choice test based on the course audiotapes, writing ten essays on the course readings, to creating a completely open-ended assignment to illustrate some concepts in the course.

The majority of students chose the traditional paper for the second assignment and the multiple-choice test for the third assignment. Both of these represent the Type II Learner in the McCarthy model. This is the way I described it to the students in the survey:

These learners are interested in transmitting the knowledge of experts. They want to be accurate and systematic. They focus on facts, details, organization, and logical thinking. The majority of college faculty is this learning style. They are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the knowledge in a field.

Most of the students (fourteen of the twenty-six) reported that they were Type II learners. One could argue that offering choices was not necessary since most of the students seemed to fit this one learning style. However, all of the students who returned the survey said I should continue giving a variety of choices for the assignments. I was surprised by the consistency in the student responses to most of the survey questions.

Overwhelmingly they said:
  1. Having a choice in assignments allowed them to do a better job, receive a higher grade and learn more. Many also mentioned that since they were making a choice they were more interested in the assignment.
  2. I should continue to give students a choice in assignments.
  3. Giving students choices allowed for differences in their needs and lifestyles.
  4. Choices allowed the students some control in their own learning.
  5. Choices show respect for the adult learner.
  6. A number of them said that they were tired of doing the standard college paper and it was exciting to write or prepare something different.

My small project seems to suggest that specific learning style issues are not as important as giving adult students choices. In giving the students the choices we are continuing to give them control over their learning. Actually, I was so stunned by the responses that I now include a series of choices on my final exams. The choices do not just offer options in the material covered by the questions (such as, "Answer two out of the following three essay questions"), but rather approach the material in significantly different ways.