What Are the 7 Laws of Adult Learning?

Organizations should come together to take a different approach to teaching adults. You need to understand the learning strategies that are appropriate for these adult learners. Malcolm S. Knowles is known for adopting the theory of “andragogy” (“andra” meaning “man or adult”). According to Knowles, teaching an adult differs from teaching a child because the levels of maturity differ greatly between the two age groups.

Anyway, getting back to the laws of adult education, let’s discuss them one by one.

law of prior experience

Adults are generally experienced and have a high level of knowledge about the real world. Therefore, training programs should be designed to incorporate new learning with connections to learners’ experiences.

law of relevance

The organizers should design the courses in terms of their relevance to the life and work of the trainees. You can incorporate multimedia elements and role-plays to improve the connections between the learning situation and the real world.

law of self-determination

Adults are usually self-directed. Therefore, the trainers should try to involve the participants in the training process instead of just lecturing on the topic of discussion. Additionally, older students prefer to engage in the training or learning situation rather than just sit back and listen to idle lectures.

law of expectations

Adults have many expectations from a meeting, conference or training program. They will not attend events that do not have elements to meet their needs. Likewise, they attend a specific course or event to meet their needs and business goals. As a trainer, you should plan and execute a program that results in maximum participant satisfaction and ROI.

Law of Active Learning

Adults love active learning. Therefore, you can integrate audiovisual and multimedia elements to make the learning process highly interesting instead of organizing just reading or passively listening to lectures. Many organizations that host both on-site and online educational courses or corporate training programs incorporate text chats, online forums, etc. to discuss and share website links, videos, and images with learners.

Law of practice and feedback

Adult students like to do their homework and practice new things over and over again. They also want to receive relevant feedback and participate in surveys or Q&A sessions to gain in-depth knowledge of new concepts that will be discussed during class.

Law of Individual Differences

Everyone has their own learning style. With this in mind, trainers should prepare the learning sessions appropriately to meet the needs of all participants. A comprehensive, general learning strategy may not be successful when teaching a class full of heterogeneous people.

Thanks to Jonathan Reynold | #Laws #Adult #Learning