Adult Learning: Quick Tip #1
February 3, 2007 – 14:40 pm
This is the first segment in a series of Quick Tips covering a wide range of adult learning principles. So if you are an inexperienced instructor, you may want to read these tips carefully and think about how you can incorporate them into your curriculum. If you are an experienced instructor, you may find yourself thinking “Oh, I forgot about that.” Of course, if you are a really experienced instructor . . . well, they are short tips so it will only take a minute or so to read them. Well let’s get started.
Adult students can be a challenge in the classroom. Adult learners tend to be less interested in, and as such less enthusiastic, about survey-style courses. They tend to prefer single concept, single-theory courses that focus heavily on the application of a concept that is relevant to problems that they are facing. In fact, this tendency increases with with older students. The good news is that most criminal justice training is very subject focused and specific.
Curriculum designers should keep in mind that adults need to be able to integrate new ideas with what they already know if they are going to retain – and use – the new information. Instructors should strive to integrate student experiences into the presentation. Keep in mind that if you present information that conflicts sharply with what your students already hold to be true, and thus cause them to re-evaluate the old material, they will integrate the new material more slowly. In addition, information that has little “conceptual overlap” with what they already know will also be acquired a little more slowly.
In addition, although the current educational trend is to actively involve your students in the learning process, instructors should proceed cautiously. Fast-paced, complex or unusual learning tasks can actually interfere with the learning of the concepts or data you intended to teach or illustrate, particularly with older students. The lesson is here is clear. As any politician will tell you, it is very important to know your audience.
Check Out Adult Learning: Quick Tip #2
Check Out Adult Learning: Quick Tip #3
Check Out Adult Learning: Quick Tip #4
Check Out Adult Learning: Quick Tip #5