Incidental Learning by Adults in a Nontraditional Degree Program: a Case Study

Presented at the Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, Columbus, Ohio , October 13-15, 1993.

Craig A. Mealman

The study sought to address two questions: (1) What was the nature of student's incidental learning? (2) What role did incidental learning play in students' experience in the nontraditional adult degree program? Using a naturalistic research design, the researcher attempted to understand the phenomena from the student's perspective. One important finding was that students did not make distinctions between incidental and intentional or formal learning. Secondly, incidental and intentional learning played equally important roles in their overall experience. The program design seemed to foster a great deal of incidental learning by including instructional and learning activities such as small-group interaction in class, course assignments which had a degree of flexibility, listening to stories related by peers, applying learning in work and personal contexts, instructor facilitated large group discussions, and applied research assignments. Incidental learning outcomes were placed into 13 categories. Facilitators and program developers need to consider the ramifications of applying certain adult education principles. One area which deserves attention is the assessment of learning, since incidental learning is rarely assessed and included in the evaluation of students' overall learning.

Introduction

As a facilitator in an adult degree program, this researcher observed students learning things which were not necessarily part of the planned curriculum. Many of these learning outcomes seemed to be significant to students and usually evoked a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. As a result of repeated observations such as this, the researcher decided to reflect upon his own learning in formal contexts; the researcher concluded that, indeed, he too had often learned many things of great value in addition to the stated course objectives. Out of both personal and professional experience came a passionate desire to pursue further research and investigate this phenomenon. This paper provides additional rationale to pursue the inquiry from the literature, definitions of incidental learning, a description of the research methods employed, significant findings and interpretation of the results, implications or applications for adult educators, and recommendations.

Background Literature

Several adult educators have addressed incidental learning in the literature, but only three related research studies had been completed at the time of this inquiry. The researcher could not locate any research on incidental learning in nontraditional adult degree programs; for that matter, not much was uncovered on the formal learning within adult degree programs.

Brookfield (1986) shed some light on this subject by stating, "the attainment of previously established objectives is the primary criterion for judging the program's worth. Therefore, unplanned, serendipitous learning outcomes are relegated to secondary importance" (p. 217). However, Jones (1982) suggested that the unintended consequences of a learning situation are often more important to the learner than the original objectives which receive primary attention. Lastly, Apps (1978) captured many ideas which were at the heart of this research:

Often overlooked is the learning that is not planned, which we call incidental learning. All of us can recall learning many useful things in our various jobs without intending to do so. It is impossible to live a day without learning something. Incidental learning usually occurs when we are involved in planned learning. We learn things in addition to what has been planned. Unfortunately our society has not recognized the importance of incidental learning; in fact it has either ignored it, on the one hand, or totally discounted it, on the other. Many persons are of the attitude that unless learning is planned, that is you set out to learn some specific thing, you really haven't learned anything. And even worse, many persons believe that unless learning opportunities are offered by some institution, the learning somehow either is of lower quality or maybe is not learning at all (p. 3).

Definition

A few writers offered definitions which contributed to this researcher's definition of incidental learning. Studying incidental learning within the workplace, Marsick and Watkins (1986) stated:

It occurs as a natural offshoot of engaging in professional work when individuals learn to reflect on their experience, design personal learning experiments and engage in self-directed learning projects.... Incidental learning is defined as a spontaneous action or transaction, the intention of which is task accomplishment, but which serendipitously increases particular knowledge, skill, or understanding. Incidental learning, then, includes such things as learning from mistakes, learning by doing, learning through networking, learning from a series of interpersonal experiments (p.187).

Fodor (1983) offered these definitions: "a natural and individual response to the learning experience as a whole; learning not intended as part of a course" (p. 4); learning that "included skills, attitudes, and information which the participants did not intend to acquire from the course, but nevertheless did learn" (p. 10). For the purpose of the study reported in this paper, the researcher defined incidental learning as planned, unplanned and unanticipated learning outcomes not identified as part of the formal curriculum that students obtain while participating in the program.

Research Focus

Two general and seven specific questions (which are discussed under findings) guided this inquiry and served as the primary focus: What is the nature of the incidental learning experienced by students pursuing the bachelor's degree in a nontraditional degree program? And what role did incidental learning play in the students' experience in the program?

