Adults learn differently than children. Many times adults have been out of school for a long time and they no longer have the patience for typical classroom techniques. They learn in a more practical, hands-on, realistic manner. Here are four useful tips for teaching adults.
Adults don’t learn until they feel they need to learn. If they don’t feel the material is relevant to what they need on the job, they will not pay attention and thus not learn. As a trainer you need to give them practical reasons to learn. Give them real world examples about how they will improve in their job performance.
Adults learn better when you switch up training methods – discussions, role plays and case studies are particularly effective. Make sure you find varied ways to make the training realistic and hands-on. Adults thrive on practical application, so make sure the training is tailored so they can take it directly back to the job and use it. Give them realistic problems to solve. Find on-the-job problems that are similar to the situations they will face.
Adults learn better in an informal environment. The training room should not have classroom style seating. Participants should be encouraged to wear clothing they feel comfortable in. Make sure you encourage interaction and discussion to make the environment even more casual.
Adults learn better with follow up. If possible schedule a follow-up session and use questionnaires, surveys and periodic skill testing to determine what should be covered in follow-up sessions. Learning is rarely a one-time thing. It takes a variety of repeated learning methods to completely absorb the material.
To make sure that adult trainees in your organization are given the best chance to learn during training follow these simple procedures. They will give them the best chance to use the material productivity on the job.
Charlie Bentson King is a writer and producer of corporate training videos for TrainingABC. TrainingABC is a distributor of management training videos and human resource training videos and DVDs.
