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1. Using Adult Learning Principles
Using Adult Learning Principles
Overview
Good training design should incorporate elements, which recognize the special
needs of adult learners.
This module will show you how adult - learning principles will benefit employees in the
performance of their jobs.
It will provide a basis for the design of your instructional material show you how important it is
to provide learning options so that the trainees can choose how they will learn a particular
concept or skill.
Session Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe how following adult learning principles in
developing and conduction training contributes to training effectiveness.
• Define and distinguish between Pedagogy, and Andragogy
• Identify the four laws of learning
• Identify the five characteristics of adult learners
• Distinguish between how we learn and what we remember
• Identify the nine principles of adult learning (RAMP2FAME)
• Identify three broad learning styles of adults
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2. Using Adult Learning Principles
• Identify the different roles that trainers need to play in the learning process to be
effective
• Identify the pitfalls of training adults
• Document a plan of action to use these skills on the job
Definitions
Pedagogy – The art and science of teaching learning
Andragogy - Andragogy is the art and science of helping adults learn (Knowles, 1970)
Critical Elements of Pedagogy and Andragogy
Critical Element Pedagogy Andragogy
Teacher directs what is learned, The learner moves towards
how the subject is taught. The independent self-direction.
teacher encourages and nurtures
Dependent/Independent
this and acts as the sole
arbitrator to see if what was
taught was learned.
People learn what society People learn what they need to
Readiness to Learn expects them to learn know. (Learning around life
(standardized curriculum) application)
A rich resource for learning.
Of little worth. Teaching is
The Learner's Experience Teaching methods include
didactic.
discussion and problem-solving
The learning experience is based
Acquisition of subject matter
on problems since learners are
Orientation to Learning (Curriculum organized by
performance-centered when
subjects)
learning.
Characteristics of Adult Learners
As a person matures:
1. Their self-concept moves from being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-
directing person.
Dirkx and Lavin (1995) suggest that this could also mean that the adult learner will:
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3. Using Adult Learning Principles
(a) tend to be voluntary learners.
(b) believe the decision to return to school is an important one
(c) believe that education will be beneficial.
2. They accumulate a growing reservoir of experience that becomes a foundation and a
resource in their learning.
But it must be noted that adult learners in any learning environment will:
(a) vary widely in age, ability, work experiences, cultural background, and
personal goals;
(b) range in educational backgrounds and
(c) carry well-developed personal identities.
3. Their readiness to learn becomes increasingly oriented to the developmental tasks of their
social roles.
Dirkx and Lavin (1995) suggest that this could also mean that the adult learner will:
(a) tend to be a pragmatic learner
(b) study to improve their performance in other social roles.
(c) let their schoolwork take a back seat to other responsibilities, such as jobs and
families.
(d) expect their class time to be well spent.
(e) hope their courses will help them solve problems in their daily lives.
4. Their time perspective changes, they need to see the immediate application of the
knowledge not a future use or application of the knowledge.
5. Their reason to learn changes from external motivators to internal motivators.
They move from learning about a subject to learning how to learn and solve
problems.
Assumptions about Adult Learning
1. Adults need to know why they need to learn something
2. Adults need to learn experientially
3. Adults approach learning as problem-solving
4. Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value.
5. Adult view learning is an active process in the construction of meaning.
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The Laws of Learning
Effective learning experiences have things in common - whether we are learning to drive a car,
make bread, repair a car or read a simple sentence.
As trainers, one will need to be aware of what these things are and how you can use them to
design successful lessons.
1. The Law of Doing
Students don't learn as the result of what trainers do, but as the result of what trainers get them to
do. This basic principle is equally important for students and trainers to understand. The student
who expects to learn by simply sitting back and listening is likely to be disappointed. The trainer,
on the other hand, who relies solely on the "I'll lecture, you listen" type of teaching is not likely
to see much learning take place.
Why is this? Learning is a change - behavioral change in an individual. Behavioral changes don't
truly become a part of a person until he has reinforced them through use. For example, a student
can memorize the operation of a piece of equipment or a new word for his vocabulary. But he
doesn't actually "learn" those things until he practices operating the equipment or using the new
word. The student, in short, must be involved in the process of learning.
2. The Law of Effect
People tend to accept and repeat responses that are pleasant and satisfying, and to avoid those
that are annoying. If an adult finds that he is learning to read and enjoying the process as well, he
will tend to keep returning to class. In short, "nothing succeeds like success". Students should
experience personal satisfaction from each learning activity and should achieve some success in
each class period.