Research Design and Methods

One primary objective of this study was to understand a phenomenon from the perspective of the student. Merriam and Simpson (1984) stated that "ethnographic techniques are the methods researchers use to uncover the social order and meaning a setting or situation has for the people actually participating in it" (p. 91). Characteristics of this form of research are the development of hypotheses and theory, fieldwork as the primary means of data collection, and utilizing the investigator as the primary instrument for both data collection and analysis (Merriam and Simpson, 1984). The researcher used many of the procedures described by Lincoln and Guba (1985), especially those found in chapters 9 and 11 of their book, Naturalistic Inquiry..

A case study approach was used to study a cohort of 19 adult students enrolled in an undergraduate degree completion program with a major in Management. One mode of triangulation, different methods, was employed which included:

interviewing 15 of the 19 students,
analyzing students' learning journal entries, and
participant/observation of about six months of four hour class sessions which included five courses.

Research data collection and analysis occurred on an on-going basis during three phases of study: (1) Orientation and Overview, (2) Focused Exploration, (3) Member Check. Trustworthiness was established by carrying out the following processes: Prolonged Engagement; Triangulation; Negative Case Analysis; Referential Adequacy Materials; Member Checks; Thick Description; Audit Trail; Peer Debriefing; Reflexive Journal.

Contextual Variables

Institution

The study was conducted in a private, Type IIA, institution that primarily serves adult students in a major metropolitan area. The Bachelor's Degree Program was 12 years old and was developed especially for the working adult student. This particular adult degree program was called a "degree completion program", one of 65 similar programs at private colleges in the United States. The results would be of particular interest to institutions which have similarly designed offerings as well as to personnel associated with other adult degree programs.

Program

Eleven courses and a research project, totalling 48 quarter hours were offered sequentially in the Management concentration. Clusters of students enroll and take the entire sequence of courses together. Clusters can meet either at regular campus sites or at extension locations. About 90% of the students are employed full time; the mean age is about 37 with 60% women.

Research Group Characteristics

Of the 19 students, 11 were men and 8 were women who ranged in age from early twenties to early fifties. All were white, and all but two held full time jobs. The nature of their jobs probably influence certain learning outcomes and therefore the general job areas are listed next: a manager in a computer programming consulting firm, a manager in a retail store, an employee in sales support, an insurance broker, a manager in customer service, an investment analyst, an engineer, a person who had extensive administrative experience who was involved in career transition, a national sales manager, a purchasing manager, an employee in customer service, a financial applications programmer, a home rehabilitation specialist, an employee involved in distribution of retail products to a sales force, a manager in sales support, a sales account representative, a floor manager in the securities exchange, an employee in sales administration and a line employee in career transition to sales or marketing.

Significant Findings and Interpretations of Results

The researcher determined that the dichotomy between incidental learning and intentional or formal learning cannot be maintained for adult students enrolled in this cluster group. Students did not make distinctions which would support the categorizing of learning outcomes into incidental and formal or planned by the institution or instructor. Students did not perceive incidental learning as not part of the curriculum. From students' perspectives a rope more accurately represents their learning. The strands comprising the rope (experience in the program, formal learning, incidental learning, previous learning, personal life, and current work experience) were tightly woven, being integrated and interacting with each other.

Categories of Incidental Learning

Based on the analysis of data from the student interviews, participant/observations, and the learning journals the researcher constructed the following categories of incidental learning outcomes: fit with life patterns; feelings evoked by participation in the program; interaction and relationships with classmates; interaction and relationships with the instructors; specific learning outcomes associated with three courses; Writing skills, small-group experience, self-confidence; library research skills, continuing education aspirations; learning how to learn; experiential learning; and idiosyncratic outcomes.

Discussion of Research Questions

Research Question 1states: What are the incidental learning outcomes for the student?.

