AB+-+Holton+et+al.+(2009)


 * **Reference: ** || Holton, E., Wilson, L., & Bates, R. A. (2009). Toward development of a generalized instrument to measure andragogy. //Human Resource Development Quarterly, 20//(2), 169-193. doi:10.1002/hrdq.20014 ||
 * **Author's: ** || Holton, E., Wilson, L., & Bates, R. A. ||
 * **Title:** || Toward development of a generalized instrument to measure andragogy. ||
 * **Year:** || 2009 ||
 * **Journal: ** || //Human Resource Development Quarterly // ||
 * **Retrieval Information**: || http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.20014 ||
 * **Bibliography**: ||  ||
 * According to Holton, Wilson, and Bates (2009), andragogical research has little empirical support because there are no adequate instruments with psychometric validity that measure the application of andragogical principles or process design elements. Holton et al. identified that a major criticism of andragogy is that for almost 50 years it has been long on art, and short on science. In an exhaustive literature review of previous attempts by researchers to develop measures related to andragogy, the authors determined that a number of limited surveys existed, but that they did not fully measure many of the principles, and seldom included the process design elements. In a research study designed to validate an instrument to adequately measure the six andragogical principles and the eight process design elements proposed by Knowles (1984), the researchers administered the survey to 404 students enrolled in an MBA program. Holton et al. enumerated the steps they took to build and validate the Andragogical Practices Inventory (API), utilizing factor analysis to group survey items into homogeneous subscales, and ensuring the data was suitable for factor analysis by using Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. To establish scale reliability, the authors employed Cronbach’s alpha. The factor analysis showed that the authors adequately validated the instrument regarding five of six andragogical principles: motivation, experience, need to know, readiness, and self-directedness. The principles of motivation and orientation to learning were inseparable in the factor analysis, and were labeled as motivation in the outcome. Each of the five factors was highly reliable, with the lowest Cronbach’s alpha being .739, and together the factors explained 60.6% of the variance. Of the eight andragogical process design elements, one, mutual planning, could not be measured because of the post-secondary educational setting of the research. Of the other seven, only six were differentiated in the factor analysis: setting of learning objectives, climate setting, evaluation, preparing the learner, designing the learning experience, and learning activities. The final element, diagnosis of learning needs, did not emerge from the data. The authors noted that another element, learning activities, had a Cronbach’s alpha that came close, but did not meet the normally accepted threshold, while the others were highly reliable, while also explaining 63.4% of the variance. ||
 * **Additional References: ** ||  ||
 * * Knowles, M. S. (1984). Andragogy in action: Applying modern principles of adult learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ||
 * **Retrieval Information**: || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.20014 ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">**Bibliography**: ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">According to Holton, Wilson, and Bates (2009), andragogical research has little empirical support because there are no adequate instruments with psychometric validity that measure the application of andragogical principles or process design elements. Holton et al. identified that a major criticism of andragogy is that for almost 50 years it has been long on art, and short on science. In an exhaustive literature review of previous attempts by researchers to develop measures related to andragogy, the authors determined that a number of limited surveys existed, but that they did not fully measure many of the principles, and seldom included the process design elements. In a research study designed to validate an instrument to adequately measure the six andragogical principles and the eight process design elements proposed by Knowles (1984), the researchers administered the survey to 404 students enrolled in an MBA program. Holton et al. enumerated the steps they took to build and validate the Andragogical Practices Inventory (API), utilizing factor analysis to group survey items into homogeneous subscales, and ensuring the data was suitable for factor analysis by using Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. To establish scale reliability, the authors employed Cronbach’s alpha. The factor analysis showed that the authors adequately validated the instrument regarding five of six andragogical principles: motivation, experience, need to know, readiness, and self-directedness. The principles of motivation and orientation to learning were inseparable in the factor analysis, and were labeled as motivation in the outcome. Each of the five factors was highly reliable, with the lowest Cronbach’s alpha being .739, and together the factors explained 60.6% of the variance. Of the eight andragogical process design elements, one, mutual planning, could not be measured because of the post-secondary educational setting of the research. Of the other seven, only six were differentiated in the factor analysis: setting of learning objectives, climate setting, evaluation, preparing the learner, designing the learning experience, and learning activities. The final element, diagnosis of learning needs, did not emerge from the data. The authors noted that another element, learning activities, had a Cronbach’s alpha that came close, but did not meet the normally accepted threshold, while the others were highly reliable, while also explaining 63.4% of the variance. ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Additional References: ** ||  ||
 * * Knowles, M. S. (1984). Andragogy in action: Applying modern principles of adult learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">Additional References: ** ||  ||
 * * Knowles, M. S. (1984). Andragogy in action: Applying modern principles of adult learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ||