Beyond Cognitive Load: The Emotional Labor of Adult Online Learners

Why Understanding Our Students’ Real Lives Must Shape How We Teach at Sam Houston State University 

Most conversations about online learning focus on design, technology, assessment, and academic rigor. All are important. But there is a crucial dimension we often overlook: the emotional labor adult learners must carry just to show up, engage, and finish what they start. 

At SHSU, this emotional load is not a fringe issue; it is the dominant learning condition for most online students. Many of us entered teaching with a mental picture shaped by our own college years or by the traditional residential student experience. While that is an understandable reference point, it is often misleading.  

In the online environment—especially at SHSU—student lives often look quite different. When we interpret quiet discussion boards, late assignments, or sporadic engagement through the lens of the traditional college model, it is easy to assume these behaviors reflect low motivation. In reality, they often reflect the complex life circumstances that adult learners are navigating behind the scenes. 

Recognizing this difference is more than a courtesy—it is essential for supporting persistence. When our assumptions match the actual learner profile, our teaching strategies and support structures become more effective, equitable, and attuned to student success. 

The Reality: Adult Learners Are the Majority 

The typical online student at SHSU is not a traditional, full-time undergraduate. They are balancing learning with the realities of adulthood: work schedules, childcare, commutes, financial obligations, family responsibilities, and sometimes elder care. Many are returning to higher education after years in the workforce, determined to finish a degree that will advance their careers or support their families. 
 
Their learning happens in the margins of their lives, not at the center. Coursework happens after bedtime routines, during lunch breaks, or squeezed between shift changes. For many, this degree is not just an academic exercise; it is a lifeline to opportunity and stability. 

Our students are: 

• 27 years old on average at the undergraduate level. 
• 35 years old on average in graduate programs. 
• Employed: Over 90% work in full- or part-time roles. 
• Caregivers: About 80% have children under 18 at home. 
• Stretched: Managing households, commutes, marriages, aging parents, and financial pressures. 
• Trailblazers: Often the first in their families to complete a degree. 

Most of our online students are pursuing a degree on top of having a full life, not instead of it. By comparison, traditional students are usually around 20, living in dorms, and able to center their days on academics without the heavy responsibilities adult learners often carry. 

When we unconsciously structure courses around the bandwidth of a traditional 20-year-old, we create timelines that do not align with the lived realities of our students. Adult learners are not disengaged; they are often exhausted. Recognizing their emotional labor does not mean lowering rigor – it means raising awareness. 

The Hidden Emotional Labor Behind Every Online Course 

While “cognitive load” is a familiar concept in online teaching, the experience of our adult learners involves an additional layer: the emotional labor required to simply participate. This work is often invisible to faculty, yet it profoundly shapes how students show up and whether they stay enrolled. 

For many, enrolling in a course requires an emotional commitment made alongside demanding jobs and financial pressure. What may seem like small barriers in a course can feel heavy to someone whose margin for error is already thin. 

Understanding this emotional layer means recognizing the conditions under which adult learners are trying to succeed.  

What Adult Learners Carry into the Online Classroom 

• The Pressure of Competing Roles: Adult learners juggle multiple identities: parent, employee, partner, caregiver, and student. Every assignment requires negotiating time and energy. Completing schoolwork often means stepping away from children, delaying household responsibilities, or relying on family members to pick up the slack. 

• Tech Hiccups that Feel Personal: A broken link, unclear instructions, or an unexpected learning management system (LMS) issue is rarely just a minor inconvenience. For adults, it can be the thing that breaks an already fragile week. Immediate help protects both momentum and morale, which is why SHSU Online maintains 24/7 technical support. 

• Self-Regulation as a Second Job: Time management, planning, and self-direction are executive functions layered on top of real life. While we often expect students to possess these skills naturally, they are rarely taught explicitly. Adult learners must constantly regulate frustration and interpret expectations without the benefit of a physical classroom. 

• The Fear of Failure that Hits Harder: Many adult learners return to education battling internal narratives: “I’m not a school person,” or “I’m too old for this.” Submitting an assignment or posting a video introduction requires an emotional risk that traditional students simply do not encounter in the same way. 

Why This Matters  

Understanding emotional labor changes how we design, teach, and support. When we recognize what adult learners carry, our courses naturally become more humane—not easier, but more attuned to real-life constraints. Clear instructions, predictable weekly rhythms, and affirming communication help reduce the emotional overhead students experience. 

This understanding also helps faculty interpret student behavior more accurately. A missed deadline is not necessarily a lack of effort. A brief discussion post does not automatically signal disengagement. When we pause to consider the story underneath the behavior, we gain a clearer sense of how to support learning. 

The Call to Action: Small Shifts with Big Impact 

What can we do to design courses that are more attuned to the needs of SHSU students? I propose five micro-adjustments that support clarity and compassion without sacrificing rigor: 

1. Front-load clarity: Provide weekly overviews, model examples, and transparent grading criteria. Clarity reduces anxiety and helps overwhelmed adults stay oriented. 
2. Offer predictable routines: Adult learners thrive when they can plan around consistent deadlines and stable course rhythms. For the adult learner, predictability is a retention strategy. 
3. Humanize early and often: A short welcome video or an empathetic check-in message goes a long way. Students engage more when they feel seen. 
4. Use flexible yet firm policies: Flexibility acknowledges humanity; firmness maintains expectations. Balance comes from offering options without erasing accountability.  
5. Design for cognitive + emotional load: Ask yourself, “How can my course reduce avoidable friction?” This is not lowering standards – it is removing unnecessary obstacles. 

Conclusion 

Adult online learners are not an “edge case” at SHSU—they are the norm. By teaching and leading with a clear understanding of who our learners are and what they carry into the virtual classroom, we position ourselves—and them—for greater success. The more attuned we are to the invisible work students do every day, the more effective and supportive our online learning ecosystem becomes.