3. The Law of Exercise
The more often an act is repeated, the more quickly a habit is established. Practice makes perfect
- if the practice is the right kind. Practicing the wrong thing will become a habit too, one which is
hard to break. The tutor should be sure that her students are performing a skill correctly.
4. The Law of Primacy
First impressions are the most lasting. This means that those first lessons are all-important. The
tutor should arouse interest, provide subject matter that meets the student's needs, and help him
to learn it correctly the first time.
How we Learn
Learning Styles can be divided into three broad categories: auditory, visual and kinesthetic.
Characteristics of each are:
Auditory: "I hear" Learn best through hearing, using their ears and voices. These learners
remember what they hear and remember by talking aloud, like to talk through a concept,
enjoy class discussions.
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Visual: "I see" Learn best through seeing. These learners remember seeing things written
down, enjoy pictures of what is described, like written assignment instructions, observe the
physical elements of the teaching situation.
Kinesthetic: "I do" Learn best through doing, touching. These learners enjoy acting out a
situation, making a product or completing a project, remember and understand through doing
something.
We learn: We Remember:
• 1% through taste • 10% of what we read
• 1.5% through touch • 20% of what we hear
• 3.5% through smell • 30% of what we see
• 11% through hearing • 50% of what we see and hear
• 83% through sight • 80% of what we say
• 90% of what we say as we act
I hear and I forget --- I see and I remember --- I do and I understand
Nine Principles of Adult Learning
R Recency
A Appropriateness
M Motivation
P Primacy
2 2 – way communication
F Feedback
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A Active Learning
M Multi-sense learning
E Exercise
1. Recency – Tells us that the things that are learned last are those best remembered by the
participant. That is, it applies to the content at the end of the session and, it applies to the things
that are freshest in the participants’ minds.
Factors to be considered for Recency:
 Keep each session to a relatively short period of time, no longer than twenty
minutes if possible
 If sessions are longer than twenty minutes, recap often. This breaks the larger
sessions into smaller sessions with lots of endings so that you can summarize.
 The end of every session is important. Recap the whole session, highlighting the
key points or key messages.
 Keep the participants fully aware of the direction and progress of their learning
2. Appropriateness - All the training, information, training aids, case studies and other
materials must be appropriate to the participants’ needs.
Factors to be considered for Appropriateness:
 The trainer should clearly identify a need for the participants to be taking part in
the training. With this need identified, the trainer must make sure that everything
connected with the session is appropriate to that need.
 Use descriptions, examples or illustrations that the participants are familiar with.
3. Motivation – Participants must want to learn, they must be ready to learn and there must be
some reason to learn.
Factors to be considered for Motivation:
 The material must be meaningful and worthwhile to the participant, not only to
the trainer.
 Not only must the participants be motivated, so must the trainer. If the trainer
isn’t motivated, learning probably won’t take place.
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 As mentioned under Appropriateness the trainer sometimes needs to identify a
need for the participants to be there. Trainers can usually create motivation by
telling the participants that this session can fill that need.
 Move from known to the unknown. Start the session at a point the participants
are familiar with. Gradually build up and link points together so that everyone
knows where they are expected to go in the learning process.
4. Primacy – The things that participants learn first are usually learnt best so the first
impressions or pieces of information that participants get from the trainer are really important.
For this reason, it’s good practice to include all of the key points at the beginning of the session.
Factors to be considered for Primacy:
 Again keep sessions to a relatively short period of time; twenty minutes is about
right as suggested with the law of Recency.
 The beginning of your session will be important as you know that most of the
participants will be listening; so make it interesting and put lots of important
information into it.
 Keep the participants fully aware of the direction and progress of their learning.
 Ensure that participants get things right the first time you require them to do
something.
5. 2-way Communication – The training process involves communication with the participants,
not at them.
Factors to be considered for 2-way Communication:
 Your body language is also included in 2-way communication: make sure it
matches what you’re saying.
 Your session plan should have interactions with the participants designed into it.
6. Feedback – Informs both the facilitator and the participant need information from each other.
The facilitator needs to know that the participants are following and keeping pace and the
participants need feedback on the standard of their performance.
Factors to be considered for Feedback:
 Trainees should be tested frequently for instructor feedback.
 When trainees are tested they must get feedback on their performance as soon as
possible.
 Testing can also include the trainer asking frequent questions of the group.
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 All feedback doesn’t have to be positive, as some people believe. Positive
feedback is only half of it, and is almost useless without negative feedback.
 When a participant does or says something right, acknowledge it (in front of the
group if possible).
 Prepare your presentations so that there is positive reinforcement built into it at
the very beginning.
