Adult Learning
Brownfields
Alexandria, VA
18 September 2013
Overview

In order to present successful training
programs trainers need the ability to adapt
course material to reach diverse audiences.

This presentation introduces participants to
learning styles and key points about adult
training.
Goal

Provide participants with information on adult
learning and provide insights on the effective
qualities and behaviors of good trainers.
Terminal Learning Objective

Apply adult learning theory and practice
into curriculum design and training
delivery.
Enabling Objectives
After discussion on learning styles and adult
training, participants will be able to:


List the key points about adult training.

Describe some instructional techniques.

Write a good enabling objective for a training
component.
Why are you here?

What do you expect to get out of this?

What do you want to be able to do?

What do you want to know?

What do you want to learn?
Trainers
The ability to deliver effective
training is often thought to be
something an individual either
does or does not posses.
There are specific qualities and
behaviors that differentiate
effective trainers from ineffective
ones.
These qualities and behaviors
can be learned.
Categories of Learning

Five major categories of learning:

Verbal information

Intellectual skills

Cognitive strategies

Motor skills

Attitudes
Nine Conditions to Successful Learning

Gaining attention

Eliciting performance

Informing participants of
objectives

Providing feedback

Assessing performance

Retention and transfer

Retrieval

Presenting new material

Providing learning guidance
Key Elements of Adult Learning

Adults learn best by doing.

Participants should be engaged in learning and
be self-directed.

Take advantage of participant’s experience and
previous experiences.
Key Elements of Adult Learning

Learning activities have more relevance if they
relate directly to participant’s circumstances.

Take individual learning styles and
demonstrate each new element of learning.

Use varying approaches and circumstances.
Tips Related to Adult Learning

Establish a climate conducive to learning.

Design training to be approximately 35%
presentation and 65% application and feedback.
Tips Related to Adult Learning

Trainers need to be able to modify, adapt and
adjust course material to meets the needs of a
diverse audience.

Trainers need to be creative.

Instead of thinking outside the box…have no box.
Trainer Creativity and Innovation

Fluency

Flexibility

Originality

Awareness

Drive
Question: What comes next in the sequence??
Draw the next object on a piece of paper
Question: What comes next in the sequence??
Draw the next object on a piece of paper
How could you make this Roman numeral
equation read correctly without moving a
match?
A person dropped their watch.
11
The face broke into 4 parts.
The numbers of each part
added up to 15.
12
1
10
2
9
Draw a picture of how the watch
face may have broken.
3
8
4
7
6
5
12
11
1
10
2
9
3
8
4
7
6
5
How many squares are in this figure?
16 small
squares
1
2
3
4
1 large
square
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
15
16
13
14
16 + 1 = 17
The 4
quadrants
17 + 4 = 21
16 + 1 = 17
4
21 + 5 = 26
4 inset boxes of 4 squares + 1 center box of 4 squares.
16 + 1 = 17
4
5
4 inset boxes of 9 squares 26 + 4 = 30
OUROPPORTUNITIESARENOWHERE
Considerations for Adult Learners

Adult learners:

Commit to learning when the goals and objectives are
considered realistic and important to them.

Want to be the origin of their own learning and will resist
learning activities they believe are an attack on their
competence.

Need direct, concrete experiences to apply the learning in
real work.

Need to receive feedback on how they are doing and the
results of their efforts.
Considerations for Adult Learners

Participate in small group activities during learning
to move them beyond understanding and provide
an opportunity to share, reflect, and generalize
their learning experiences by:

Application

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation
Considerations for Adult Learners

Adult learners come to learning with a wide range
of previous:

Experiences

Knowledge

Self direction

Interests

Skills
Qualities of an Effective Trainer

Active Listening is the
ability to hear not only
what a person is stating,
but also what his or her
underlying feelings are
about the subject.
Qualities of an Effective Trainer

Peripheral vision is the ability to
sense the group process and to
make a fairly accurate assessment
of what you imagine each group
member is experiencing.
Qualities of an Effective Trainer

Empathy is the quality of a good trainer that refers to
the ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes,
to see the world as he or she sees it.
Qualities of an Effective Trainer

Sense of timing is knowing when to
intervene and when to remain silent.
Qualities of an Effective Trainer

Clarity is an important characteristic of an effective
trainer.
Qualities of an Effective Trainer

Differentiation is the ability of
the trainer to separate him/her self
from the participants, so that the
trainer is able to facilitate the
group process.
Qualities of an Effective Trainer

Sensitivity is the ability to reach each participant, to
touch each member emotionally, intellectually, or
physically.
Qualities of an Effective Trainer

Self-disclosure is a willingness to
share one’s feelings, thoughts,
reactions, and appropriate personal
information with participants in the
training.

Flexibility is the willingness of the
trainer to give up pre-conceptions.
Learning Styles

Passive learners

Reading manuals and books.

Watching an audio-visual presentation.

Hearing a lecture.

Observing demonstrations.
Learning Styles

Active learners

Participating in discussions.

Role-playing.

Performing an experiment.

Taking a field trip.

Hands-on learning.

Responding to a scenario.