Students gained competence with regard to learning-how-to-learn. The following were illustrations of learning-how-to-learn skill and knowledge which emerged from the results.
- a. Participants reported increased abilities to learn from each other, from the instructor and from other resource people. Students developed strategies to learn from varied instructional activities such as small group discussions, student presentations, structured group activities and instructor facilitated discussions.
- b. Students figured out how to fit this form of education into their life patterns.
- c. Students developed more understanding about how they learn and became more open to opportunities for learning.
Students learned about each others' organizations: what jobs others held, the kinds of problems experienced at their peers' organizations and the ways peers handled those problems, and the product or service provided by peers' organizations. Participants learned from peers' stories that were about specific work situations.
Students increased self-knowledge in areas such as self-awareness and better time management.
Students came to value life-long learning. For example, they have increased desire to read a variety of material; they are more likely to use research skills in future decision making situations; and they have goals to take additional courses, some of which lead to advanced degrees.
Students polished such life skills as writing, presenting oneself or one's ideas, and relating to others.
Students reported developing self-confidence.
Students reported learning certain content which was more specific to the courses. For example, they learned many details about each other's organizations in the "Organizational Analysis" course.
Students discussed their feelings associated with being involved in the program. The affective nature of learning was displayed, and it was apparent that feelings were an important part of their learning. One quotation from the interviews gives one a sense of this.
Jean said, "I just like it. I almost look forward to going on Tuesdays.... You're afraid to make mistakes, to be wrong. I have a fear, a respect for teachers. I have a warm, familiar feelings getting along with the younger kids. I can relate to her excitement about everything (speaking of the character Rita in the film Educating Rita).... I've spent so much time worrying about my research project.... (speaking of making a presentation in class), because you're so nervous thinking when I get up there.... I feel better when we are discussing (in class and in small groups).... It's very intensified learning and you almost want to say I go every day of the week and every night. I have pride in my school.
Students demonstrated that they understood many of the learning processes (and their involvement in those processes) associated with experiential education and experiential learning.
Students pursued idiosyncratic topics, and students expanded on curriculum in idiosyncratic ways.

Research Question 2states: What forms or types of activities stimulate or are associated with incidental learning?

It seemed that small-group activities provided especially rich opportunities for incidental learning. Students reported that they felt free to pursue discussions which were relevant to them but not necessarily about the task which had been assigned by the instructor.
It also appeared that facilitator-led discussions, where individual examples were encouraged to be shared with the class, increased incidental learning possibilities.
Another variable which seemed to foster incidental learning was the climate that the facilitator developed. She encouraged students to bring in relevant printed material to share with classmates.
The research project which required extensive library/research work seemed to be related to students' becoming aware of interesting incidental material that they planned to pursue later.
The development of learning-how-to-learn skills and knowledge was fostered by the significant degree of responsibility placed with the students for their own learning.
Finally, the structure of the program which allowed students to individualize class assignments (with instructor guidance) and apply them to their personal and professional lives seemed to provide students with opportunities for incidental learning.

Research Question 3States: What role do peers play in incidental learning?

It seemed that interaction with fellow classmates greatly influenced incidental learning. For example, participants often discussed how listening to each others' stories about life and work situations had been an important part of their own learning.

Research Question 4States: What is the relative importance of incidentally learned material for the student?.

Since students had difficulty separating the formal from the incidentally learned material, it was difficult to fully address this question. However, most students referred to one important aspect of the program (if not the most important thing) was the experience of other students and what they learned from their peers..

Research Question 5 States: In what ways do the instructor's expectations and behavior impact incidental learning?.

It seemed that the instructor's valuing of incidental learning was related to the amount of it experienced by her students. For example, the extent to which the instructor was flexible with course assignments which allowed students to pursue questions and inquiry which captured their attention may have fostered or at least not discouraged incidental learning. Also, the instructional activities that the facilitator selected to use, and the execution of those, seemed to impact incidental learning possibilities. And how much the instructor deviated from the stated objectives or curriculum was related to the amount of incidental learning experienced by students..

Research Question 6 States: How does the course content influence the type of incidental learning?.

There was some evidence that course content did influence certain type of incidental learning experienced by students. It was likely that students' would experience course specific incidental learning, that certain outcomes were more likely to occur as a result of being in one course rather than another..

Research Question 7 States: What are the barriers to incidental learning?.

One barrier was the amount of time available for students to do the required assignments. Students had very limited time for class-related activities. They tended to focus on the course assignments, and they reported consciously trying not to get off on tangents or sidetracked. Another barrier to learning incidentally during small groups could be the extent to which members of those groups influenced the group to either focus or not focus on the particular task assigned to the extent of cutting off, perhaps potentially fruitful but nonetheless, seemingly irrelevant comments from peers..

Conclusion

Implications

Program Development and Assessment

It seems that the early program designers, who conceived of this form of adult degree completion program, unintentionally developed a program which encourages a great deal of incidental learning, or that they intentionally included features which would have fostered incidental learning and have that material seem as though it were an integral part of the formal curriculum. At least program developers or faculty who are creating curriculums may want to consider the impact that certain learning activities and climate, or learning culture, have on the varied kinds of learning that is generally realized by students. There seem to be implications for assessment of learning. Are only the formal, traditional objectives measured for level of attainment or is the curriculum expanded to include what this research has categorized as incidental? Measurement of learning outcomes may be more complex if one develops strategies to measure the full range of what students typically learn including incidental learning, especially if those outcomes comprise a significant portion of all learning in those courses..

