Scaffolding adult learners‟ learning through their diversity: an action research

This paper explores the capitalization of one of the adult learners‟ unique characteristics; experiences, in scaffolding their learning process. As a trainer to groups of adult learners in a pre-service teacher education programme for several semesters, I had identified some issues which were caused by my adult learners‟ different level of exposure to teaching and education background. As I needed to know how I could improve what I was doing with my adult learners, I attempted an action research. Guided by relevant theories and literature, some activities were identified and planned. The activities capitalized on the learners‟ experiences were carried out during the 14 weeks I had with my students. I collected my data through series of observations, my students‟ 2-minute paper, and informal chats with selected students. Observations and reflections on the outcomes of the activities and analysis of the data were done which led to major findings. Conclusions which emphasize on the potential of capitalizing on the adult learners‟ different experiences as a means to scaffold their learning process were drawn. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.