Principles of adult learning

These slides will help any trainer/ presenter to understand the principles of Adult Learning.

1. Principles of Adult Learning Training of Trainers Javed Mazher | [email protected]

2. Objectives of the session Better understanding of adult learning… How to make the learning personal, real and engaging … 8 tips that improve your odds for success … ≠ Not a ‘how to train’ session… Javed Mazher | [email protected]

3. Adult Learning ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Adult learning  is defined as 'the entire range of formal, non-formal and informal  learning , activities which are undertaken by   adults  after a break since leaving initial education and training, which results in the acquisition of new knowledge and skills '. Javed Mazher | [email protected]

4. 8 Principles of Adult Learning ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Active Learning Active participation through discussion, feedback and activities creates more learning than passive listening. Problem-centric Adults are not there just to get more information. If your presentation doesn’t help them solve their pressing issues, it will be forgotten. 1 2 Previous Experience New information has to be linked to previous knowledge and experience or it will not be remembered . Relevance If the information being presented is not relevant to the listener’s life and work, it will not get their attention. . 3 4 Javed Mazher | [email protected]

5. Emotional Connection Presentations that connect with a learner’s emotions are more likely to be remembered, recalled and learned. Self Learning Adult learners have some strong beliefs about how they learn. These beliefs, whether accurate or not, can interfere or enhance their learning . 5 6 Alignment Adults expect that a presenter’s content, learning outcomes and activities be aligned together. If the learning outcomes do not match the content, the learner feels disconnected and learning is hampered. Fun Learning should be fun! As a presenter, if you are not having fun presenting your information and facilitating learning, then you should stop. 7 8 8 Principles of Adult Learning ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Javed Mazher | [email protected]

6. Do not tell adult ‘WHAT IS THIS’… Tell them ‘HOW & WHERE IT WILL WORK’… Javed Mazher | [email protected]

7. Who are your participants? Prisoner Vacationer Combative Judger The learner Javed Mazher | [email protected]

8. The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that leads better-informed parties to find it extremely difficult to think about problems from the perspective of lesser-informed parties .  Javed Mazher | [email protected]

9. Experience Bias Perception We put colors on what we learn Belief Stop being a prisoner of your o wn mind!!! Javed Mazher | [email protected]

10. 8 tips that improve your odds for success as a trainer… 1. Credibility 2. Accurate 3. Relevant 4. Current 5. Practical 6. Usefulness 7. Involve 8. Affirmation Javed Mazher | [email protected]

11. Your training session should not resemble a ‘Wedding reception’…. Have you ever attended marriage receptions where you met up with a lot of people? Pretty- courteous folks, chatty, breezy, mindless conversational overload, lots of names  and polite smiles exchanged,  and THEN …! You returned home and the new faces were soon forgotten. And THEN…… You wondered what did you really go there for ? In this age of internet and information savvy world, it is obtuse to just dump information on participants which they can easily procure from the web or numerous other resources. Many of the Training Sessions end up being like these wedding receptions… Lots of Participants Plenty of information which is downloaded and passed on, Innumerable data- and-graph- heavy PPTs add nausea Javed Mazher | [email protected]

12. 4 methods of adult learning… Javed Mazher | [email protected]

13. Adult Learning Cycle Experience Reflect Conclude Apply What you see/ observe OR face What? Review of information related to experience So What?? What and how you can do Now What?? Use strategies you’ve planned Javed Mazher | [email protected]

14. I n any training set up:  the trainer, the learner & the learning (content ) are the three elements which interact. Ideal learning happens at the meeting point of these. Alternatively , let us suppose that these three elements form a triangle. The question then arises:  Which side of the triangle is the most important one and why? ’ [Group exercise] Exercise 1: Who is the V.I.P in the Workshop? Trainer Learner Learning 1 2 3 Javed Mazher | [email protected]

15. Exercise 2: Game of recap… the BUCKET and the BALL Game Javed Mazher | [email protected]

16. Thank you! In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn……….. Javed Mazher | [email protected]