UNDERSTANDING ADULT LEARNERS: A NECESSITY FOR COLLEGE FACULTY

This paper and presentation will address the need for College Faculty to become well acquainted with understanding Adult Learning theories, and practices, and being able to teach Adult Learners. Lifelong learning (as it is called) has been discussed greatly over the last 2-3 decades, and more and more adults (of all ages) are entering all levels of higher education in increasing numbers each year. This paper and presentation will discuss how adult learners learn in different ways than traditional age students, the increase in non-traditional graduate programs (why they're increasing and traditional graduate programs are decreasing), and the work of some adult learning theorists including Jack Meizerow and his work in the area of Transformational Learning. The work, theories, and issues addressed in this paper will also be of use and value to organizations and workplaces of all types, and specifically to those individuals involved in training and development programming and workplace curriculum development.