Adult Education Principles

BrainWave Solutions Inc. factors in the following adult education principles when designing any kind of training.

Most adult learners in work environments are motivated by realistic self-interest.

They want to know what's in it for them, and respond best to material that will help them perform better or improve their lives. They'll participate in a training program if they find the content relevant to their job or career goals.

Adults learn best when they are active participants in the process.

They tend to favour a self-directed, problem-centered approach that gives them ample opportunities to practice what they're learning and provides practical feedback on their performance.

Adults want to be able to apply their new skills and knowledge immediately.

They prefer small, bite-sized chunks of information, laced with real-life examples with which they can identify, and they want to be able to achieve some specific goal by the end of the lesson or module.

Often, they must juggle their need for training with other workplace and personal demands, and therefore require training that is modular, task-oriented and results-driven.

 

BrainWave has extensive experience in designing and delivering training for adult learners.

We're committed to creating solutions that are results-driven, relevant, interactive, and engaging.

Here are some ways we ensure that those solutions address the needs of adult learners:

• We include segments that explain why a topic is being taught and possible consequences of not learning the material.
• We focus on real-world tasks rather than an academic presentation of skills and knowledge. This helps ensure relevance to real-world learner job demands and career aspirations.
• We design learning interventions that are interactive and participant-centered. Participants consciously apply what they have learned when they answer questions and/or complete assignments.
• We design goal-oriented training. We structure training units so that learners will be able to perform specific tasks or achieve specific goals at the end of a lesson or module.
• We present material in an engaging and informal manner in such a way that learners keep on wanting to "turn the page." We enhance our training with real-world case studies and human narratives wherever appropriate.
• We keep lesson segments short and lively, with some form of activity at the end of each set of sub-tasks or sub-objectives. This strategy keeps learners engaged and promotes active learning.
• We strive for a 1:3 ratio of presentation to application whenever possible.
• Because most people have attention spans of between 12 and 20 minutes, we try to incorporate activities, such as Quick Questions or exercises, every 20 minutes.
• Where possible, we also change presentation methods to accommodate varying cognitive styles. This, however, is not always feasible when the delivery medium is paper-based.

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