Collaborative adult learning principles in baccalaureate community health education curricula

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if adult learning principles congruent with the collaborative teaching-learning mode were incorporated in baccalaureate community health education curricula and to determine if students demonstrated differential ability to apply the principles. The collaborative mode is the approach considered most effective for teaching adults, the largest consumers of community health education. The sample, 353 students pursuing baccalaureate degrees in community health education, were enrolled in 46 programs from which 96 community health education faculty completed curriculum questionnaires. These questionnaires were designed to collect data about curricula preparing students as entry-level health educators in community settings. Seventy-eight percent of the students were between 19 and 25 years of age; the remaining 22% were 26 to [greater than or equal to] 45 years old. Eighty percent of the students were female and 20% male. The data obtained from the curriculum questionnaires were analyzed using a one way chi-square. The obtained chi-square (df, 5, p = .05) values were significant for each of the 35 items in the curriculum questionnaire. The Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) was used to assess the degree to which the students demonstrated ability to apply the specified adult learning principles. The total PALS score can be fractionated into seven factors. The eight PALS scores were the criterion variables in the study. Correlations among the variables were obtained. The correlation coefficients ranged from 0.00 to .74. A correlation of r [greater than or equal to] .113 or higher was needed for significance at the .05 level. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was employed to test the hypothesis of no significant difference between three groups. The Wilks' Lambda Criterion F (14,688) = 1.78, p = 0.0377 was used to judge the results of the MANOVA tests, and the F approximation was significant. Follow-up simultaneous confidence intervals did not differ at the.05 level with respect to the independent variable. The following conclusions were reached: 1. The baccalaureate community health education curricula were divergent. 2. Faculty judgements about adult learning principles were not corroborated by students' ability to apply principles congruent with the collaborative mode. 3. The three groups of students were different with respect to their ability to apply collaborative adult learning principles. 4. The eight scores from PALS are essentially independent of one another.