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Part of being an effective instructor involves understanding how adults learn best. Theories of adult education are based on valuing the prior learning and experience of adults. Adult learners have different learning styles which must be assessed prior to initiating any educational session. Health care providers can maximize teaching moments by incorporating specific adult-learning principles and learning styles into their teaching strategies.
Health care providers and patients enter into a teaching-learning relationship when information important to the patient's well-being is necessary. For the teaching to be as effective as possible, knowledge about adultlearning principles is essential. Understanding why and how adults learn and incorporating the learner's preferred learning style will assist the health care provider in attaining the goals set for each patient and increase the chances of teaching success.
Adult-Learning Principles
Malcolm Knowles was the first to theorize how adults learn. A pioneer in the field of adult learning, he described adult learning as a process of self-directed inquiry. Six characteristics of adult learners were identified by Knowles (1970) (see Table 1). He advocated creating a climate of mutual trust and clarification of mutual expectations with the learner. In other words, a cooperative learning climate is fostered.
The reasons most adults enter any learning experience is to create change. This could encompass a change in (a) their skills, (b) behavior, (c) knowledge level, or (d) even their attitudes about things (Adult Education Centre, 2005). Compared to schoolage children, the major differences in adult learners are in the degree of motivation, the amount of previous experience, the level of engagement in the learning process, and how the learning is applied. Each adult brings to the learning experience preconceived thoughts and feelings that will be influenced by each of these factors. Assessing the level of these traits and the readiness to learn should be included each time a teaching experience is being planned.
Motivation. Adults learn best when convinced of the need for knowing the information. Often a life experience or situation stimulates the motivation to learn (O'Brien, 2004). Meaningful learning can be intrinsically motivating. The key to using adults' "natural" motivation to learn is tapping into their most teachable moments (Zemke & Zemke, 1995). For example, a patient concerned about how stress urinary incontinence...