Learner Experience Resources

How can we effectively connect with our partners to integrate supportive services for more of our learners? How can we enhance motivation and retention through program supports? Check out these resources for tools and strategies to enhance learners’ experience in an IET.

Resource highlights

Check out our highlighted resources for Learner Experience. Scroll further for additional  resources.

Virginia CareerWorks: Workforce Services

The Referral Portal quickly and easily connects individuals across the Commonwealth of Virginia to critical training, career, and support resources during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. A Help Center and video tutorials guide the user through the site. A free account is required to access resources.

Virginia Wizard: Workforce

Use this resource from the Virginia Community College System to access skill and interest assessments, build a resume and job portfolio, locate training opportunities, build a workforce network, and find career resources in learners’ local areas.

Motivating Adult Learners to Persist

Motivating Adult Learners to Persist is a chapter in the 2012 book Improving Adult Literacy Instruction: Supporting Learning and Motivation. At the request of the U.S. Department of Education, the National Research Council convened a committee of experts from many disciplines to synthesize research on literacy and learning in order to improve instruction for those served in adult education in the U.S.  Improving Adult Literacy Instruction: Supporting Learning and Motivation, which is based on the report, describes principles of effective instruction to guide those who design and administer adult literacy programs and courses.

Additional resources for learner support

Find additional resources on motivation, retention, and supportive services in the links below.

College and Career Navigator Trainer Manual, NCTN

https://www.collegetransition.org/student-supporters/publications/navigator-trainer-manual/ 

This trainer manual was developed by the NCTN for Accelerating Opportunity (AO), a Jobs for the Future initiative. While this ready-to-use manual was developed for AO, it can be readily customized for the emerging cadre of trainers selected to help strengthen the skills of practitioners whose primary function (regardless of job title) includes providing direct students support and guidance, as well as coordinating campus and community support services.

Set and Monitor Goals, TEAL Project

https://lincs.ed.gov/state-resources/federal-initiatives/teal/guide/setgoals 

The primary incentive for learner persistence is the learner’s ability to set a goal and see progress in reaching that goal. According to Comings, Perella, and Soricone (1999), learners who have specific goals in mind are more likely to persist in their studies. Explore this and other resources in the TEAL project for strategies to increase motivation and persistence in writing with adult learners.