A Framework of Environmental, Personal, and Behavioral Factors of Adult Learning in Online Communities of Practice

Abstract

Adult learning is a complex phenomenon that takes place over an adult’s lifetime and is not limited to a particular age. It includes a set of activities to enhance life through improving skills, knowledge and capabilities. The foundational theories of adult learning, such as andragogy theory, place the individual adult centre stage and differentiate adult learning from formal learning. They also shift the focus from the individuals to the environment in which adult learning takes place. In line with this movement, online communities of practice (OCOPs) have evolved from being considered as online environments for learning to specialised forums that allow practitioners to collaborate around a project of mutual interest. The principles of adult learning are directly applicable to engagement in OCOPs because they include practical methods founded on the belief that adults are self-directed, autonomous learners and that learning is most effective when the environment plays the role of a facilitator, rather than being just a supportive and traditional setting for learning. However, how individual adults engage in OCOPs and benefit from them is not well understood. This paper draws on social cognitive theory to examine: how environmental, personal and behavioural factors shape engagement in OCOPs. To answer this question, twenty-one interviews were conducted with members of GitHub, a large online community of practice for IT professionals. The findings revealed that adults’ engagement in OCOPs involves project-based activities on mutual interests and willingness to help others. The findings also show that engaging in online communities does not only satisfy intrinsic, well-defined, expected outcomes and shape adults’ engagement, but also has an impact on adults’ lifelong learning achievements, such as professional experience and credit recognition. Based on these findings, a revised framework for adults’ engagement in OCOPs is presented and discussed.

Building Sustainable Virtual Communities of Practice: A Study of the Antecedents of Intention to Continue Participating

“…Moreover, the hypothesized positive effect of personal factors-self-efficacy and individual benefits-on continuance intention in VCoPs is supported. This finding is in line with most of the empirical studies developed in this area (e.g., [31,33,57]). Feeling able to use the technology successfully to achieve goals and obtain individual rewards leads to overall personal improvement from participating in the VCoP, thus encouraging members' continued participation in the community and potentially increasing their wellbeing due to personal fulfilment, both from perceived competence and objective gains.…”

“…Additionally, prior research reported that identification has a positive effect on the quality and quantity of the knowledge contributed and permanence in VCs [29,71]. Thus, previous studies within the literature have shown the importance of fulfilling this social need as a means of nurturing members' participation [57]. We argue that reciprocity and identification are motivational factors that will affect the intention to continue in VCoPs.…”

“…It is a self-evaluation based on the perception of one's own skills in order to share knowledge and, consequently, cooperate and achieve greater goals [54,55]. Prior research has mainly analyzed self-efficacy in face-to-face environments [56], and it has also been considered a key factor in online communities [57,58]. Thus, participants who perceive themselves to have a high probability of accomplishing their goals will cooperate more in VCoPs.…”

“…Another key motivational factor in fostering the intention to continue is identification with the community [57,68]. Identification is defined as individual recognition and feelings of belonging to a particular VC.…”

From growth and fixed creative mindsets to creative thinking: an investigation of the mediating role of creativity motivation

“…According to social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1977(Bandura, , 2023, learning occurs in a social context with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the person, environment, and behavior. Linking to implicit theories, the theory suggests that people's inner beliefs about abilities are learned from the interaction of person, environment, and behaviors (Abedini et al, 2023). It further highlights that people's inner beliefs function as general principles for directing and influencing intentional behaviors, and people accept their inner beliefs as true regardless of evidentiary support, which impacts their motivational tendencies and, subsequently, outcome behaviors (Rad et al, 2023;Hamann et al, 2024).…”