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Higher education faces a critical juncture. Projected declines in national high school graduation rates by 2030 signals an approaching enrollment cliff for many institutions. This downturn, however, presents a significant opportunity for colleges and universities to serve a growing population of adult learners who will need to reskill and adapt to an increasingly AI-augmented world. As newly-cognitive machines automate more workplace tasks, the demand for a workforce equipped with uniquely human skills — what Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun terms “humanics” — is growing. To effectively engage these learners, whose needs often differ from traditional students due to factors like full-time jobs and family commitments, instructors will need to adopt teaching models aligned with andragogy — the art and science of adult learning — to foster critical thinking, creativity, and ethical reasoning skills essential for navigating evolving regional economies.
Classroom Practice: Leverage Life Experience and Prior Knowledge
Why It Matters
Our institutions already serve as vital hubs for individuals navigating major life transitions and charting unique paths to degree completion. Insights from mid-life transition programs on college campuses highlight how returning students can successfully “design their next 20-30 years” by re-accessing higher educations’ learning pathways. Effective teachers recognize that adult learners bring a wealth of experience to the learning process, as Steven J. Hyde, Antoine Busby, and Robert L. Bonner discussed in their 2024 article, “Tools or Fools: Are We Educating Managers or Creating Tool-Dependent Robots?” When faculty invite those learners to connect coursework to their professional goals, nontraditional students’ work experiences and ambitions can serve as the foundation for the sorts of deep and personalized learning that the future requires. As Hyde, Busby, and Bonner emphasize, “Adults are oriented toward the immediate application of learned knowledge.”
Ways To Implement It
- Real-world application: Incorporate assignments that ask students to relate course concepts to current and future job-related tasks. This builds curricular relevance and reinforces students’ potential as industry innovators. For example, in a sociology course examining community issues, an assignment could ask learners to analyze a current social problem that is relevant to the student’s career path or program of study. They could then be asked to propose a strategy to address the problem from the perspective of someone working in the field.
- Collaborative learning: Facilitate structured group activities that draw on students’ unique backgrounds. Invite lived experience into classroom discussions and encourage collaborative problem-solving across course modalities. For adult learners, “building a new social network” with a cohort of peers from across generations will be especially vital, as highlighted in a January 2024 HigherEdJobs interview. Consider a marketing course where nontraditional learners with work experience across different industries (e.g., healthcare, manufacturing, retail) anchor groups competing to develop a marketing plan for a new product. Each student’s industry-specific insights can enrich the learning experience for the entire class.
Classroom Practice: Personalize Learning for Flexibility and Engagement
Why It Matters
According to Hyde, Busby, and Bonner, adult learners balancing multiple life commitments often approach coursework with a “readiness to learn” tied to their perception of the relevance and applicability of the learning to their professional lives and goals. Innovative approaches like cooperative education programs, stackable credentials, and dynamic learning pathways can help these professionals build resilience and successfully pivot to emerging career fields.
Ways To Implement It
- Flexible assignments: Offer multiple avenues for students to demonstrate concept mastery — presentations, case studies, video-recorded assessments, or creative projects. This acknowledges adult learners’ “self-concept” and empowers them to take responsibility for their learning. Furthermore, Hyde, Busby, and Bonner note that “creating an autonomy-supportive classroom is important and can include providing student-choice within the activities/assignments used…” They explain that when instructors use both low-stakes and high-stakes assignments with student choice, it allows adult learners to focus on the intrinsic motivation of learning and utilizing new tools, rather than solely on achieving a good grade.
- Responsive feedback: Provide regular and substantive feedback to learners and offer more low-stakes assessments that can help build confidence with intention. Providing instant feedback via accessible Learning Management System tools, for example, can promote a culture of “reflective learning” that is especially motivating for adult learners. Indeed, Hyde, Busby, and Bonner note that technology enables a more personalized learning experience where “students can guide their learning process, explore topics at their own pace, and receive immediate, tailored feedback.”
Classroom Practice: Create a Supportive Environment
Why It Matters
Faculty will play a central role in building classrooms that foster a sense of belonging among adult students during this transition. Community colleges saw the largest enrollment increase in the 2023-24 academic year, fueled by the demand for workforce education and the increasing cost of other post-secondary options. As these value-focused students prepare for the careers of the future, vocational and technical programs have an opportunity to lead the way by focusing on this growing demographic.
Ways To Implement It
- Connections to resources: While faculty aren’t counselors, they can serve as connectors to essential support for learners. For instance, recognizing that adult learners may have varying levels of familiarity with new technologies, educators play a key role in creating an “AI-enabling environment.” As Hyde, Busby, and Bonner point out, “Gen-AI is truly a democratized technology,” offering opportunities for “personalized and interactive learning experiences” akin to “having a personal tutor available at all times.” By guiding students to resources that offer training and support in using AI tools, alongside resources like campus learning centers, digital literacy programs, and career services, faculty can ensure all learners have the support they need to succeed.
- Connections beyond the program: Faculty can facilitate informal study groups and encourage leadership, mentorship, and internship opportunities. Such efforts can combat isolation and strengthen collaboration — critical for today’s increasingly hybrid work environments. Indeed, as Alfred Essa argues in his 2024 “Education Sciences” article, the future of lifelong learning may ultimately rest on our ability to construct “collaborative ecosystems where individuals, educators, industries, and AI technologies interact seamlessly.“
Conclusion
As traditional student enrollments gradually decline and AI reshapes the American workplace, preparing individuals with “robot-proof” humanics skills will become a societal imperative. Higher education faculty can be leaders in this transformation. By implementing actionable teaching practices that tap into learners’ experiences, personalize learning, and create a supportive learning environment, educators can contribute to the economic renewal of both the communities they serve and the nation more broadly.
