The Adult Learner, Sixth Edition: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development | 
 enlarge | Authors: Ph.d., Malcolm S. Knowles, Iii, Ed.d., Elwood F. Holton, Ph.d., Richard A. Swanson
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
Category: Book
List Price: $43.95
Buy New: $35.17
You Save: $8.78 (20%)
New (27) Used (17) from $33.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 5324
Media: Paperback
Edition: 6
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 390
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.8 x 0.9
ISBN: 0750678372
Dewey Decimal Number: 374
EAN: 9780750678377
ASIN: 0750678372
Publication Date: January 25, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This much acclaimed text has been fully updated to incorporate the latest advances in the field. As leading authorities on adult education and training, Elwood Holton and Dick Swanson have revised this edition building on the work of the late Malcolm Knolwes.
Keeping to the practical format of the last edition, this book is divided into three parts. The first part contains the classic chapters that describe the roots and principles of andragogy, including a new chapter, which presents Knowles' program planning model. The second part focuses on the advancements in adult learning with each chapter fully revised updated, incorporating a major expansion of Androgogy in Practice. The last part of the book will contain an updated selection of topical readings that advance the theory and will include the HRD style inventory developed by Dr. Knowles.
This new edition is essential reading for adult learning practitioners and students and HRD professionals. It provides a theoretical framework for understanding the adult learning issues both in the teaching and workplace environments.
* Provides a theoretical framework for understanding adult learning issues both in teaching and workplace environments
* Essential reading for a wide audience of practitioners and students in the field of adult learning and human resource development
* Incorporates Knowles'classic theories on adult learning alongside the latest advances in the field
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Zzzzzz..... September 22, 2008
I found this book to be EXTREMELY verbose and hard to comprehend. I agree with other posters that it reads similar to a research paper with lots of citations and "borrowed" information. The overall meaning is lost when you have to read chapters 3 & 4 times to decode it.
 Challenging, Insightful, Practical February 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you're looking for a book which will enable you to grasp the concepts of adult learning in the 21 century then The Adult Learner is a must read. Covering the latest perspectives on adult learning this book contains practical information relevant to any field of education. The Adult Learner addresses more than just the theories of adult learning, it provides timely solutions to empower those who desire to transform the learning experience.
 Useful But a Tough Read November 13, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
A little background: I am not a college professor or corporate HR director, so to some degree there are things in this book that were lost on me for that reason, HOWEVER...
...I am an author, an independent instructor for adult learners, and a college graduate with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications, so I do know something about good writing hopefully. I purchased this book to gain insight into the motivations behind adult learners. Why do some go back to college even when their job does not require it? What motivates them? How do they learn compared to teenagers, etc? What techniques are best in a classroom full of adults? And FWIW I have been able to glean some useful bits of information in these respects. But this book could be so much more, if the authors would simplify the writing style. Get out of your own way and tell the story! Let me explain further...
My biggest problem with this book is that it reads like a college thesis. I always value and appreciate a well annotated work that references other respected works, however this book goes completely overboard. In some chapters, almost every page is a pulled quotation from another work or book. There are so many references as to be distracting to the reader IMO. The original point being discussed (and its relevance to the person teaching adults), is often lost and you have to go back and read again so you haven't wasted your time.
The information itself is sometimes helpful and enlightening, but buried among wordy descriptions, run-on sentences and frankly, verbal pomp. And though I recognize this book is geared towards those in HR development (companies that teach their employees IOW), there are clearly parallel lessons to be learned for anyone teaching adults, regardless of the environment (work, leisure or vocational). I think for instructors like myself this book is simply not approachable enough, though there are some very good nuggets of info to be found and applied to our work. You just have to dig and re-read more than anyone should have to, in order to process that information.
 THE ADULT LEARNER, SIXTH EDITION February 24, 2006
2 out of 14 found this review helpful
This book was in excellent shape. I received it sooner than I expected.
 A classic, but it does not use its own advice. July 3, 2005
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
Malcolm S. Knowles is the founder of the theory of Andragogy (Adult Education), and I agree with him on many of the points he makes.
The problem is that the book seems to have been written for academics to accept Malcolm's theories, and not written for students who wanted to learn to be better teachers in Adult Education.
Unless you have to use this book for a textbook for a class, I would not buy it as your first introduction to Adult Education. I'm not sure which book I would buy, but someone must have written a better one to actually learn the subject!
|
|
|
