Hi all,
This summer the LINCS Region 2 Professional Development Center provided a study circle and webinar series, Supporting Adult Student Motivation. The series included 3 webinars, Self Efficacy, Goal Setting, and The Learning Environment. A private study circle was set up in the LINCS Community to allow webinar participants to share ideas, perspectives, and strategies and receive feedback from other participants and the webinar facilitator, Cristne Smith. I wanted to share one of Cris's posts to the group which elicited a rich discussion of goat setting with adult learners:
"August 14, 2014 - 1:42pm - Helping students set proximal and distal goals
Hi, everyone. I know one of the issues that arose on our last webinar was how to help adult students set short-term goals that lead to a realistic long-term goal. I know that most programs require student to state a goal when they enter the program, in order to have a benchmark against which to report progress for the National Reporting System, but I also know that sometimes students have vague or very unrealistic goals and program staff sort of "help" students set a goal that the program can actually use for reporting. For those of you who are teachers, do you have access to the goals that students give when they sign up for the program? Do you believe these goals? Do you use those goals? If not, in what way would the registration process help you better understand student goals? I'd also love to hear from those of you who use goal-setting activities IN your classes, and how you give feedback against those goals? What works, and how do you have the time if you have a lot of students in your class? Just curious.
Best, Cris"
What strategies and techniques do you use in assisting adult learners with setting goals? How do you help students clarify vague goals? Does your program have a process for helping students with setting goals?
Gail Cope, SME, LINCS Program Management Group