This post is provided by guest blogger, Samerah Saad, graduate student University of St. Francis, MS Talent Development program. 

In the article “Effective Design for Adult Learners,” Erich Stiefvater (2025) explores how scaffolding teaching techniques can enhance the educational experience for adult learners. They utilize methods such as modeling and chunking information to aid in the ability to not only require new information but to additionally retain it for long-term use and application. Diversifying the platform to include e-learning provides click-and-reveal and branching to make content more engaging for the learner. Incorporating interactive measures such as reflections and open-ended questions empower learners to remain captivated and enthralled in their learning experience.

Though Stiefvater (2025) provides valuable insight on how to better learner outcomes through intentional instructional design, I’m concerned that this is viewed with rose colored glasses. I commend the intent and theoretical practice behind the plan, but I do not see the data or real-life examples to support the claim holistically. I am missing qualitative examples to demonstrate how these scaffolding techniques will meet or exceed the typical standard set. I would need to explore further to obtain a deeper sense of confidence that the learner is retaining the information being presented to them in practical application.  

Reference: 

Stiefvater, E. (2025, February). Effective design for adult learners. Education Northwest. https://educationnorthwest.org/insights/effective-design-adult-learners?utm_source=chatgpt.comLinks to an external site.