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The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal Switching to a Higher Gear: Advising Adult and Traditional Students in Accelerated Learning Joan F. Marques and Ruth Luna, Woodbury University Abstract The speed of life is expediting: results are demanded faster than ever before. Working adults, young and old, need advanced degrees, but they want them today rather than tomorrow because competition in different sizes and shapes lurks around the corner: outsourcing of jobs, local replacement, job transformation, you name it. Traditional students are not spared from this pressure toward rapid output either: they too are increasingly interested in going through the learning process at an accelerated pace. Advisers are faced with the important challenge of preparing all these learning communities with a similar service, combining the best elements of various worlds into one process: advising for accelerated programs. Introduction This paper serves as an update on developments in institutions of higher education that offer multiple learning formats. As the population of students enrolling in accelerated learning programs expands from predominantly experienced adult learners to young adults and traditional students, the task of the academic adviser becomes a more challenging one. Academic advisers must (1) stay abreast of the differences in mentalities of these various student populations; (2) empathetically and cunningly fulfill students' course needs while helping them to maintain a responsible balance in their work, learning, and private lives; and (3) simultaneously develop the skill of teaming up these divergent groups of learners in order to make the experience a rewarding one for all stakeholders: the students, the instructors, the adviser, the institution, and, in the long run, the society in which these learners perform. The Acceleration of Accelerated Learning “Accelerated learning programs are one of the fastest-growing transformations in higher education,” writes Wlodkowski (2003, p. 5) in a review of the status of accelerated learning in colleges and universities. So, what exactly is an accelerated learning program? Wlodkowski explains that “accelerated learning programs are structured for students to take less time than conventional (often referred as traditional) programs to attain university credits, certificates, or degrees” (p. 6). This author further clarifies that accelerated courses, in comparison to conventional courses, involve fewer contact hours over a shorter duration of time. Accelerated programs are among the top educational discoveries of the past century. The reason for the birth and explosive growth of these programs is easily explained: everything happens faster nowadays, and thus higher education must follow the trend. This is particularly the case for adults who need continuing education in order to remain competitive in an increasingly demanding world. Wlodkowski (2003) estimates that, within ten years, at least 25 percent of adult students will be enrolled in accelerated programs. Reviewing the attitudes of students in traditional versus accelerated programs, Wlodkowski concludes that both populations are thoroughly satisfied with their formats: the traditional, younger students with the more extensive format and the adults with the more condensed design. Wlodkowski cites Kasworm, who concluded from a 2001 qualitative study that “adults perceived their accelerated degree program to be a 'supportive world defined for adult learners' as compared to their previous impersonal and bureaucratic young adult collegiate experiences” (p. 9). An even more interesting fact is that the desire for obtaining education in an accelerated format is spreading. Logically! Time is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity, not only for experienced adults but also for younger workers and for those referred to as “traditional students” as well. To them, learning, like everything else, has to happen in a time-effective way. And thus emerges the new trend: the mixed educational society. Younger working adults and traditional students are increasingly overstepping the previously perceived boundary for engaging in accelerated learning and now sign up for a growing number of high-geared courses. Should there be objections to this development? Some would say yes; others would say no. Until recently, accelerated programs were seen as a way for experienced adults to obtain rapid higher education. But who would refer to younger university attendees as non-adults? So why would they be withheld from the opportunity to obtain their education in a more rapid format if they chose to do so? At Woodbury University, during the first few years that accelerated learning was offered, every student who wanted to sign up for accelerated learning had to have a minimum of three years of work experience. The philosophy at that time was that the accelerated learner had to be able to bring a significant amount of real-life experience to class, learn from his or her fellow students in a facilitative environment, and maintain a proactive and responsible approach toward executing a large amount of self-study. Yet younger adults are increasingly convinced that they, too, can contribute in valuable ways to the class environment, partly because they also have some real-life and work experience to share (although not as extensive as that of their more mature classmates), partly because they find that they can participate very well by being good listeners and asking questions, and partly because they create an interesting balance in the learning environment by bringing a perspective that is different than the one usually held by experienced adult learners. Differences between Accelerated and Traditional Learning Formats What are the main differences between accelerated courses and traditional ones? Although there are undoubtedly a multitude of them, the authors of this paper came up with the following perceived differences:
The above table may provide the reader with an idea of the main differences between traditional and accelerated learning and the level of maturity that is generally expected in accelerated learning formats, as opposed to the relaxed, hand-holding approach that is still predominantly practiced in traditional formats. Types of Students Entering Accelerated Programs and Their Diverging Needs for Advising The number of traditional students with an interest in accelerated learning is surging. Until about a year ago, accelerated formats were predominantly accessible for adults with work experience. Now, younger, more traditional, less experienced students are allowed to contribute their insights and thus also benefit from the knowledge exchange that can occur in accelerated programs. The following student populations are engaging in the accelerated format today (see Figure 1):
 The first two categories can be advised in similar ways. However, it is the third group of learners—the traditional population—that forms the new challenge for advisers of accelerated learners. Facing a New Challenge: Traditional Students Going Accelerated At Woodbury University, when a traditional student expresses his or her interest in taking some courses in the accelerated format, the following approach is used:
Life happens to all of us. A student in the accelerated program can be confronted with a myriad of unforeseen issues: a promotion that requires a sudden change of working hours or a relocation, family circumstances, illness, etc. When accelerated students face these challenges, they know that they should contact the instructor right away. If contacting the instructor is impossible (not all instructors are easily accessible), the student should speak to his or her adult adviser. The adviser usually knows how to contact the instructor and is, at the same time, well informed about the appropriate steps to take in cases of dropping, withdrawing, or appealing. The two main problems that students encounter when following the accelerated format are the following:
As students in accelerated programs are driven to get through the curriculum as fast as possible, it becomes the adviser's unwritten task to keep an eye on their course selections. Three main points of attention in this regard are as follows:
Conclusion The task of the professional academic adviser is obviously gaining importance as the number of students who want to switch to a higher gear increases. Multiple challenges for advisers are emerging at the same time and need to be faced at a pace that matches the accelerated format in which students prefer to learn. The switch to a higher gear is, as this paper demonstrates, not just a phenomenon that students are facing; it is important to the careers of advisers as well. It will be interesting to follow the developments in students' course preferences in the coming years, in order to find out whether traditional learning formats will become a minority or perhaps even be entirely phased out or whether equilibrium will be reached. Until then, and even after that fact has been established, academic advisers will continue to serve as the determining link between students, professors, and other academic services and can help to maintain balance in the lives of learners. References Wlodkowski, R. J. (2003). Accelerated learning in colleges and universities. In R. J. Wlodkowski & C. E. Kasworm (Eds.), Accelerated learning for adults: The promise and practice of intensive educational formats (pp. 5–15). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. About the Authors Joan F. Marques, Ed.D., is adult advisor and faculty member at Woodbury University. She can be reached at jmarques01@earthlink.net or 818-767-0888. Ruth Luna is director of adult advising also at Woodbury and can be reached at Ruth.Luna@woodbury.edu or 818-767-0888. Published in The Mentor on May 3, 2005, by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||