Making a presentation.
Learning Modalities

Visual learners

Auditory learners

Kinesthetic or manipulative learners
Learning Styles

Trainers needs to be aware that
differences in learning styles
exist.

Trainers need to combine as
many types of activities and
media as possible in training
delivery.

Learners need to have access to
the way they learn best and also
learn to adapt to other learning
styles.
Effective Trainer Behaviors
Be Prepared
Be Yourself
Be Energetic
Use Humor
Be Direct
Be Clear
Be Sensitive
Share Leadership
Be A Role Model
Be Positive
Effective Trainer Behaviors

Be prepared

You need to know the subject matter you are
instructing.

Take time to fully prepare yourself for the training.
Effective Trainer Behaviors


Be yourself

No one can be you better than you.

Use language that is comfortable to you.
Be energetic

Vary the activities in order to maintain an energetic
learning environment.
Effective Trainer Behaviors

Use your sense of humor

Encourage humor whenever possible.

Humor provides both the trainer and participant with
another way of viewing themselves that is meaningful,
fun, and creative.
Effective Trainer Behaviors

Be direct


Be clear


The more honest and direct you are as a trainer the
more you serve as a positive role-model for
participants.
Make sure what you say is easily grasped and
understood.
Being sensitive to participants

Paying attention to people’s feelings and being
responsive to their changing needs.
Effective Trainer Behaviors

Share Leadership

Shared leadership produces greater involvement and
investment from participants.
Effective Trainer Behaviors

Be a role model


Behave in ways that are consistent with your value
system and participants will probably behave in similar
ways.
Be positive

It is essential that you believe in the participant’s
unlimited potential to grow and change in a positive
direction.
Learning Styles

Trainers need to be aware that differences in
learning styles exist.

Trainers need to combine as many types of
activities and media as possible in training delivery.

Participants need to have access to the way they
learn best and also learn to adapt to other learning
styles.
Keys to Accommodating Learning Styles

Strategies and media need to be selected to help
the participant; not as a convenience to instructor.

Look for alternate strategies and media if one
strategy or media is ineffective.
OSHA Training Model
Training guidelines
1.
Determining if training is needed.
2.
Identifying training needs.
3.
Identifying goals and objectives.
4.
Developing learning activities.
5.
Conducting the training.
6.
Evaluating program effectiveness.
7.
Improving the program.
ADDIE

Analyze

Design

Develop

Implement

Evaluate
Goals of Any Curriculum

Identify hazards to protect workers and responders.

Effectively communicate workplace and operational
hazards.

OSHA Compliance:

Communications rely on understanding what is being
conveyed.

OSHA requires Employers to communicate hazards to
employees.
A Ron thought on Learning

The biggest obstacle to learning anything
is believing you already know it.
Key Points about Adult Training

Must be relevant.

Should be of immediate use or
benefit to the participants.

Most important resource in the
training is the participants
themselves.

Must focus at all times on the
participants.
For training to occur the participant must be:

Ready to learn

Awake

Attentive

Interactive

Involved
Training Concepts

Training plan


Your role is to make training relevant.
Elements

Training outcomes.

Target audience.

Manageable topic segments.

Training method.

Training aids.
Learning Pyramid
Lecture
Reading
5%
10%
Audio-visual
Demonstration
Discussion Group
Practice by doing
Teaching others/Immediate use of learning
20%
30%
50%
75%
90%
Safety

Safety is an activity function driven by what
and how we manage our daily routines.
Safety

The primary goal for any safety program or safety
process is to cultivate safer workers.

Safer workers are a result of performance
change, in that workers recognize unsafe or at
risk behaviors for what they are then do
something about it.
The primary factors for causing at risk or
unsafe performance are:

Hurrying or rushing.

Annoyance or frustration.

Exhaustion or fatigue.

Satisfaction or complacency (attitude).
The primary factors then contribute to these
potentially dangerous errors:

Eyes not on task.

Mind not on task.

Loss of control (balance/grip/traction).

In the line-of-fire.
Provide Performance-based Feedback

Performance-based feedback can motivate
continued involvement in the process.


Feedback is also instructional in that it is key to
effective coaching and performance evolution.
Performance-based feedback is objective
and impersonal.
Focus on Observable Performance

Observe what people do.

Analyze why they do it.

Then apply interventions based on an
understanding of human psychology.
Major Incident Causes

Taking an unsafe position (line-of-fire).

Not paying attention to hazards (pre-occupied) .

Using improper procedures.

Slippery and uneven working surfaces.

Bad weather.

Being caught between.

Hazardous arrangement.

Poor housekeeping.
Summary

Must be relevant.

Should be of immediate use
or benefit to the learner.

Most important resource in
the training is the participants
themselves.

Must focus at all times on the
learner.
Summary

Relate the materials to the learner’s experiences.

Listen to and respect the opinions of learners.

Encourage learners to be resources to you and to
each other.

Treat learners like adults.
Summary
 Emphasize how the learning can be applied.
 Relate the learning to the learner’s goal.
 Allow debate and challenge ideas.
 Focus on real world problems.
 Make the training relate to real world.