Content area
This study investigated how adults experience learning in the following situations: (1) in school, when learning matters of interest; (2) in school, when learning matters of disinterest; (3) on their own, when learning matters of interest; and (4) on their own, when learning matters of disinterest.
The study involved a non-randomized sample of sixty adults which was stratified by age, educational level and sex. Data for the study were obtained by means of structured personal interviews and subject selections from among a set of twenty-three descriptor word cards. Of the sample of sixty adults, twenty-nine were asked about their experiences when learning in school and thirty-one about their experiences when learning on their own.
Five criteria--learning setting, learner interest or disinterest, attitudinal reactions, learning effort and persistence of interest and disinterest--were used to initially analyze the data.
It was found that most subjects in this study experienced learning matters of interest in school and on their own differently than they experienced learning matters of disinterest in school and on their own, the differences being primarily affective and motivational in nature.
The following are among the conclusions drawn from the study: (1) Providing more opportunities to learn about matters of interest would tend to promote further learning among adults since they tend to experience very positive feelings and levels of motivation when interested in what is to be learned. (2) When necessity requires adults to learn matters of disinterest, the potential for disinterest changing to interest is more likely to be realized if learners successfully assimilate the matters being learned into personally useful cognate or practical form. (3) The two most critical times for effective instructional intervention involving disinterested adult learners are when the learning experience begins and immediately following as learning difficulties occur.