Designing Instruction for Adult Learners (Professional Practices in Adult Education and Human Resource Development Series)

Dr. Dean's work is a model to aid adult educators in the development of instructional activities for adult learners. The three-part model consists of gathering information, designing instruction, and evaluating the instructional plan. The data gathering phase emphasizes systematic reflection on the adult educator's knowledge and skills, the adult learners, the content to be learned, and the organizational context in which the learning takes place. In the designing instruction phase the development of instructional goals and objectives, learning activities, and learner assessment is explored. Evaluation is accomplished by systematically reviewing the instructional plan and how it was developed. The model encourages the participation of adult learners in the process. It is a flexible approach to planning instruction and can be employed in a wide variety of educational settings such as higher education, business and industry, adult basic and literacy education, community colleges, health education, social service agencies, and community education organizations.

Dr. Gary J. Dean is associate professor of adult and community education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also serves as coordinator of the Master of Arts in Adult Education and Communications Technology, a graduate program in which the use of technology in adult education is emphasized. Dr. Dean earned his doctorate in adult education from Ohio State University. He has experience in instructional design and teaching adults in many settings. In addition, Dr. Dean is coauthor of Enhancing Organizational Effectiveness in Adult and Community Education and serves as coeditor of the PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, a refereed journal published by the Pennsylvania Association for Adult Continuing Education.