The design of an online self-study mode based on the analysis of adult learners´ psychological characteristics

In the context of globalization and the emergent “knowledge society,” the concept of building a learning society has been proposed in China and lifelong learning has been adopted as a common educational organizing principle for the 21st century. Adult education, as one form of lifelong learning, is under rapid development. Adult learners are very different from school students in learning styles due to their different psychological states caused by different education backgrounds, living and working experiences. Thus, based on the analysis of adult learners´ unique psychological characteristics, this paper proposes to design an online self-study mode in adult education to serve as a supplement to the traditional teaching mode in order to provide adult learners with more access to study.