Describe the concept of adult learning theory and discuss how it influences employee training. Identify what you would change in the following case to make the training more effec- tive by applying adult learning theory:

Use correct grammar, spelling and sentence structure. Please include an introduction, 5 paragraph, body, and concluding paragraph.

80 – 150 words per paragraph.
gather information from internet or library sources.
include reference page that lists websites, journals, and other references.  Write paper according to this.(The Human Resources Director began the training session by announcing the objective of the course. He said, “I will explain how the new payroll system works and how I usually trouble- shoot problems during a payroll week.” The Human Resources Director then darkened the room and proceeded to show a series of computer-generated slides that outlined the lecture. The participants were given handouts that showed six slides per page where they could make their own notes. The partici- pants were told to hold their questions and comments until the end of the session.)

What is Adult Learning Theory and Why Is It Important?

We often take for granted that people know how to learn. After all, we all had to learn while in school, right? But that can be a dangerous attitude to take when it comes to corporate training initiatives. School curricula are built on theories about how children and teenagers learn (and how much time they can dedicate to learning). Have you ever considered whether adults learn in the same way? (Spoiler: They don’t!)

That’s where Adult Learning Theory comes into play. Knowing how adults tend to learn, you can tailor corporate training programs to take advantage of qualities adult learners have—like their eagerness to learn relevant material, their need to connect with experience, and their motivation to improve themselves.

To grasp adult learning theory and how it can be applied, it helps to contrast how adults learn from how we learned when we were children.

How Adults Learn is Different from How Kids Learn

A lot of corporate training is based loosely on models of education found in schools. That’s unsurprising, as school is the first and longest exposure we have to a learning environment. But we have to remember that the reasons adults learn are different from the reasons kids learn.

In school, students learn because they are placed in an environment that prods them to do so. They are placed in a classroom, matched with other students who are roughly the same age and same level of expertise and expected to do nothing but learn for the majority of the time they are there. Most of the motivation is external, meaning that children go through this process to please their parents and teachers (at least until they mature and see the value of learning itself).

Once we graduate, things are different. When adults choose to learn something, it is because they see value in those things. For example, we might pick up a hobby because we find it interesting or relaxing. Or we might learn a skill that will help us advance in our careers. It’s our interests and ambitions that drive learning.

In corporate learning, that difference is sometimes forgotten. When that happens, training is based on a school model where people are grouped together and required to learn content. It’s no wonder that model doesn’t work:

• After spending years in school, adults don’t want to have “homework” in the form of training courses.
• Adults have different levels of expertise, and so any classroom will have some learners who are struggling to keep up, and some who are bored because they already know the material.

So how do we make training something that adults WANT to do, and how do we make it effective?