How adults use authentic experiences to learn

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Adult learners’ authentic experiences frequently involve conversations or discussions. When learners return to their jobs after completing some or all of a self-paced, technology-based course, they’re anxious to talk about and use what they’ve learned. When adult learners have an opportunity to apply what they learned, they’re usually testing their new skills and knowledge and the accuracy of the course content. They also are assessing the degree to which they can actually integrate what they learned into their day-to-day responsibilities.

Adults use authentic experiences in three ways. They apply what they learned

exactly as they were taught
[/li]differently than they were taught
[/li]to improve their efficiency on the job.
[/li]

Apply content the way it was taught. Adult learners seem reassured, and perhaps relieved, when they can apply what they’ve learned exactly as it was taught. One learner who took an advanced PowerPoint course that covered how to use tables, successfully used that skill when she created a new presentation immediately after completing the course.

Apply content differently than it was taught. Sometimes when learners try to apply what they’ve learned, they discover that they need to modify or alter their new skills or knowledge because their specific environment requires a different strategy or procedure. Another surprise that adult learners experience is that the training was accurate but incomplete. For example, training explained one procedure or approach but failed to mention that there’s more than one way to perform the task. When this occurs, learners feel confused, or even angry. Two of the learners I worked with experienced that frustration. One learner took the MS Project course and the other learner took the advanced PowerPoint course. Both courses taught only one way to perform each type of procedure, and both learners found that very frustrating.

As expected, learners are disappointed if they find the course they completed didn’t meet their needs. According to one learner, “I was slightly disappointed that the course I took really didn’t help me understand that (the distribution process) better.”

Apply knowledge to improve job performance. Ideally, all learners who complete training use what they learned to improve their job performance. Frequently, learners use the job aid they created while taking the course to help them perform on the job. A learner I worked with used his paper copy of the course glossary to answer the questions in a quiz given by his manager. This manager gave periodic quizzes, to help employees stay abreast of frequent changes in the industry, and the winners won movie tickets or gift certificates to local restaurants.