Facilitating Adult Learning

How to
Teach
so
People
Learn

Prepared by:
Dr. Lela Vandenberg
Senior Leadership & Professional Development Specialist
11 Agriculture Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824-1039
(517) 353-1898
vanden34@msu.edu

Five Principles of Adult Learning

Itsonethingtoteach.Itsanotherthingtolearn,andthetwodontalwaysgohandinhand.As
educators,ourjobistofacilitatelearning,thatis,todowhatwecantomakesurepeoplelearnwhat
wewanttoteachthem.Incorporatingfivebasicprinciplesinyourprogramdesigncanensurethat
yourlearnersreallydolearn.Thesearebasedonyearsofresearchinadultlearning.

1) PersonalBenefit.Adultlearnersmustbeabletoseethepersonalbenefitofwhattheyare
learning,andhowitsatisfiesaneedtheyhave.Theyaremotivatedtolearnifthelearning
- Solvesoravoidsaproblemforthem;
- Providesanopportunityorincreasedstatus;
- Leadstoprofessionalorpersonalgrowth.

2) Experience.Adultlearnerscometoeachlearningeventwithauniquebackgroundof
knowledgeandexperience.Theyaremotivatedtolearnifthelearning
- Involvestheminsharingwhattheyknow;
- Buildsonwhattheyknow;
- Validatestheirexpertise.

3) SelfDirection.Adultlearnersareselfdirectedandmusthavesomecontroloverwhattheyare
learning.Theyaremotivatedtolearniftheycan
- Takechargeoftheirlearningandmakedecisionsaboutthecontentandprocess;
- Contributetothelearningoftheircolearners;
- Havesomedegreeofindependenceinthelearningprocess.

4) Application&Action.Adultlearnersarebusy,practical,andlearnbydoing.Theylearnbest
when
- Thereisimmediateapplicationforthelearning;
- Theyparticipateactivelyinthelearningprocess;
- Theycanpracticenewskillsortestnewknowledgebeforeleavingalearningsession.

5) LearningStyles.Adultlearnersapproachlearninginagreatvarietyofways,fromhandsonand
movingtousingtheireyes,ears,and/orlogictoanchornewskillsandknowledge.Theylearn
bestwhen
- Thelearningtapsintoamixoflearningstylesthatfittheirpreferencesandstimulate
theirmultipleintelligences;
- Multiplemeansareusedtorepresentthematerialbeinglearned.
KeyreferencesavailableintheProfessionalDevelopmentLibrary:
Bowman,S.2003.HowtoGiveItsoTheyGetIt;
Knowles,M.etal.2005.TheAdultLearner;
Stolovitch,H.D.andKeeps,E.J.2002.TellingAintTraining;
Tamblyn,D.2003.LaughandLearn;
Vella,J.2002.LearningtoListenLearningtoTeach;
Wlodkowski, R.J. 2008. Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn.

Techniques for Facilitating Learning

Thereareanumberofpowerfulmethodstohelpyourlearnersretainwhatyouteach.Ifyouare
lecturing,withorwithoutPowerPoint,stopevery1530minutesandengagelearnersinanactivityto
reinforcelearning.Forsometopics,learnersmayalreadyknowsomeofwhatyoullteach,orhave
experiencewithit.Someoftheactivitiessuggestedbelowinvolvehavingthembrainstormfirst,with
youfillingintheblanksintheirknowledgeafterwards.Theseparticipatorymethodsfocusonfive
participatoryprocesses:reflecting,summarizing,sharingknowledge,teaching,andreceiving
feedback.Eachoftheseisdescribedbelow,withsuggestedlearningactivities.

A.REFLECT
Learningisenhancedifwearegivenachancetoreflect,review,andpersonallyrelatetothe
materialandhowwemightapplyit.Giveparticipantsalogorjournal,thenuseavarietyofwaysto
haveparticipantsstopandreflectperiodicallyforafewminutesonwhattheyvelearnedandhow
theymightuseit.Afterthereflectiontimeyoucanhavethemvolunteertoshare,shareinsmall
groups,ornotshare.Herearesixexamples:

1) MostImportant:Writethreethingsyoujustlearned.Nowputastarbythemostimportant.

2) ThreeApplications:Writethreewaysyoucanuseorapplywhatyouvejustlearned.Circlethe
oneyouplantodofirst.

3) OneSentence:Writeonesentenceexplainingwhatyoulearnedinthelast______minutes.

