Adult Learning Basics

Preface

All people learn in pretty much the same way, right? Wrong! Research, theory, practice, and philosophy over many years indicate that people may learn in different ways and may even change how they learn. Children tend to be willing to listen as adults give them information that may not have immediate application. But adults have traditionally been regarded as being much less patient and much more prone to focus on immediate application. They want to know why new information is worth knowing and how to use it.

Since many talent developers and other learning professionals are promoted to their roles internally, they may lack a solid grounding in adult learning theory, practice, and principles. That can cause problems. There is more to training ...