The field of police training is undergoing a paradigm shift due to technology, and this study used an andragogical lens to explore various considerations for the implementation of online education (OE) into police training regimens. This comprehensive assessment utilized quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the feasibility of OE for professional development among police officers in Tennessee. The study examined whether the potential performance of police officers in OE is related to various demographic factors and evaluated the perceptions of police regarding online education. Data analyses indicated a statistically significant relationship between potential online learning success and various factors, including formal educational level and previous exposure to OE. The majority of participants in the study said they preferred OE to traditional instruction, felt that OE is an appropriate delivery method for professional development, and believed that the use of OE for delivery of professional development provides increased training opportunities. Keywords Police training . Online educationAmerican policing has evolved from the relatively simplistic guiding philosophy of crime control to the modern perspective of quality-of-life improvement for citizens. This evolution necessitates the development of training regimens reflective of the prevailing societal applications of the profession. In order to meet the public safety demands of contemporary society, police administrators and trainers must develop innovative approaches that prepare and empower law enforcement personnel to keep pace with increasing and evolving operational requirements. Over the last several years, the use of online professional training has expanded to meet the needs of Am J Crim Just (
Within the field of adult education a paradigm shift, or at least a paradigm creep, is taking place as a result of advances in technology. This comprehensive, quasiexperimental study examining the efficacy of online education (OE) for professional development, conducted among American police officers, compares OE to traditional delivery methods, using quantitative methods and open ended questioning to determine whether the potential performance of adult learners in OE is related to various demographic factors, and evaluates the adult learners' perceptions of OE. Data analyses indicate no significant difference between the effectiveness of the delivery methods but they do reveal a statistically significant relationship between potential online learning success and a formal educational level. Although most participants in the study say they prefer traditional instruction, the majority feel that OE is an appropriate delivery method for professional development and that the use of OE for delivery of professional development provides increased training opportunities.
Online education is considered a modern landmark in Self-Directed Learning (SDL), but current trends place that characterization and the effectiveness of the delivery method in jeopardy. U.S. growth trends indicate increasing numbers and percentages of younger students entering virtual classrooms, compounded by wholesale shifts to online delivery in the wake of COVID-19. As the online arena transitions from working adults seeking educational access to entire undergraduate populations, online education appears to be evolving from an alternative delivery method into a ubiquitous form of higher education, thereby losing its identity as SDL and with all the pedagogical consequences such an evolution implies. Amid calls for increased student access and the continuing clamor for accountability, we examine differences in metacognitive awareness and regulation strategies in the multigenerational melting pot that has become undergraduate online education. While our findings indicate that younger students possess lower metacognitive capacity for maximizing online success and lead us to caution against wholesale implementation and its overuse for younger participants, we also offer considerations to help both faculty and institutions leverage the benefits of effective online delivery and encourage them to move beyond the stale methodologies that all too often separate motivated students from truly meaningful education.
The relationship between metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive regulation, depth of studying, and academic success was examined in university undergraduates. Further, age differences in these variables were compared between preadults (up to age 24) and adults (25 and older). Metacognitive regulation was found to be positively correlated with metacognitive knowledge, deep and strategic study habits, but no relationship was found between study habits or metacognition and GPA. Adults scored higher on all metacognitive knowledge subscales and the overall knowledge score, and all but the planning metacognitive regulation subscale. Explanations and application of findings are discussed.
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