Overview of the Introduction to
Adult Learners

This section is an overview of the characteristics of adults with an emphasis on adult learners. Not only do they have physical characteristics that differ from youth, they also have life experiences that will influence the way they learn, their learning goals and expectations, their learning success or lack of success, and their participation in learning. Your success as an instructor may depends on your ability to incorporate this knowledge into your planning and instructing.

The objectives of this section are:

• Learners will be able to understand the fundamentals of adult learners
  1. Learners will be able to describe the general principles about learning
  2. Learners will be able to describe the characteristics of adult learners
  3. Learners will be able to discuss the physical characteristics of older adult learners
  4. Learners will be able to describe how older adult learners can adapt to their physical conditions
  5. Learners will be able to discuss how a chain of responses influences adult learners participation in learning