I have learned that the majority of adult learners are motivated by life experiences and many look for purpose in life. Adult learners may require more time to learn content compared to younger learners.
Many adult learners are mainly interested in pursuing the goal of advancing professionally. If they do not view a curriculum as having a practical application in their lives, they may be resistant to investing time or effort in it.
Comment on Leny Ramos's post: I have found that adult learners want to learn specific information that relates to their interests, needs or previous life experiences.
Most have some sort of higher education, slower at learning new info but cognitive skills have not diminished.
Adult learners are individuals with many responsibilities. The learning experience are motivated by big special events in their lives.
Adults learning is different to child's learning. The motivation, speed of learn, available time, interest in the topics and previous knowledge are some important elements to be considered.
The majority of adult learners begin their new set of studies due to a major life event; i.e. marriage, new job.
Adults have different reasons for wanting to further their education.
The data with % is very helpful to show learning trends. I liked the section on long term memory and career related motivation. In addition it is useful to know the barriers to learning for successful teaching and engagement.
I have had great success with older (late twenties) students. I believe that the maturity of there minds are much better and more focused on the material vs the younger students I usually get say fresh high-school grads that still have that inmature mind set.
Adults have different motivations for seeking education. Understanding these and removing barriers will help them get the most of their education and also facilitate them sharing their life knowledge and experience.
Adult learners differ from their younger counterparts in many ways. One way is due to their overall cognitive functions: they may be slower to remember things (yet still have a decent memory capacity), and they may be slower in performing tasks. Adult learners also differ due to the reasons they are seeking higher education degrees. They tend to be motivated by major life changes, such as getting married, having a baby, or switching careers. Other reasons adult learners seek out higher education degrees, aside from increasing their job prospects, include wanting to be more social, meeting the demands of a boss, assisting their communities, and learning for the sake of learning. While motivations for learning differ for adult learners, their barriers for successfully completing a degree also differ and include lack of interest in the subject matter, trouble finding child care or transportation, conflicts with schedules, and inability to pay for their courses.
An adult learner has their own reasons for seeking education. Advancing in their career or on a personal level is often the case. There are often obstacles that get in the way and can be challenging for an adult learner to overcome to be successful. My role as an adult educator is help the student overcome these, and to attain their goal.
Adults optimize there learning experience around personal built in life obligations. It is important to quickly identify and accommodate for these obligations early on to retain students.
Adult learners have various motivating reasons for perusing further education and also have different skills in processing learning materials.
Capacity to learn does not diminish with age.
Motivations depend on students' needs and this is why they are seeking different kinds of courses and carreers.
I've learned that adult learners have significant barriers or obstacles that they may encounter in their learning process. As an educator I need to be aware of these obstacles to assist the adult learner to be successful in their course.
Adult learners need to know the 'why' of the material. Application is very important.
It is important to remember everyone learns differently.