4) OneQuestion:Writeonequestionthatyouhaveaboutwhatyouveheard.

5) Wow/HowAbout:Onastickynote,writeaWOWsomethingyoulearnedthatwas
importanttoyou.Onanotherstickynote,writeaHOWABOUT?questionorotherideayou
mighthave.Postyournotesonthetwoflipcharts(labeledWOWandHOWABOUT).Buildin
sometimetodebriefthetwocharts.

6) Highlights:Spendthenextfourminutesreadingandreviewingthenotesandtheother
informationinyourpacket.Highlighttheimportantpoints.Writeanyquestionsyoustillhave.

B.SUMMARIZE
Havinglearnerssummarize,inasentenceortwo,themostimportantthingstheyhavejustlearned
isanotherpowerfulwaytohavetheminteractwiththecontentandfixitintheirminds.Hereare7
funwaystheycansharetheirsummarieswithothers.

1) BestSummaries:Onanindexcard,eachparticipantpreparesasummaryofthemainpointsat
theendofasegmentortopic.Ontheothersideofthecardhavethemputacodeor

identifyingPIN.Teamsof47collecttheircardsandexchangethemwithanotherteam.Then
eachteamselectsthebestsummaryfromthesetofcardstheyweregiven.Eachteamreads
thesummarytothewholegroup.AlsoreadtheidentifyingPINsotheauthorcanbe
congratulated.

2) Essence:Explainthisactivityatthebeginningofapresentationtosparkacompetitivespirit
andmotivateparticipantstopaycloseattention.Followingthepresentation,dividethegroup
intoteamsof37.Therearefourrounds.1Tellthemtocreatea32wordsummaryofwhat
theyhavelearned.Haveeachgroupreadtheirsummary,thenparticipantsvoteforthebestby
raisingtheirhands.Therearetworules:theycanonlyvoteonce,andtheycantvotefortheir
ownteamssummary.2Repeattheprocessbutnowthesummarymustbeonly16words.
3Repeattheprocessforan8wordsummary.4Repeattheprocessfora4wordsummary.
5Repeattheprocessfora2wordsummary.

3) Superlatives:Afterapresentation,askparticipantstoidentifythemostimportantpieceof
informationorconceptthatyoupresented.Givethemtimetothinkandjotanideadown.Ask
forresponses.Thenaskthemtoidentifythemost_________thingyoupresentedandshare
thatwithapartner.Takeafewresponsesinthewholegroup.Continuethisprocess,
substitutingsuperlativesintheblank.Somepossiblesuperlativesinclude:useful,
controversial,difficulttounderstand,surprising,universal,obvious,etc.

4) ThirtyFive:Afterapresentation,distributeindexcarestoparticipants.Givethem2minutesto
writeonesentencethatsummarizesanimportantideatheylearned.Havethemstandupand
exchangetheircard,blanksideup,withsomeoneelse.Theyshouldcontinueexchangingcards
withothersforabout20seconds.Atyoursignalhavethemfindapartnerandreadeachother
thesentencesontheircards.Tellthemtheyhave7meritpointstodistributebetweentheir
twocards(nofractionsornegativenumbers).Theyshouldwritetheallottednumberonthe
blanksideofthecard,atthetop.Repeattheprocessexchangecardsfor20seconds,finda
newpartner,readthesentences,assignpointsfourmoretimes.Askthemtoreturntotheir
seatsandaddupthepointsforthecardtheyhave.Thehighestpossiblescoreis35.Last
comesthecountdowntothewinningsentence.Startcountingdownfrom35.Whena
participanthearsthenumberthatisthetotalforthecardtheyhave,heorsheshouldstandup
andreadthecard.Dothisforthetop510cards.Youcaninviteparticipantstomakebrief
comments.Youcanalsooffertotypethecardsandsendthemouttoparticipants.

5) OpenandClosed:Attheendofapresentation,haveeachparticipantwriteaclosedended
questionandanopenendedquestiononindexcards.Warnthemaheadoftimethatyouwill
askthemtodothissotheywillpaycloseattentionandtakegoodnotes.Forroundone,have
thempairupandaskeachothertheirclosedquestions.Havethemswitchpartners4or5
times.Forroundtwo,havethemgetintriadsandaskeachothertheiropenquestions.

