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For humans, learning is a fundamental function that is highly adaptive. People are, for the most part, flexible learners. They are always out there seeking more knowledge to develop into higher skills. Most learning for people is done outside the classroom, however there comes a time when the organized and systematic structure of formal training, aka school, becomes a necessity, such as when people need to learn science, literature, history, math and reading. As we progress as a race and a society, our massive knowledge base of information becomes larger and more complex. This can cause problems in the way we learn because of the vastness of our storehouse of information.

One fact is certain: the younger a person is, the easier time they have of learning. Why do you think that is? It most certainly has to do with the fact that kids are the most flexible, very adaptable to their environment, are completely eager to fill their heads with new and wondrous things to help spur their imaginations, and they don’t care when they make mistakes; they aren’t worried what other people think of them when they mess up. This freedom to take on learning when we are young is one of those things that we lose over time.

So, how do adults learn? Is it still possible for them to do so? You bet it is, although adults have to approach learning a little bit differently than their children do. Let’s look at some of the ways adults can learn:

Hands on. Adults learn best by actually doing something physical with the information they are trying to acquire. Think of all of the popular do-it-yourself shows on television, or the how-to video tutorials that adults eat up on YouTube. Adults have to be in the thick of things to learn best.

Better focus. In order for adults to truly learn, they have to take concepts in one at a time, like swallowing pills. They can’t have things flung at them from all angles at once. Just give an adult one course to master, then on to the next one, gradually bringing them into full mastery of an entire subject matter, one “pill” at a time. Remember to include a lot of “hands on” with each course.

Don’t embarrass the learner. Adults have spent their lives boosting up their egos and have a high self esteem. Therefore, placing them into a classroom setting, around other people who also have high self esteem and large egos would create a conflict that even the most secure student would find hard to survive. Classroom learning is just not a comfortable place suitable for adult learning.

Being precise. Because adults strive to make fewer mistakes when learning, they tend to be slower at learning new things. This leads to adult learners to being very precise in the application of their newly acquired knowledge.

Time. Since a classroom setting is highly uncomfortable for adult learners, it is only natural, then, that they would prefer an environment where they are on their own, in a comfortable setting like home, learning things at their own pace. This allows them to pick more than one course or subject, and to take it on in their own time, one course at a time. They determine when to start a subject, and they determine when it is done.

So, adult learners learn by doing, they take it all in in bite-size chunks (one “pill” at a time), and they learn little by little, at their own pace, one subject leading to another, until a topic is mastered.