There probably is a relationship between the course content or program purpose, or type of adult education program that would account for differences in those expected learning outcomes or expected deviations from the planned objectives. Program planners could assess the extent which incidental learning is desirable within an educational format. Adult students will, no doubt, continue to learn material which is incidental, but course structure could produce barriers which may limit certain types of incidental learning. It seems to this author that as more educators employ the variety of "adult education practices" the likelihood of significant incidental learning occurring is great. Therefore, it is advised, so as to not frustrate students with inconsistent messages, that educators carefully consider the consequences of certain program features.

Facilitating or Teaching

Brookfield (1986) stated:.

Arguably, the most exciting, memorable, and profound moments in learning are those in which individuals stumble into insights and perceptions of which they had previously been aware. Such moments can rarely be planned beforehand in precise terms, though the facilitator can encourage a learning group culture that will make the likelihood of such moments occurring much stronger. (p. 220)

To what extent do facilitators of adult learning, as recommended by Brookfield, seek to develop or foster a climate or culture where incidental learning is likely to occur? He argues, and this author concurs, that both adult educators and adult learners should not perceive incidental learning as less valid than previously specified learning outcomes. A result, Brookfield stated, is that such dismissal, "may block off fruitful avenues of intellectual exploration and act against participants making meaningful connections between learning activities and their own experience" (p. 220). Another noted adult educator, Knowles (1980) (employing the use to learning contracts) encouraged ongoing negotiation with students about learning objectives, in part as a result of unanticipated learning outcomes, strategies or resources which might become known during the course of study. Other adult education leaders advocate for the use of certain practices with adult learners. This author raises one concern. Certain practices have merit and are attractive; however, one needs to understand the practice from the student's frame of reference..

This researcher suggests (in fairness to the participants) that the educator needs to be prepared to address, during the introduction/orientation, assessment and evaluation phases of formal learning, the full ramifications of establishing a climate conducive to incidental learning. Would it seem fair to assess and evaluate only the pre-determined objectives, for instance? If, as Jarvis (1987) suggested, certain incidental learning outcomes may remain unknown or at the pre-conscious level, what responsibility does an adult educator have in helping to bring those learning outcomes into a conscious level (perhaps through critical reflection and other strategies). Therefore, students could critically analyze that material and could articulate it for the purpose of both self and instructor assessment and evaluation?

Research Questions Generated

Does the ability to learn from others impact the quality of a learning experience for students enrolled in this type of adult degree program?
Do the variables which influence incidental learning vary in different types of nontraditional adult degree program?
What is the relationship between incidental learning and experiential learning?
There appears to be a strong relationship between the cluster group phenomenon and individual and group learning. What are the most critical variables associated with this phenomenon?
Do individual learning styles influence the type and amount of incidental learning that occurs as a result of participating in certain educational activities?
What is the nature of facilitator's incidental learning in adult degree programs?

References

Apps, J. W. (1978). Study Skills for Those Adults Returning to School. New York: McGraw Hill..

Brookfield, S. D. (1986). Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass..

Fodor, J. H. (1983). Incidental Learning in the Intentional and Structured Learning Experiences of Adult Students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb..

Jarvis, P. (1987). Adult Learning in the Social Context. London: Croom Helm..

Jones, R. K. (1982). The dilemma of educational objectives in higher and adult education: Do we need them? Adult Education (U.S.A.), 32(3), 165-169..

Knowles, M. S. (1980). The Modern Practice of Adult Education. New York: Cambridge University Press..

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. D. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage..

Marsick, V. J., & Watkins, K. (1986). Approaches to studying, learning in the workplace. In V. J. Marsick (Ed.), Learning in the Workplace (pp. 171-198). London: Croom Helm..

Merriam, S. B., & Simpson, E. L. (1984). A Guide to Research for Educators and Trainers of Adults. Malabar, FL.: Robert E. Krieger..

Acknowledgements: I am grateful to the students and instructor who participated in this study, since their involvement and cooperation were critical. The members of my dissertation committee, Chairperson Robert M. Smith, and Professors, Rhonda Rhobinson, and Edwin Simpson provided insightful critiques and encouragement. Dr. Steven Andes served well as the peer reviewer, an important resource person. Linda, my wife, for her support and the transcription of interview tapes.