6) PictureSummary:Divideparticipantsintosmallgroupsandgiveeachaflipchartorflipchart
sheet.Theirtaskistodesignaposterthatsummarizesthekeypointstheyvelearned.There
are4rules:1pagelimitisonesheetofpaper;2onlypicturescanbeused,whichincludes

graphics,symbols,icons,ordiagramsbutnotwords,lettersornumbers;3jointeffort,
meaningthatallteammembersshouldcontribute;and4timelimitis5minutes.

7) FlipChartSummary:Divideparticipantsintosmallgroupsandgiveeachaflipchartorflipchart
sheet.Theirtaskistodesignaposterthatsummarizesthekeypointstheyvelearned.There
are3rules:1pagelimitisonesheetofpaper;2jointeffort,meaningthatallteammembers
shouldcontribute;and3timelimitis5minutes.

C.SHAREKNOWLEDGE
Oftenlearnershavesomeknowledgeoforexperiencewiththesubjecttheyarelearning.Tobuild
onwhattheyknow,togivethemsomecontrolovercontent,andtovalidatetheirexpertisetry
someofthefollowingideas.

1) Brainstorm:Askparticipants,ingroups,tothinkaboutaquestionrelatedtoatopicand
brainstormanswersonaflipchartsheet.Haveeachgroupshare,andthenyoufillinmissing
informationverbally,and/orfromahandout.

2) LeakyFishbowl:Ifparticipantshavesomebutdifferentlevelsortypesofknowledgeofthe
materialyoullbecovering,thisisagoodtechniquefortappingtheknowledgeofthegroup.
Have57volunteerssitinacircleinthemiddleofthegroup.Ifthegroupislarge,havethem
passamicrophonearound.Haveasetofquestionsready,andgivethesmallgroupaquestion
todiscuss.Therearetworules:onlythoseinthemiddleofthecirclecantalk;andthose
outsidethecirclecanjoinitbystandingbehindsomeoneuntilaninnercircleparticipant
voluntarilyvacateshisorherchair.Periodicallygiveanewquestiontobediscussed.If
someonesharessomethingthatisincorrect,feelfreetobreakinandquestionthegroupor
providethecorrectinformation.Itsalsoagoodideatotakenotesonaflipchartduringthis
process.

3) ItemList:Havealistoroutlineofthetopicsyouarepreparedtoteachonaflipchart.Give
participantsafewstickydotsandhavethemmarktheonesthatarehighestpriorityforthemto
hearaboutfromyou.Besureyougivemostemphasistothosetopicsinyourpresentation,and
spendlesstimeonthelowpriorityitems.

4) PressConference:Givetheoutlineofyourpresentationtoparticipantsaswellasabrief
overviewofkeyobjectivesandmajortopics.Divideparticipantsintosmallgroups,usingthe
samenumberofgroupsastopicsyouwillbecovering.Giveeachgroupanumberofindex
cards,equaltothenumberoftopicsyourpresentationcovers.Havethegroupswriteone
questionforeachtopictobecovered.Theyshouldeitherlabeleachcardwiththetopic,OR
useadifferentcolorofcardforeachtopic.Collectallthecards;thenredistributethem,giving
allthecardsofonetopic(andcolor)toeachgroup.Havethegroupstaketurnsgrillingyouwith
theirquestions,asinapressconference.Besuretoaskparticipantstohelpyouanswerthe
questionswhentheycan.

5) EGHunt:Afterapresentationoraportionofapresentation,havesmallgroupsofparticipants
brainstormandcomeupwithspecificexamplesofaprinciple,concept,orskill.Haveeach
groupsharetheirexampleinthelargegroup.

6) Confusion:Giveyourpresentationinsegments.Aftereachsegmenthaveparticipantswrite
twoquestionsorpointsofconfusionanonymouslyontwoindexcards.Givethem1minute.
Havethemstandupandexchangethecardswiththewrittensidedown,withasmanypeople
aspossibleforabout30seconds.Whenyoucalltime,theyshouldsitdownwiththetwocards
leftintheirhands.Thenconductaquestionandanswersessionwithparticipantsvolunteering
toreadaquestionononeoftheircards.Besuretoaskifanyoftheparticipantscanansweror
explainbeforeyoudo.

D.TEACH
Welearnbestwhatwehavetoteach.Herearesomeideasforengagingthelearnersinteaching.

1) PairShareHaveparticipantstakeaminutetotellapartnerwhattheyvelearnedandhow
theywilluseit.

2) TriadTeachingDivideparticipantsintothreesandhaveeachpersoneitherverballyorwith
symbols,iconsordrawingsteachtheother(s)somethingtheyhavelearned.

