Adult Learners
In my experience, people learn in different ways. How a child processes and learns is different from how adults learn. Adults bring with them years of experiences, expectations, and what motivates them.
Have you ever wondered what motivates adults to learn, how they prefer to learn, as well as how they process information in order to retain the learnings? We need to understand what motivates them, how they prefer to learn, and definitely bridge the gap between what knowledge and skills they bring to the training and the new information and skills they are required to learn.
Why it Matters
In today’s world we need to adapt quickly to the changing times. We may need to learn a skill only to find out that skill has changed, requiring the person to relearn it in a different way. As an instructional designer and trainer, understanding how adults learn will allow us to design training that will create a lasting impact for the learners.
I want to focus on how adult learning theory can help us design more effective and engaging learning experiences in order to achieve the best results for the learners.
Malcolm Knowles and Andragogy
Malcolm Knowles was a key figure in discovering how adults learn differently than children. He didn’t come up with the word andragogy, but he did popularize it. Andragogy was first introduced by Alexander Kapp in 1833. He was a German educator who wrote the book: “Plato’s Educational Ideas.” Andragogy means “man-lead” while pedagogy means “child-lead.” Malcolm Knowles didn’t popularize it in America until the 1960’s.
Six key principles came out of Knowles’ five key ways adults learn best. Knowles identified these key assumptions about adult learners, which later became the six core principles of adult learning theory. This still guides instructional designers today.
The Six Principles of Adult Learning Theory
- Need to know
Adults want training to be relevant to what they “need” to know. They don’t have the luxury of time to spend on “nice to know” information. They are there to learn what is relevant to their personal and/or professional work. Skip the “nice to know” and go straight for the “need to know.”
Personally, I love the “nice to know.” Like the paragraphs here about Malcolm Knowles and the word “andragogy,” I could have spent all the time researching and writing about this aspect of adult learning theory. I’ve had to stop myself many times from going down that rabbit hole and getting stuck in the weeds. I had to remember the concept of “project scope” and stop going into the “creep” part of the projects.
- Self-Directed Learning
Your adult learners come into your classes having had many experiences. They bring with them multiple layers of prior knowledge and life experiences. They want to utilize these experiences while bridging the gap between what they know and connecting with the new information of what they want to know.
It is so important to include the learners in the process of training. Building in discussions and exercises that build on their previous knowledge goes a long way in keeping them engaged.
- Experience as a Resource
This ties into the previous principle. Adults do not like being told what to learn. I know this one intimately. Think of the last class that you attended or trained. What made it successful? What made it a boring, uninteresting, waste of time class? I bet it was the fact that in one class your past experiences were valued and built upon, where the unsuccessful class might have droned on without any thought of including the learners in the process.
The use of activities that let the adult learners share their Insights, reflect, and apply the new skills to real-life situations goes a long way in solidifying the new learnings.
- Readiness to Learn
“Just-in-Time” learning is best for adults. As adults, we are very busy. We don’t have the luxury of spending time on information that is irrelevant to our everyday work or immediate problems that we need to solve. Adults are more than ready to learn when they know “why” they are learning it, and that it is relevant to what they are currently doing.
- Orientation to learning
This also speaks to the “just-in-Time” learning. They want to solve real-life problems. They want the focus of the learning on incorporating the new information and skills to enhance their real-life situations. They don’t want a lot of fluff that they can’t use. This also refers back to that “nice to know” versus “need to know.” Training that focuses on the “need to know” will engage the adult learners much more.
- Motivation
As we move into adulthood, our desire for external motivations decreases. Our desire for internal motivations increases. Adults who have a personal stake in learning the new information and skill will see the benefits of the training more. It is important when designing a course that the benefits of learning the subject is demonstrated throughout.
Adult Learning Theory gives us a framework for helping us develop courses that are “learner-centered” and “experience-driven.” Knowing how adults learn is a good first step. Next, I’d like to focus on Gage’s Nine Events of Instruction.