SETTING & LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Dan embarked on his new learning adventure in our small kitchen. The kitchen has one counter top, a sink, a stove, and an oven. He spent ten minutes cleaning the counter, putting away dishes on the drying rack, and ensuring he had enough room to work. He left the row of jars on the counter, and he placed his computer against the backsplash so that he would have easy access to the recipe and his sources. Every light in the kitchen was turned on--the overhead light, the light above the stove, and a lamp in the den, which runs adjacent to the kitchen. And, the afternoon sun shone through the south-facing kitchen window. He turned on the television in the den, as it was “football Sunday,” and he muted the game. From the counter in the kitchen, he had a full view of the television screen. His final preparation included placing the electric mixer on the counter, a mixing bowl, and the ingredients and measuring cups. The voices of the children rang loudly from the nearby living room, and he began with a “OK, here I go” to himself. 

Dan described his goals in two parts: 1) learn a new lifelong cooking skill 2) have others enjoy a final product together. He allotted 4-5 hours for the experience, knowing that he might need to start over if the initial rise didn’t work. Dan didn’t interact with anyone except for taking a phone call during the bread-baking process. He had instructed the kids to stay out of the kitchen, and he liked having the space to himself “to focus,” he said (D. Tress, personal communication, Nov. 14, 2021). The whole process was informal, but he came prepared with step-by-step instructions from a baking blog and two videos cued up in tabs in case he needed them. Throughout the process, he was deliberate--deliberate with where he put ingredients, when he checked the recipe, and how he used his tools. As Jarvis (2010) states, “Some learners may actively initiate their experiences and seek out information; these are self-directed learners” (p. 91)--this is Dan. Dan utilized many adult learning strategies, but constructivism was at the heart of his learning experience: he “has control” (Mahler 2012).