Working With Non-Traditional Students

1. Working With Non-Traditional Students Presented by: Sara Dreisbach Student Success Center Coordinator Coffeyville Community College

2. What is a non-traditional student? • Over 25 years old • Experiencing transition at home • Workplace transition

3. Peer Tutors vs. Non-TradsorWhat Non-Trads Know and Gen Y Doesn’t • Gen Y has no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably did not know he had ever been shot. • Gen Y was prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged. • Gen Y was 10 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War. • Gen Y is too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up. • Tianamen Square means nothing to Gen Y. • For Gen Y, bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic. • The statement "You sound like a broken record" often means nothing to Gen Y since they’ve never seen a record. • The Compact Disc was introduced when Gen Y was 1 year old. • Most Gen Yers have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black and white TV. • Gen Y cannot fathom not having a remote control. • Gen Y parents don't know what a cloth baby diaper is, or know about the "Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial. • Gen Y was born the year that Walkmen were introduced by Sony. • Roller skating has always meant inline for Gen Y. • For Gen Y Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show. • Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave for Gen Y. • Gen Yers never took a swim and thought about Jaws. • The Vietnam War is as ancient history to Gen Y as W.W.I, W.W.II and the Civil War were to Baby Boomers. • Non-trads think of Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama a bands and not places. • There has always been MTV.

4. Typical Non-Traditional Students • Grew up with Kaptain Kangaroo • Remember the Vietnam War on TV • Remember black and white TV • Have children • Many have grandchildren

5. Pivotal Moments in Life Where Were You When? • Teens and 20’s – WTC attacks, Sept. 11, 2001 • 30’s – The shuttle Challenger exploded • 40’s – Man landed on the moon • 50’s – JFK was shot • 60’s – Berlin Wall was built • 70’s – Pearl Harbor was attacked • 80’s – The Hindenburg exploded • 90’s – 1929 Black Monday stock market crash

6. Why are they here? • Gain skills previously not attained • Change in employment requirements • Retraining for different employment • Desire to seek new knowledge

7. Adult Learners are Different • Adult learners often have to overcome physical barriers to learning not experienced by traditional students. These include, but are not limited to: • Hearing issues – maximum auditory acuity is reached around age 15, after that there is a gradual decline until about age 65. • Vision problems – maximum visual acuity is generally reached about age 18. From this point until about age 45 vision begins to gradually decline with a sharp decline occurring between ages 45 and 55. By age 30 the average adult needs 120 watts of illumination to see properly – by 50 that number is 180 watts.

8. Motor tasks – motor skills tend to slow down as people age. This decline can begin at 18 but is most noted after age 40. Reaction times increase and it takes longer to process information. • Negative past experience -- a negative past experience can leave emotional scars that can physically impact the learning process, i.e., being told you’re dumb in math may create a mental block toward the subject. (West Virginia Adult Basic Education)

9. Overcoming Barriers • These barriers can be overcome, but doing so requires a conscious effort on the part of the student and the tutor. Methods of surpassing these barriers include: • Hearing – find a quite place to work with few • distractions. What Gen Y thinks of as soothing background sounds can be like fingernails on a chalkboard to adult students. Also, it is important to speak clearly and slowly. Write down key points for clarification. • Vision – ensure that the area in which you are working is • properly lit. Use large, contrasting fonts when typing.

10. Motor skills – encourage the student to tape • record both lectures and tutoring sessions so that they can catch notes they might miss writing down. Use a variety of learning techniques. • Negative past – use positive reinforcement to • overcome negative past. Provide activities that allow learners to succeed.

11. Don’t Assume • They can’t learn • They experienced failure in earlier school experience • They know what you are talking about • They learn the same way you do • They have the same goals as traditional students

12. What Adult Students Need To be motivated To participate in goal setting To have their experiences appreciated To participate actively To share responsibility in the learning process Experience a sense of progress Benefit from peer support and reinforcement Problem solving exercises that simulate real-life situations According to Malcolm Knowles

13. Tutor Training Suggestion Play the old switch-a-roo Give the peer tutor a contemporary history assignment. Then assign them to a non-traditional student. The non-traditional student will act as the tutor and the peer tutor as the tutee. By switching roles, it will give both the non-traditional student and the tutee the understanding of being in the other person’s shoes and allow them to develop a respect for each other.

14. In Conclusion • Non-Traditionals are in school for a variety of reasons • Don’t assume • Try to understand • Remember, they are students like you in a number of ways.

15. Contact Information Sara Dreisbach Student Success Center Coordinator Coffeyville Community College 400 W. 11th Coffeyville, KS 67337 sarad@coffeyville.edu

16. Works Cited West Virginia Adult Basic Education. "www.wvabe.org." 2007-2008. West Virginia Adult Basic Education. 8 Apr 2008 <http://www.wvabe.org/tcher_handbook_pdf/section3.pdf>.