1
Adult Learners and Learning
Cate Poole
May 17, 2013
Cate Poole
Senior Instructional Designer
SAI Global
Compliance Americas
2
Adult Learner
Harassment huh?
Well... nobody is
stalking me so I don’t
really need to pay
attention
Does this
apply to my
job?
Why do I need
to learn this? How will this
benefit me?
Characteristics of Adult Learners
• Adults have pre-existing knowledge (and experience) and will try to make connections with
new material—sometimes leading to
misinformation.
Harassment huh? Well... nobody is
stalking me so I don’t really need to pay
attention
3
Characteristics of Adult Learners
• Adult learners are motivated internally and are goal oriented. They want to know why they need
to learn something and how it will benefit them.
Why do I need to learn this?
How will this benefit me?
Characteristics of Adult Learners
• Adult learners seek relevancy in learning. They
need to see the link between what they are
learning and how it will apply to their lives (or jobs).
Does this apply to my
job?
4
Characteristics of Adult Learners: Application
• Why is this course is important and what can you expect to learn?
– Importance to the
company
– Laws or policy could be
violated
– Consequences
Why do I need to learn this?
Characteristics of Adult Learners: Application
• How course will help them
– Recognize situations
– Respond appropriately
– Avoid violations
How will this benefit me?
5
Characteristics of Adult Learners: Application
• How content relates to workplace
– Scenarios
– Simulation
Does this apply to my
job?
Characteristics of Adult Learners: Application
• Adults have pre-existing knowledge and will try
to make connections with new material—sometimes
leading to misinformation.
- Create context
- Give several examples
- Acknowledge common
misconceptions
6
Characteristics of Adult Learners: Application
• And finally...
– Focus on specific behaviors or actions
Adult Learning
The Great Mystery
7
Adult Learning
Learning is about memory.
Memory in
Memory out
Adult Learning: Three Types of Memory
Sensory memory
• The first gatekeeper for everything you sense
and perceive
• Most sensations are ignored (brightness of
lights, temperature)
• If a sensation is unusual or significant it goes
into...
8
Adult Learning: Short Term Memory
What was that
number?
Adult Learning: Short Term Memory Experiment
5621
885634052
885 634 052
123456789
9
Adult Learning: Short Term Memory Application
5621Short and sweet. Training or awareness?
Adult Learning: Short Term Memory Application
885634052Too much information=cognitive overload
10
Adult Learning: Short Term Memory Application
885 634 052Present information in manageable chunks—categorize information for later
retrieval
Adult Learning: Short Term Memory Application
123456789 Provide context and draw upon previous knowledge
11
Adult Learning: Short Term > Long Term Memory
I NEED to
remember this.
Adult Learning: Encoding
Making agreements with
competitors to control
pricing violates
competition laws.
Competitors
Pricing
Things I could
get in trouble
for.
12
Adult Learning: Retrieval
What was that thing
about competitors and
agreements and
pricing?
Competitors
Pricing
Trouble
Adult Learning: Just-in-time Memory
Memory in
Memory out
13
Adult Learning: Context Triggers Long-term Memory
One thing to remember...
14
Thank you.