Date: March 26th, 2025
Authors: Kirsten Whalley, Majd Madi, Kshitiz & Shubin Wang
We are reviewing Pod 10’s resource on Adulting 101
Overview
The interactive learning resource ‘Adulting 101’ is designed for learners 18–27 and focuses on helping them understand and manage academic, financial, and social pressures that often come with early adulthood. The lesson is organized into three clear modules that each address an important part of this transition. Module 1 focuses on personal health and self-care; Module 2 looks at key aspects of psychological growth and maturity; and Module 3 explores the financial responsibilities and burdens of adulthood. Together, these modules create a practical and relevant structure that connects well to the real-life experiences of the intended audience. The structure of this resource breaks down three of the most challenging aspects of ‘adulting’ and guides learners to work through each of them. Each step provides comprehensive assessment tools that follow very closely their appropriate learning objectives, letting learners apply what they have learned and reflect on how they might apply them to their lives.
Strengths
Our peers who made this resource were thoughtful with regard to Brightspace and H5P digital quizzing tools. Which allows for instructors to analyze the performance of students who are engaged with the learning resource. Our group had also chosen to use H5P after some consideration. At first we discussed using a platform called Genially, which has interactive quizzes. However, after further testing of the platform tools, it was discovered that analytics was not a free service. Instructors would not be able to track the performance of students with such a platform without paying a fee. Therefore, we decided the interactive quizzes and activities of H5P would be a good fit as well.
Throughout the learning resource, there are many interactive aspects that align very well with the learning objectives. For instance, in the personal health module, having the learners create their own meal plan is an excellent way to get learners to apply what they have learned and to get them to think about their meal choices. Also, the ‘Personal Mental Health Toolkit’ is a fantastic idea and gets learners to evaluate their current strategies and outlets or find new ones. Another strength of this resource is its strong focus on real-world applications, as the activities are practical and can be used in day-to-day life, such as planning a budget and meal plan.
Areas for improvement
The learning resource may want to consider sufficient structure for a third party. A teacher or mentor, a life skills instructor, or a health educator may be key to successfully completing some of the learning objectives. Although the topic addressed by the learning resource could be considered personal, a third party who can be impartial and keep the learner on track is sometimes crucial to education. Therefore, a clear method of understanding how students will be evaluated could be beneficial to this third party.
Even though each module describes assessment tasks like meal plans, budgets, and quizzes. We wonder if there is a unified assessment plan, which would outline the grading criteria, weighting, and how learning objectives are formally measured. It would be very beneficial for the learners and instructors to provide this information transparently and explicitly. Also, we did not see any use of learning theories. Which approach would be followed for these resources? It seems like the approach taken is a mix between cognitivist and constructionist, which will definitely help learners achieve the learning outcomes, but this aspect was not mentioned.
Moreover, further consideration may be needed with respect to financial literacy and personal finances, as something our peers may want to consider. The learning resource does not address how an instructor might affect the privacy concerns of the learner. A boundary should be made clear with regard to the personal finances of the learner and any third party who might be helping the learner. This is to ensure that the sensitive personal and financial information that might directly endanger the learners does not accidentally or maliciously spread. We are also wondering if there will be any other external support resources that will be provided for learners after completing this resource. It might be helpful to provide resources that are targeted towards people that are really struggling with ‘simple’ adulting tasks and who require additional support.
There were some excellent references in the instruction and the rationale behind the project, but there aren’t any citations provided throughout the modules. It seems like the authors of each module really know what they are talking about. Be cautious about making statements that are ‘common knowledge’ that might not be to others, and find references for them to back up claims.
Additionally, this resource could add some real-life examples to help the targeted audience to relate to the content. For the finance module, tax filing might be challenging for some students, especially for those who do not have any prior knowledge of taxes or avoid the taxes and rely on professionals. Since finance is kind of overwhelming or of disinterest for many students, including a simple, step-by-step, friendly guide or videos for them could make this section more engaging. Also, you can add some motivational strategies or resources to support the learners who lack motivation or interest in engaging with the content.
Final thoughts
Overall this is a very strong draft that clearly integrated course concepts, like alignment, learning outcomes and objectives, and learning design. There are some aspects that require more careful consideration, like providing extra and external resources/support, learning theories, and a lack of citations. If these aspects are tightened up, then this will be an excellent learning resource that will be very beneficial to its learners!
Best of luck with the final draft!