Adult Learner Interview

1. Interview with a Professional
Teacher of Adult Learners
Denise Kroll
HE521-1: Teaching Adult Learners
Professor Margaret Heater
July 4, 2014

2. Agenda
• Interviewee
• Do you have any formal education in teaching adult learners?
• What areas of your position do you see as a challenge?
• What do you think you could implement to the courses to improve
the learning process?
• What types of technology due you use in your classroom?
• What do you like about your job?
• What are your continuing education requirements?
• What techniques have you been exposed to that are different from
your teaching style?
• What advice do you have for someone starting out in the field?
• Reflection
• References

3. Interviewee
• I interviewed Professor Mike Gastala
• He is a part time instructor at Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois
– He teaches Audio Production 1 and Live Sound Recording
• Audio Production 1 is a required course that is part of the Audio
Core
• The Live Sound Recording class is a requirement for the Audio
Design and Production concentration within the department of
Audio Arts and Acoustics
• He has began teaching these courses in the Fall of 2008
• In addition to teaching there, he is also a graduate from Columbia College
– He obtained a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Sound Engineering and
a concentration in Sound for Pictures
• In addition to his teaching, he is freelance sound engineer and producer of
a radio show

4. Do you have any formal education in
teaching adult learners?
• He does not have any formal education in teaching adult learners but, Professor
Gastala attends various teaching workshops provided by Columbia College
• The last workshop that he attended through the Center for Innovation and Teaching
Excellence (CIT) was titled Gender Identification
– He did not attend the course for the subject matter, as he was interested in the
teaching techniques used during the class
– Incorporating different approaches allows his classroom to be more innovative
environment
• In the course he learned an ice breaker technique titled ‘Silent Wall’
– The ice breaker is composed by the instructor who writes various questions on
the board
• Each participant is given a marker to answer the questions, write a follow up question
to the initial questions, or relate an experience to the question by responding with
their experience. Students must stay silent during this
– Professor Gastala uses an interpretation of the icebreaker with his students. He
uses the same technique except he uses it to gage students knowledge
• He states this makes leaning more interactive but, allows him to determine if the
student(s) understand the concepts discussed

5. What areas of your position do you
see as a challenge?
• Audio Production 1 Challenges
– The students are very young and due to this, they have very poor
study habits
– The class is more of a language course in which students have to
interpret and apply the terms prior to performing the concept
• Reading terms verses learning the definitions
• Live Sound Recording Challenges
– Students think the techniques learned and applied are specific to a
certain niche
– Students that take the class don’t envision the need for the specific
techniques because they don’t intend to due work in the field (ex:
music producers)
– Which in turn results in the students misunderstanding of
fundamental concepts that apply to all aspects of the field in general

6. What do you think you could implement to the
courses to improve the learning process?
• Live Sound Recording Improvements
–More real world examples
–Some of the material discussed is difficult to
relate to or interpret as it is hard to
simulate an example
• Can provide the concept, but can’t always
make a real life experience
–The majority of the examples provided are
from his own experience within the field

7. What types of technology due you use
in your classroom?
• The students use the following items in the
classroom:
• Mac Computer
• PowerPoint Presentations
• Projector
• LMS: Moodle
• ProTools: audio editing software
• Recording Mixer
• Portable Recorders
• Audio Interface
• Email
• Website: Wetransfer.com

8. What do you like about your job?
• The most rewarding portion of his job is seeing
the students progress throughout their education
– They initially start the program in his Audio
Production 1 course
• On a personal level, he enjoys hearing the
students interpretation of what the field consists
of
– Some students state they are only studying audio
engineering because they need to know this to be a
music producer

9. What are your continuing education
requirements?
• There are no continuing education
requirements
• Columbia College hires a majority of their
teachers because they are active in the field
that they each in
• He attends a few seminars a year that are
offered through the college
– These courses allow him to learn new techniques
to make his courses more innovative

10. What techniques have you been exposed to that
are different from your teaching style?
• Flip Classroom
– Through the LMS Moodle, students view the lecture
portion of the course on their own time
• The lecture supplements the text assignment
– Students are still required to come to class for the full
length of time
– This provides more time to discuss the lecture concepts
and how they relate to the hands on application
• Allows the teacher to spend more time on the concepts that
students are struggling with
– The advantage is that all of the required in class lab work is
completed since students cannot do the work outside class

11. What advice do you have for someone
starting out in the field?
• Don’t panic
• Spend a lot of time shaping the way your
instruction is performed
– For example record yourself teaching so that you
do not sound monotone when providing
instruction
• Consider the four major methods of learning
– Varks Model
• Time management and organization

12. Reflection
• After my interview with Professor Gastala, I began to see Knowles’ six
assumptions of adult learning really relate to adult learners
• Specifically that adult centered learning allows participants to share
their specific experiences with others in the class (as cited in Merriam,
Caffarella, and Baumgartner, 2007, pg. 84).
– In addition to teaching, he also works as a free lance sound engineer
and radio producer in the field
• His background allows him to implement examples of his experience into
the classroom instruction
• This form of “embodied learning is most often linked to experimental
learning in the sense that we learn in an experience” (Merriam, Caffarella,
and Baumgartner, 2007, pg. 192).
– By relating his experiences in the field to the classroom instruction,
students gain a further understanding of the information, which
promotes embodied learning or experimental learning

13. Reflection Continued
• Professor Gastala follows Vark Model of learning when planning instruction in the
classroom
• The Varks model states that “leaners have a preference of learning through
– Visual,
– Aural,
– Reading,
– and Kinesthetic Learning” (Cherry, n.d.)
• The Varks model is similar to Amanns four part model of somatic knowing
• The somatic model of knowing consists of “four dimensions of knowing:
– Kinesthetic,
– Sensory,
– Affective
– And Spiritual” Learning (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner, 2007, pg. 194)
• Regardless of which model is being used during the incorporation of instruction,
both models attempt to identify with the learners needs when teaching

14. References
• Cherry, K. (n.d.). VARK Learning Styles.
Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalp
sychology/a/vark-learning-styles.htm
• Merriam, S., Caffarella, R., & Baumgartner, L.
(2007). Learning in adulthood: A
comprehensive guide (3rd ed.). San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.