Introduction
In order to teach, it is necessary to understand how adults learn. From there you will be
able to understand the importance of preparing your lesson, teaching to a measurable
objective and at the same time incorporating effective presentation skills. At Primerica,
much of what we teach is content based. Therefore, understanding the exam content
outline, the content of insurance and then aligning teaching methodologies to the exam
content outline will foster learning environments where the student retains the learning
and applies it successfully to the their state exams. The material in this booklet will
present basics of adult learning and making connections with the content to be taught.
Adult Learning Principles
Characteristics of Adult Learning
Learning is the act, process, or experience of gaining
knowledge or skill. In contrast, memory is the capacity
to store, retrieve, and act on that knowledge.
Learning strengthens the brain by building new
pathways and increasing connections that the
learner can rely on to retrieve/recall information.
Obviously students need to learn the information before they can retrieve it. Rote
learning (learning by repetition) frustrates students because the brain resists
meaningless stimuli. The brain has a natural capacity to integrate information but the
information must make sense to the learner.
For adult learners to make order/sense out of new information they require learning
objectives, content, activities, and assessment techniques that are aligned to each
other.
Basics of Adult Learning and Retention
Instructor Guide
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When adult learning principles are understood and used as the foundation of your
Principles must be integrated in your lesson preparation and when you are Delivering
content. Adult learners:
Are self-directed
Have a rich reservoir of experience that can serve as a resource for learning
Are frequently affected by their need to know or do something
Tend to have a life-, task-, or problem-centered orientation to learning as
opposed to a subject-matter orientation
Are generally motivated to learn from within (internally/intrinsically) as opposed to
being obligated, or subject to, external or extrinsic forces
Integrates thinking and learning
Is problem-centered rather than content oriented
Recognize the value of experience in contributing to learning
Likes active learning as opposed to lecture and passive learning
Likes feedback and evaluation
To capitalize on these Adult learning characteristics, instruction must be geared to how
Adults learn:
1. Be Relevant:
The Instructor must have measurable objectives for the lesson and then must
teach to those objectives.
2. Have a variety of teaching methods that require active participation
3. Allow Self-assessment and self4. Allow questions and self-checks with instant feedback on success - Need to apply
new information and skills immediately
Basics of Adult Learning and Retention
Instructor Guide
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5. Be based on prior experiences when possible. A student prior experience can result
in feeling
Confused because the content is inconsistent with their prior experience
Confident because the content is consistent with their prior experience
Lost because they have no prior experience with content
6. Have relationship/connections between:
Facts/concepts
Prior knowledge and newly acquired facts
7. Have information chunked together and/or presented in a sequential order and
linked to prior knowledge
8. The learner must be allowed to share information with fellow participants
9. Summarize Objectives taught (Give the learner a Beginning, Middle and End)
Motivating Adult Learners
motivation to learn. The strategy contributes to stimulating or creating a motivational
condition: a mental/emotional state which encourages the learner to want information,
knowledge, insight, and skill.
There are Four Foundational Principles that motivate adults to learn:
Inclusion
creating an atmosphere of respect and connection
Attitude
creating favorable disposition to learning
Meaning
creating challenging, thoughtful experiences which sustains involvement.
Competence
creating an understanding of learner effectiveness
Basics of Adult Learning and Retention
Instructor Guide
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Learning Styles
Learning is a fundamental process of how one retains information by filtering through
their experiences, habits and cultural awareness. Preparing to teach depends on the
understanding of processing information.
What is THEIR Learning Style?
Styles
How They Learn
Visual
Seeing
Visual learners find it easier to take in new information through:
Diagrams, illustrations, overheads & Flipcharts.
Takes detailed notes and likes a clear view of instructor.
Auditory
Auditory learners finds it easier to take in new information through:
Hearing/ Verbal
The spoken word.
Participates in class discussion, likes storytelling.
Will verbally summarize in their words and reads out loud.
Listens to tone and pitch of instructor.
Kinesthetic
Kinesthetic learner finds it easier to take in new information
Moving, doing and though:
touching
Demonstrations and getting physically involved.
Hands on approach, hard to sit still for long periods of time, ,
Skims through material before reading in detail, answering
questions.
How can we access these styles in our students??? Try verbal cues:
Visual
Auditory
at..; I need to see
saying; it sounds
Creating images in
their mind
Recalls the exact
words
Basics of Adult Learning and Retention
Instructor Guide
Kinesthetic
Remembers the
hands-on
experience
Page 4
Adult Retention Rates
Lecture
5%
Reading
10%
Audio-Visual
20%
Demonstration 30%
Participating in Discussion
50%
Practice by doing (assessment)
70%
Teacher other/immediate use of learning
90%
amount of new information learners retains depends on how
the information is presented. The retention rates increase when you activate the
methods. For example, follow a brief
lecture 5% with a small-group discussion 70%; using the sprinkle questions on your
PowerPoint, and apply the content to real-life scenarios or role play 90%.
Basics of Adult Learning and Retention
Instructor Guide
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The 6 principles of Adult Learning
1. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed
2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences
a. Why not allow the participants correlate subject-matter to their own
experiences?
b. Promote self-efficacy by stimulating group discussion
3. Adults are goal oriented
a. Focus on the goals and mission of the training
b. What your audience is learning has meaning to the consumers life.
4. Adults are relevancy oriented
5. Adults are practical
6. Adult learners like to be respected
i. Equality between the teacher and learner
ii.
Sharing life experiences
Self-Directed
Experience &
Knowledge
Respected
Adult
Learning
Principles
Goal
Oriented
Practical
Relevancy
Oriented
Basics of Adult Learning and Retention
Instructor Guide
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M
:
Age
Language background
Level of prior education
Degree of first language literacy
Cultural background and related views regarding adult learning
Individual learning preferences and styles
Emotional and Psychological issues
Motivation, and
Personal situations and stressors
Works Cited
Center, C. O. (n.d.). Adult Learning and Retention: Factors and Strategies. 1.
D.C., W. (2006). Center for Applied Linguistics. Cultural Oirentiation for refugee: A handbook for U.S. Trainers.
Site, C. C. (2010). Cultural Orientation Resource Center, Center of Applied Linguistics. Retrieved from
http://www.cal.org/co/: http://www.cal.org/co/
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Instructor Guide
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Instructor Guide
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