Author: David Meier
University of Zurich

Edition: Volume 60, Number 2, July 2020

Introduction: It is during their late teens and early twenties that most students attend a university or other institution of higher education. Biologically, these students are adults. However, studies show that there is a delay in maturing. Arnett (2000) introduced the term “emerging adulthood” in reference to the stage of life between adolescence and adulthood. Adolescent behaviour can be observed well into the twenties, as confirmed by this study. In total, 118 participants, aged 21 to 65, from a statistics course were asked about their need for adult learning methods. The results show that there is a strong positive correlation between age and the need for methods of adult education, and that students younger than 28 are not necessarily ready for adult education.

Keywords: emerging adulthood, teaching, adult education, andragogy

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