3) ShowtimeDivideparticipantsintosmallgroupsandassigneachaportionofthematerialthat
hasbeenpresented.Haveeachgroupprepareandgiveashort,creative,playfulpresentation
ontheirtopic.

E.RECEIVEFEEDBACK
Adultlearnersenjoygettingfeedbackonwhattheyhavelearned.Funwaystoselftestwhatthey
havelearnedmotivatesandempowersthemtotakemoreactivecontroloftheirlearning.

1) Bingo:Inadvance,createatleast25questionsthatcoverthematerialyouwillbepresenting.
Increatingthequestions,askyourself:Iftheycanonlytakeaway25thingsfromwhatI
presented,whatwouldIwantthosetobe?Createaonepage5x5matrix,agridwith25boxes.
Putaonewordorshortphraseanswertoeachofyourquestionsineachoftheboxes.Either
attheendoratintervalsduringyourpresentation,askoneormoreofthe25questions.Have
participantsfindtheanswersontheircardseitherindividuallyorinpairsorteams.Tellthem
thatassoonastheindividualorteamthinkstheyhavetherightanswer,theyshouldstandup.
Thefirsttostandgetstosharetheiranswer.Iftheyrecorrect,theygettocrossoffaboxon
theirsheet.Ifwrong,thenextonestandinggetstogiveananswer.Continueuntilsomeone
getsBINGOoruntilyouvegonethroughallthequestionsandanswers.

2) Jeopardy:Beforethetraining,thinkoffourorfivecategoriesthatyouwouldwantparticipants
toknowabout.Createquestionsonthemostimportanttopicsinthosecategories;writeeach
ona5x7or8x11cardorsheet;assignapoint/monetaryvaluetoeachquestion;andwritethis

onthebackofthecard.Postthecategoriesonaboardorwall.Postthequestionswith
point/monetaryvaluesideupsoparticipantscanchooseapointvalue.Finally,chooseone
specialquestionforthefinalround.Thisshouldbetheonethingthatyouwantparticipantsto
takeawayfromyourtraining.
Toplaythegame,dividethegroupintoteams.Haveeachgroupchooseanumberorrolladice
toseewhogoesfirst.Eachgroupchoosesacategoryandapointvalue.Turnthecardover,
readthequestion,andtheytrytoanswerit.Thegroupcanconferforadeterminedamountof
timebeforegivingtheiranswer.Iftheygettheanswercorrect,theyearntheallottedpoints.
Keepapointlistonaflipchartvisibletoeveryone.Onceateamhasansweredaquestion,
moveontothenextteamuntilallthequestionsareanswered.
Forthefinalround,havegroupswagerapointvalueforfinaljeopardyandwritethesedown.
Readthefinaljeopardyquestiontothegroups.Havethemwritedowntheiranswersina
specifiedamountoftime.Thenhaveeachgroupreadtheiranswersandrevealtheirpoint
values.Addorsubtractthemfromtheirteamsscores.Thegroupwiththemostpointswins
thegame!(Thegroupscouldbegivenprizesthathelptoemphasizethelearningpoints).

3) Crosswords:Createacrosswordpuzzlewithcluesthattestunderstandingofthekeyideasand
conceptsyouarepresenting.Tocreatethepuzzleusingwordsanddefinitionsfromthecontent
youareteaching,usethefreeEclipseCrosswordsoftwareavailableat:
http://www.eclipsecrossword.com/tour.html,ortheCrosswordCompilersoftware,available
athttp://www.Crosswordcompiler.comfor$49.Stopatperiodicintervalsandhavepairsof
participantscompleteasmuchofthepuzzleastheycan.

4) TeamQuiz:Beforeyourpresentation,tellparticipantsthatyouwillbestoppingperiodically
(aboutevery10minutes)tohavethem,ingroupsof35,writetwoquestionsfortheirfellow
participants.Oneshouldbefactualandtheothershouldbeopenended,requiringsome
evaluation,synthesis,orinferentialthinking.Givethem3minutestowritethequestions.
Debriefbyhavingeachteam,onebyone,asktheirfactualquestions.Thendotheopenended
questions.Teamscananswerinconsultationwitheachother.Makesurethateveryonegetsa
chancetoanswersomequestions.

Someideasaredrawnfrom:ThiagisInteractiveLecturesbySivasailamThiagarajan,2005,and
PresentingwithPizzazzbySharonBowman,1997.