 Look for someone doing it right as well as always looking for someone doing it
wrong.
7. Active Learning – Participants learn more when they are actively involved in the process.
Factors to be considered about Action Learning:
 Use practical exercises during the instruction
 Use plenty of questions during the instruction
 A quick quiz may be used to keep the participants active
 If at all possible get the participants to do what they are being instructed in.
 If the participants are kept sitting for long periods without any participation or
questions being asked of them it’s possible for them to nod off or lose interest in
the session.
8. Multiple-sense learning – Learning is far more effective if the participants use more than
one of their five senses.
Factors to be considered about Multiple-sense learning:
 If you tell participants about something, try to show them as well
 Use as many of the participants’ senses as necessary for them to learn, but don’t
get carried away.
 When using Multiple-sense learning make sure that the sense selected can be
used. Ensure that it’s not difficult for the group to hear, see and touch whatever it
is you want them to.
9. Exercise – Things that are repeated are best remembered.
Factors to be considered about Exercise:
 The more we get trainees to repeat something the more likely they are to retain
the information.
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9. Using Adult Learning Principles
 By asking frequent questions we are encouraging exercise or overlearning.
 The participants must perform the exercise themselves; but taking notes doesn’t
count.
 Summarize frequently as this is another form of exercise. Always summarize at
the conclusion of a session.
 Get the participants to recall frequently what has been covered so far in the
presentation.
 The law of Exercise also includes giving participants exercises to carry out.
It is often stated that without some form of exercise, participants will forget one quarter of
what they have learnt within six hours, one-third within twenty-four and round ninety percent
within six weeks.
Methods of Instruction
Telling when used alone, results in 70% recall three hours later and 10% recall three days later.
Showing when used alone, results in 72% recall three hours later, and 20% recall three days
later.
Blend of telling and showing results in 85% recall three hours later and 65% recall three days
later.
Each of these studies, of course, is applicable only to the specific situation in which it was
carried out. But the fact that every study comes up with roughly the same results leaves little
doubt of the power of audiovisuals to communicate effectively, on a long-term basis as well as
short term.
Your Role as a Trainer
Training roles are an important function played out by trainers in any learning situation. Below
are some of the roles that you will need to play out depending on what you’re teaching and how
you’re teaching it.
 The Expert Role: transmits information about a subject to an audience.
 The Planning Role: Designs or plans the learning experience or the learning
environment.
 The Instructor: Guides or directs the learning situation often telling the student what to
do.
 The Facilitator: Responds to the student's needs and lends guidance and support.
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10. Using Adult Learning Principles
 Resource Person: Provides materials and information to the students.
 The Model Role: Models or influences behavior and values.
 The Co-Learner: Learns along side the student. Mutually plans the learning goals.
Pitfalls of Training Adults
1. Don’t treat adults like children.
2. Ensure that the Adults you’re teaching want to learn.
3. Ensure that Adults feel there is a need to learn before you teach them.
4. Don’t throw statistics and facts at adult learners. They are goal-oriented and opportunity
driven, not statistically driven.
5. Use their experience to help out their learning.
6. Adults learn best in informal environments, and pleasant social atmospheres
Summary
In this module, you learned the difference between Pedagogy and Andragogy, characteristics of
adult learners, assumptions that are made about adult learners, the four laws of learning, how
adults learn, nine principles of adult learning, three methods of instructing adults, your role as a
trainer, and some pitfalls of training adults. As you go through the rest of the modules, and
create your own instructional experiences, keep these principles in mind.
In the next lesson we will cover the first activity in developing training - analyzing the training
requirement.
Resources on the web
The following are resources on the web that you can go to, to learn more about this topic.
Name of Web Page URL
Seven Characteristics of Highly http://www.newhorizons.org/article_billington1.html
Effective Adult Learning Programs
Teaching Adults: Is it Different? http://www.ericacve.org/docs/teac-adu.htm
The Skillful use of questions in http://www.joshhunt.com/question.html
teaching adults
Learning to Learn Site http://snow.utoronto.ca/Learn2/introll.html
Teaching Tips Index http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacD
evCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm
On line training manual http://www.queensu.ca/idc/trainers/index.html
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11. Using Adult Learning Principles
Adult Learning Principles http://www.sfx.adl.catholic.edu.au/adult_learning_principles
.htm
Using Adult Learning Principles in http://ericacve.org/docs/pab00008.htm
Adult Basic and Literacy Education
Adult Learning Online http://www.agt.net/public/tddewar/oned2.html
Handouts and Learning resources http://www.slideshare.net/Jayadeva
Your notes
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