Critical Analysis: Millennial Learners & Online Course Achievement

This report critically analyzes a quantitative study examining Millennial-aged learners enrolled in online courses and the correlation between self-directed learning readiness (SDL) and academic achievement. The research, conducted with 118 participants, utilized pre- and post-surveys to measure academic success and SDL readiness. The study highlights the increasing prevalence of online learning in higher education and the importance of learners' readiness in this context. The findings suggest that Millennials may have a predisposition for self-directed learning, supported by their advanced use of digital technology. The report also acknowledges the study's limitations and references relevant literature on online learning, SDL, and the Millennial generation. The study's implications are significant for adult education, suggesting a shift towards more autonomous learning approaches. The report uses three references to support its arguments, and further research is recommended to explore this expanding trend.

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Millennial-aged adults learning online
A quantitative study on 118 Millennial- aged learners who enrolled in the online courses
took part in pre as well as post survey for measuring academic achievement, self-based learning
readiness as well as other factors that are related to such variables. Over last decade, there is
increase in higher education in course offerings and online programs. Administrators’ annual
survey of private, for profit and public institutions revealed percentage of students of higher
education taking minimum one online course was 33.5%. It is seen in the survey that almost 70%
major academic officers have faith that online learning would be part of their strategy. The
external pressures like revenue generation and access for education are driving administrators of
higher education in experimenting with opportunities of online learning (Herchel 2016). In
response for such external forces, online courses are offered by residential institutions to the
residential students as complement for curriculum of face-to-face. As online learning is
incorporated by the institutions into the academic life, administrators and adult educators should
consider the learners’ readiness to be successfully academic in such context.
Self-direction is postulated by theory of self-learning which is intrinsic personality trait as
well as could be cultivated as skill. There is control for self-directed learners of their learning,
along with using ability in motivating and organizing themselves for accomplishing the learning
goals. It is assumed by constructivist theory that learner is aware of personal power and is
autonomous. In context of online learning, self-direction could be essential to success of a
student as online course needs the students to exhibit curiosity, manage deadlines and self-
impose the structure (Everett 2017). It is seen in research that there is relationship among
academic achievement and SDLR. Studies also show that relationship among academic
achievement and SDLR is impacted by pedagogical approach. It is seen is the literature that

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presence of teacher and interaction of student are related with SDLR, perceived learning
academic success in online course. Presence of teacher is defined as communication’s frequency
among the students and the instructor as well as perceived information’s amount among students
and instructor in course. Natural inclination is there for self-direct learning for following lead of
teacher (Cimperman et al. 2018). It is aimed in understanding readiness of specific demographic
as well as factors which influence academic achievement and their readiness in course.
Some information about preparedness of students’ demographic for self-directing their
learning is provided by the findings. There was selection of Self-directed Learning Readiness
Scale (SDLRS) for measuring self-directed learning readiness. This scale is used widely as
quantitative self-directed learning measurement within literature. There is support in this
research for reliability and validity of scale. There was use of total scale for measuring perceived
learning. Perceived learning could be defined as subjective amount to learn self-reports of
student (Woods and Taylor 2019). This study’s implications impact adult education’s field. It is
observed from the findings that students are prepared from the online courses for more
autonomous, different type of learning which is thought to take place into adulthood. However,
several limitations are there for the study. Condensed time period might have intensified or
lessened results.

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References
Cimperman, M.B., Harrison, A., Hatch, J., Pillar, K. and Snipes, T., 2018. Understanding the
Millennial Buying Process in the Modern Digital Era-Primary Research.
Everett, N., 2017. Educators Learn How to Teach the Millennial Generation (Doctoral
dissertation, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona).
Herchel, S.J., 2016. Millennial-aged adults learning online: Factors impacting academic success.
Woods, A.D. and Taylor, M., 2019. Social Media Usage by Millennial College Students: The
Development of the Digital-Age Student Leader. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal.