Adult Training Characteristics

Adult learner characteristics:

Decide for themselves what is important to be learned.Expect what they are learning to be immediately useful.Have substantial experience upon which to draw.Need to validate the information based on their beliefs and values.Share as a valuable knowledge resource for the trainer and fellow learners.

Adults have "wants" in the following four areas:

To gain something To be something To do something To save something📷

Trainer Tips:

As they mature, adults tend to prefer self-direction.The role of the instructor is to engage in a process of inquiry, analysis, and decision -making with adult learners, rather than to transmit knowledge.Adults are aware of specific learning needs generated by real-life events such as marriage, divorce, parenting, taking a new job, losing a job, and so on.Adult learners' needs and interests are the starting points and serve as guideposts for training activities.Adults want to learn a skill or acquire knowledge that they can apply pragmatically to their immediate circumstances.Adults' experiences are a rich resource for learning.Active participation in planned experiences - such as discussions or problem-solving exercises, and analysis of those experiences, and their application to work or life situations should be utilized.Adults learn and retain information more easily if they can relate it to their reservoir of past experiences.

LEARN

Leadership - The learners are encouraged to use their own leadership, judgment, and decision-making capabilities.

Experience - Everyone comes to the learning situation with a lifetime of experience, regardless of age.

Appeal - What's in it for me? Why do I need this information? How will I benefit from it?

Respect - Show respect for individuality and experience, be sensitive to the language used, be open to different perspectives, adopt a caring attitude, treat as individuals. Establish a climate of mutual respect, collaboration, support, mutual trust and fun.

Novel Styles - Adult learners respond better when new material is presented through a variety of instructional methods, appealing to their different learning preferences.

Never stop learning.....

Credit: NVAA The Ultimate Educator Chapter 3